Starting a home daycare, the licensing requirements are more involved than I expected
Looking into starting a small in home daycare and quickly realized this isn't like most home based businesses where an LLC and a business license cover most of it. Childcare licensing usually runs through a state health or family services agency, not the Secretary of State, and there are capacity limits based on the number of children and their ages. Background checks for anyone in the household, fire safety inspections, and sometimes CPR or first aid certification requirements all seem to come before you can even apply for the license. Some states also cap how many kids you can care for before you're required to move from a "family child care" category into a more regulated "group home" category. For anyone running a licensed home daycare, what part of the process took the longest or surprised you the most? Trying to plan a realistic timeline before I commit.