i would love to know if anyone is or has been in my position and any thoughts you may have.

I'm not enjoying childminding, I've been cm 2 yrs now but previously worked 15 yrs in nurseries, schools. I'm still interested in staying in childcare however I don't want to go back to being in nurseries, schools etc as I love the freedom of being self employed and having no management above me dictating me on my day to day basis, well excluding Ofsted obviously!!

I think the main problem is I have no adult interaction during the day and I'm getting bored. I know of some cm's in the area but everyone tends to stick to themselves. Our local children's centre does a couple of groups but they are in the afternoon 1-3 and that's the children's nap time and school run. I've thought about setting up my own group, but don't know how easy this is? I've also thought about looking into starting up a pre school but have absolutely no idea where to even start! I can't hire an assistant as I would need to get more children in for that.

I'm just so stuck and becoming very miserable about it all, anyone been in this position and have any thoughts of wisdom for me?