Child Care Business Resources
for every journey

Cost estimation models, or cost calculators, are tools to understand the true cost of delivering early care and education and how that cost varies based on different program or child characteristics.

Access a recorded webinar about what a cost model is and does, as well as Montana’s Technical Manual (to learn how to utilize the cost modeling tool), and the MT Cost Modeling Tool.

Access session presentations from the 2024 MCCBC Summit here. 

Blog from Zero to Five Montana’s Senior Child Care Business Advisor about potential solutions to the new trend of under-enrollment. 

Guest blog from a long-time program director on how critical diversifying revenue has been to her programs. 

Personal insights from Zero to Five Montana’s Program Assistant on why and how offering school-age care is an option to diversify revenue. 

Learn how entering a partnership can accelerate a business’ ability to get started, grow, and stabilize more quickly than a traditional single-owner structure.

Review finding from the first annual survey conducted in January 2023.

Learn about the first year of ARPA funding that supported the build-up of business supports and community capacity building specific to child care.

Review all of the benefits to being a licensed/registered child care program.

Building a strong brand is essential to standing out in today’s competitive market. We’re here to guide you through the process of establishing your brand with this comprehensive checklist.

Blog from Zero to Five Montana’s Director of Program Services on how to set yearly goals and resolutions.

Utilize this template to create a business plan to think about your business in a systemic way.

Utilize this checklist of best practices when getting your business initially organized.

Utilize this tool to ensure you make well-informed financial decisions, how to set goals around minimum balances, and work to increase access to cash.

There are multiple models for licensed/registered child care. Review this document for benefits & considerations.

This toolkit, written in partnership with the Montana Cooperative Development Center walks through what to expect during the four phases of cooperative development with several resources for each.

A resource guide for multiple programmatic philosophies such as play-based learning, Montessori, Faith-based, and more.

Lead with confidence using this toolkit to recruit, retain and grow your child care team.

Sometimes when a collaborative community group is brought together only a small amount of time is given to thinking about who should be involved. Many times this leads to a collection of the “usual suspects” and a lack of valuable community member participation. This tool will help you think about who to invite beyond the obvious or already willing people.

This roadmap is intended to help provide a general overview of building child care capacity through a community-driven approach, and how MCCBC can support community efforts.

View the slides for this tiny training session on how to manage conflict resolution within your organization.

Watch the 30-minute recording for this tiny training session on how to manage conflict resolution within your organization.

Cost estimation models, or cost calculators, are tools to understand the true cost of delivering early care and education and how that cost varies based on different program or child characteristics. Use this tool to estimate your program costs.

Use this Quick Start Guide when using the Cost of Care Modeling tool.

This User Guide is meant to accompany use of the Cost of Care Modeling Tool.

This calculator is designed to help recognize the impacts of making well-informed decisions specific to attracting and retaining employees.

Watch this video with Tracy McIntyre from the MT Cooperative Development center to learn more about Investment Cooperatives, and cooperatives in general.

Learn what wage & hour law is in MT regarding paying for training time. 

This is a 2-hour online training on how to hire the right fit by using 8 best practices in selecting new employees. 

View the slides for this tiny training session on employment law.

Watch the 30-minute recording and view the slides for this tiny training session on employment law.

Zero to Five Montana’s Community Navigator talks about how communities can take steps to support child care needs during the holidays. 

Learn more about the essential framework for marketing your ECE business.

Utilize this checklist to ensure your business has a system of financial controls in place, which include knowledgeable staff, policies, and responsibilities to name a few.

This worksheet allows a child care business owner to enter annual revenue and expenses to determine projected profit/loss for the business.

This worksheet can be used to create a comprehensive financial projection, budget, or forecast. Use this template to illustrate seasonal fluctuations in revenues, expenses, and/or to project debt payments.

What is our Tiny Training series and how to access past recordings. 

This is a comprehensive list of business and financial terms, and their definitions.

Learn more about Zero to Five Montana’s Business Accelerator Mentorship program. 

This is a 2-hour online training that will walk you through creating a business plan. 

View the slides for this tiny training session on how to manage your money.

Watch the 30-minute recording for this tiny training session on how to manage your money.

View the slides for this tiny training session on how to organize your community to work towards sustainable child care solutions.

Watch the 30-minute recording for this tiny training session on how to organize your community to work towards sustainable child care solutions.

Watch the 30-minute recording for this tiny training session on how to set your rates.

