It is really tough out there. =< My mom has her ECE degree but she got it eons ago and did daycare in her home for over 20 years. Is that a possibility for you? My mom liked it because it let her work with kids and let her be home with her OWN kids too. You might look into it? It doesn't pay big bucks but it might do the job. If you have some kind of childcare resource service around you, try and get hooked up - they'll forward people your way if you have openings and everything. And if you have other certs you can probably be a licensed provider (what my mom was) and that is a perk for potential families...
It's a good idea, sadly our state has draconian licensing requirements.
Plus I'm living with my parents right now. They might be open to one or two kids as a nanny situation, but probably no more than that. Looking into families that want a nanny in their home because I've done a lot of that, but it seems like every stay at home mom in the area is desperate for a job like that and is way undercutting everyone (like charging $25 for a full 10 hour day).
I worked for a lady that had an in home daycare and one of the rules is you have to have a 5 foot fence all around the play yard. Well, the inspector dropped in one fall morning. The kids were playing outside and making a leaf pile in the corner to jump in. So she measured the fence height all the way around and when she came to the leaf pile it came up 4 and a half feet. My boss got a $2000 fine.
She got hit with two other ridiculous things during that visit for a total of $6000. She appealed, they said no, and it nearly put her out of business. That's when she decided to sell her house, move to India, and do relief work with orphans instead.
When I get my own house/property, I plan to open a very small dog boarding facility (like 10 or less dogs). The liability is so much lower if someone gets injured, insurance is way less, licensing requirements are a lot less strict, and if you're charging $25 or so per night that's $250 a day with a full kennel. Plus my kids could still be at home with me.