in partnership with another CM

[Helen Dempster]

hi all

I was talking to a friend of mine earlier, who's just become reg'd but is having quite a tough time getting to grips with paperwork etc and quite frankly, getting herself in a state! I was wondering about maybe setting up together with her instead...but obviously not as an assistant that I would have to pay as I can't afford that! Is there a way that two CMs are able to work together, but still with their own businesses (if that makes sense!) I don't really know how to explain it too well, sorry...hopefully someone will understand what I mean (*crosses fingers*)

[lisa1968]

I thought about doing this-very briefly-but once I thought about the pro's and cons of it, I decided it wouldn't work.Here's why;
Who's house would you be using?Does that person really want all the mess/damage/children/parents at their house all the time?
What would happen in holidays,or if that person were sick?
I have a very good friend who I have known for years-she is also a CM-but I couldn't work with her as she does things very differently;she sticks to a strict routine whereas I am a bit more laid back.
What about planning?Who would do what etc?
And,without being mean,if she's struggling with paperwork,are you going to end up doing it all?

On the plus side,you've got someone to work with,and some company!

I would just keep going as you are and maybe offer a helping hand with paperwork every now and again.

[kel1983]

I work alongside my mum co minding. But we live together so easier for us. We have our own key children and money. We have worked it so we earn approx the same amount. Paperwork is done together. We write our own learning journals but with each others help.

[karensmart4]

I work with a co-minder from my house (I started, she joined me a yr later), it works well for us and we are now in our 11th yr.

First of all you need to work the money side out..... we work to a % we don't say, 'that's your child and that's mine' it just wouldn't work.

If you enjoy paperwork (some people do you know) then lead the other one until they are confident.

Use each others skills etc.

You could have a late finish one day a month to have a planning/resources meeting.

If you're going to join forces you need to think what you want out of it, and how you would end it if it didn't work out.

There are lots of advantages to working with someone else ..... one of them being, you can go to the toilet in peace :thumbsup:

[jane5]

I know 2 minders that work very closely together.

They both have their own children and both work from there own houses but take turns to meet every day at 1 of the houses. They share all of their paperwork and have permission from the parents to care for each others children.

They keep their own fees from their individual children and do their own advertising so are basically still working for themselves but have each other for company and support.

It works well for them but they were friends before they both became registered.

[Rick]

I very nearly joined forces with another childminder but as mentioned before, weighing up the pros and cons it just wouldn't work. We were both struggling to get mindees and thought a male and female childminder team might appeal to parents. We thought that we might be a good middle ground between a childminder (some parents don't like the idea of one person looking after their children) and a nursery as so many parents automatically think nursery is the better option.

I loved the idea but worried that trying to split finances/workload would cause more headaches than it might solve. As it happens I have managed to find mindees and getting towards full (probably just need one more mindee).