This paper is addressed to those who want to start their own child care center, and provides guidelines for doing so. It identifies the first things to be considered--planning and conducting a community needs assessment to analyze the competition in the area and make the decision of opening a day care center, and gathering information from a variety of sources and agencies regarding rules and regulations. Representatives from each of these agencies should be requested to visit the proposed site and review the plans, which should include playground plans. The business management skills required to get started are outlined and discussed briefly. These pertain to developing a business plan that will project the growth of the business for at least 3 to 5 years, a start-up budget that is based on the amount of funding required to open the center, and an operating budget that establishes a month-to-month income and expenditure. Following this, the paper highlights the following tasks that need attention and will impact the budget: (1) interior and exterior design and arrangement; (2) selecting and purchasing equipment; (3) developing the educational program and/or the curriculum; (4) finding, selecting and hiring staff; and (5) building enrollment. Included in the paper are lists of additional resources, organizations, and companies related to child care. (BAC)