View the slides for this tiny training session on how to set your rates.

Access for ideas on how to promote your job openings.

View the slides for this tiny training session on how to operate a sustainable budget without one-time funding such as grants.

Watch the 30-minute recording for this tiny training session on how to operate a sustainable budget without one-time funding such as grants.

View the slides for this tiny training session on how to utilize our business advisor and how it can help your business.

Watch the 30-minute recording for this tiny training session on how to utilize our business advisor and how it can help your business.

View the slides for this tiny training session on how to write a budget and why you need one for your business.

Watch the 30-minute recording for this tiny training session on how to write a budget and why you need one for your business..

Zero to Five Montana’s Community Navigator talks about communities that have participated in our Community Capacity Building cohorts. 

Zero to Five Montana’s Senior Child Care Business Advisor designed a dynamic spreadsheet to assist child care providers in developing a comprehensive staffing plan and wage scale. 

Resources specific to the 45F Employer provided child care tax credit & how it can be used for employee recruitment and retention.

In addition to the IRS document, see:

• https://bipartisanpolicy.org/explainer/employer-provided-child-care-credit/ 

• https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF12379#:~:text=Calculating%20the%2045F%20Credit,to%20the%2025%25%20limit%20are 

• https://www.ffyf.org/policy-priorities/45f/#:~:text=Overview,better%20support%20businesses%20and%20parents. 

LivePlan is an innovative online software tool designed to simplify the business planning process and help you create a comprehensive and professional plan. Whether you’re a startup entrepreneur or an established business owner, LivePlan provides you with all the necessary tools and resources to turn your ideas into a concrete roadmap.

Our Recommendation

At Montana Child Care Business Connect, we highly recommend LivePlan to all aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners. We have seen firsthand how this software has revolutionized the planning process for numerous businesses, enabling them to develop strategies, attract funding, and achieve their goals.

By using LivePlan, you will not only save time and effort in creating a business plan, but you will also gain a deeper understanding of your business model and its potential for success. With the right preparation and robust planning, your journey towards entrepreneurial success becomes much smoother.

LivePlan is also excellent for team collaboration. Providers can offer access to their plan with advisors and other contributors. Communities can customize their action plan and information gathering across committees and partners. Plans get done faster and better using this cloud-based software.

Our license slots are offered for free to communities and entrepreneurs working with one of MCCBC’s programs. Get started planning, analyzing, communicating, and collaborating with this online tool by contacting Jason Nitschke at jasonn@zerotofive.org.

For more information:

• Check out their interactive product tour
• Another video tour
• How to Create a Financial Scenario
• Connecting Live Plan to Quickbooks Online

This is a 1-hour online training covering the 5 benefits of having a marketing and community relations plan for your child care business. 

This shows the impacts across the state from the Montana Child Care Business Connect program.

Be sure to meet CCL requirements and implement an onboarding system that supports new staff and is critical to the success of new employees and the program overall.

View the presentation slides for this tiny training session on onboarding and training employees and why this is critical to the success of your program.

Watch the 30-minute recording for this tiny training session on onboarding and training employees and why this is critical to the success of your program.

View the slides for this tiny training session on tiny training session on performance management.

Watch the 30-minute recording for this tiny training session on performance management.

It is important to have a photo waiver if posting pictures on websites, social media, etc. Utilize this consent waiver rather than having to create one.

“A policy is a document that contains instructions that determine how things are done in your organization. It clearly defines modes of conduct, reflects the organization’s values, and determines the cultural structure of your organization. Your policy is your organization’s action plan.”

This tool will help you determine how best to set rates, based on three basic methods: competition-based, market-based, and cost-informed pricing.

View the slides for this tiny training Q&A session with a lawyer.

Watch the 30-minute recording for this tiny training Q&A session with a lawyer.

Watch the 30-minute recording and view the slides for this tiny training Q&A session with a banker.

Watch the 30-minute recording for this tiny training Q&A session with a banker.

View the slides for this tiny training Q&A session with an accountant.

Watch the 30-minute recording for this tiny training Q&A session with an accountant.

View the slides for this tiny training Q&A session with a human resources professional.

Watch the 30-minute recording and view the slides for this tiny training Q&A session with a human resources professional.

View the presentation slides for this tiny training Q&A session with an insurance agent.

Watch the 30-minute recording for this tiny training Q&A session with an insurance agent.

View the slides for this tiny training session on recruitment best practices and creating a culture to retain employees.

