Okay, a question for you:  

If you decide you want to be a foster carer helping to care and provide a home for vulnerable children in need, would you expect to be able to do it quickly, without finding out information about what it involves and whether it is right for you?  

Probably not!  

So, why is setting up as a childminder any different? Why do we get so many enquiries from people who think they can set up in a few weeks and are not that interested in getting preliminary information first so they can make an informed decision?  

You can hear my frustration, right? So, I’m writing this blog to make it as clear as I can:  

Becoming a childminder is a huge undertaking, so it is vital you do all that you can to research what’s involved and the role/responsibilities before you start the process, and these are the reasons why:  

• It is in your home (owner-occupied, privately rented or council/housing association accommodation) so, for this reason, it is a lifestyle choice. You must be geared up to using your home as a place to care for other people’s children. This means risk assessing and following the welfare requirements of the early years curriculum.  
• You will need to set up a business to be a childminder. This means you will need to set up and run a business that hopefully you can earn a living from. It’s your choice whether you register as a sole trader or limited but it’s important that you understand what the difference is. Just to say, not everyone has the skills and interest in running a business so if you prefer to focus on the early education and care of children role, you can use @HCC’s business support to help you with running the business e.g. enrolling parents, invoicing, marketing etc.  
• Being a childminder is a self-employed role. You will be your own boss, so you are reliant on your own self-sufficiency skills to make a living. It is not an employed position.  
• You will need to invest some of your own money to get started because you are setting up a business and there will be start-up costs. Some of the costs can be covered by a new government business grant of £1200 if you register with an Ofsted childminder agency like @HCC. It will help with initial costs such as DBSs, training and maybe some equipment.  
• It is a very responsible role with lots of rules and regulations. You will be accountable for the care and early education of other people’s children.  
• You will also need to understand and follow the early years curriculum for young children, which is called the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), the mandatory framework for everyone who works with children under the age of 5 in the UK. The EYFS is all about the well-being of children including what is needed to safeguard and protect children from harm. You will be responsible for recognising the signs and symptoms of child abuse and reporting it to the authorities.  
• There are some prerequisites (conditions) that you must fulfil before you register e.g. suitability checks (DBS’s, health declarations), the required training, health & safety check of your house etc.  

 So, if you have taken the trouble to read this blog, don’t you agree it’s important you understand what’s involved is setting up as a childminder first to be certain it’s an informed decision you’re making? 

Making an informed decision is precisely the reason why @HCC’s goes to a lot of trouble to make sure you have the necessary information first. When you make an enquiry, we expect you to:  

• Complete an online information briefing to get essential information first.  
• Then, if you are still interested, we ask you to join a free live webinar where you can ask questions and listen to what other people are commenting and asking about too. We also provide further information about our start-up package and on-line service – just to make sure you are getting all that’s needed to make up your mind.  

• After the live webinar, you can schedule a 1-2-1 personalised online meeting where you can ask your personal questions and we can assess your suitability to register as a childminder.  

We like to think, after all of this, that we have managed your expectations as best as we can. And, once you start the registration process, we are still available to support you with the journey of becoming a childminder.  

The role is too important to get it wrong! You want to be able to provide the best quality care of children you can, don’t you, all whilst enjoying the rewarding role, avoiding pitfalls and earning a lucrative income! 

So, set up your childminder business the right way by doing your research first!   

We love what we do! Even though it can be massively frustrating at times!