Watch the 30-minute recording for this tiny training session on recruitment best practices and creating a culture to retain employees.

Find ideas to diversify revenue outside of tuition and state subsidy to ensure a sustainable business model.

Zero to Five Montana’s Child Care Business Advisor talks about why parent communication & community engagement are important business practices. 

Zero to Five Montana’s Senior Child Care Business Advisor talks about the power of a growth mindset to solve business problems. 

This is a 2-hour online training on how to operate your business and take care of yourself to minimize burnout.

Utilize this tracker to determine reach of marketing for your business.

Social media outreach can be very positive for your business. Review this document for best practices.

If you are utilizing social media for your child care business it is critical that you have a strong policy that protects children, families, and staff. 

Learn more about tax credits that are available across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. 

View the presentation slides for this tiny training session on the Eisenhower Matrix and how it will benefit your time management sklils.

Watch the 30-minute recording for this tiny training session on the Eisenhower Matrix and how it will benefit your time management sklils.

Zero to Five Montana’s Child Care Business Advisor talks about how important business practices are to operate a successful child care business. 

Zero to Five Montana’s Senior Child Care Business Advisor talks about the realities of grants, and why they cannot and should not be relied on for business sustainability. 

Zero to Five Montana’s Senior Child Care Business Advisor talks about the difficulties in being an entrepreneur, but how Zero to Five Montana is here to support child care business owners. 

Watch the presentation slides for this tiny training session on the benefits of time blocking while managing your child care business.

Watch the 30-minute recording for this tiny training session on the benefits of time blocking while managing your child care business.

Zero to Five Montana’s Senior Child Care Business Advisor provides some tips when preparing for tax filing deadlines as a small business owner. 

Watch the presentation slides for this tiny training session on how to manage your time effectively.

Watch the 30-minute recording for this tiny training session on how to manage your time effectively.

This is a 2-hour online training on how to protect your program from the four most common business risks small businesses face. 

Watch this video with Tracy McIntyre from the MT Cooperative Development center to learn more about the Child Care Cooperative Toolkit that MCDC and Zero to Five MT co-created to walk through creating a child care cooperative model.

Zero to Five Montana’s Senior Child Care Business Advisor talks about the importance of data collection in community work, the main audiences to collect data from, and some questions to be sure to ask. 

Watch the 30-minute recording for this tiny training session on how utilizing technology can create efficiencies and save time on many tasks.

View the slides for this tiny training session to learn 4 ways to increase profits in your program.

Watch the 30-minute recording for this tiny training session to learn 4 ways to increase profits in your program.

View the slides for this tiny training session to learn about MCCBC’s mentorship program.

Watch the 30-minute recording for this tiny training session to learn about MCCBC’s mentorship program.

View the slides for this tiny training session to learn what marketing is and the different types you can utilize in your business.

Watch the 30-minute recording for this tiny training session to learn what marketing is and the different types you can utilize in your business.

Slides for this tiny training session on what a business plan is and why it’s important to have one.

Watch the 30-minute recording for this tiny training session on what a business plan is and why it’s important to have one.

View the slides for this tiny training session on what a cooperative model is and how it can be used in child care.

Watch the 30-minute recording for this tiny training session on what a cooperative model is and how it can be used in child care.

Review four primary considerations when determining which legal entity to select for your child care business.

Successful entrepreneurs have a team to assist them. Learn in this document what your BAIL team should consist of as a child care business owner.

Learn more about setting rates based on actual costs.

View the slides for this tiny training session to learn more about MT Child Care Business Connect.

Watch the 30-minute recording for this tiny training session to learn more about MT Child Care Business Connect.

View the slides for this tiny training session with an insurance agent to learn what risk to your business is and how to minimize those risks.

Watch the 30-minute recording for this tiny training session with an insurance agent to learn what risk to your business is and how to minimize those risks.

Zero to Five Montana’s Community Navigator explores reasons why community collaboration is essential to developing child care solutions, and provides some resources for community development work. 

Zero to Five Montana’s Director of Program services talks through reasons that supporting child care (through a variety of options) as an employer is critical to your workforce, and shares success stories from 2 different businesses. 

Learn why being licensed/registered is an important aspect of giving children the best start possible by providing minimum child care standards to be implemented, and why this matters for your employees.

Learn why being licensed/registered is an important aspect of giving children the best start possible by providing minimum child care standards to be implemented.

This toolkit follows best practices for employing people and provides guidance to walk an employer through that process.