Preschool Business Plan
Preschool Business Plan
Preschool Business Plan
The Preschool industry operators provide day care services for children under the ages
of three and four to prepare them for kindergarten. The dispersion of the preschool
programs reflects in the geographic distribution of the children, which is also influenced
by the cost and supply of pre – school programs, income and housing affordability
patterns, labor, and child care subsidy policies. Also, varying state and local regulations
and licensing requirements affect employment in this industry.
According to research and statistics, this industry generates $53 billion annually, and is
projected to have an annual growth rate of 2.5% by 2016. The number of business in
this industry amounts to 768,021, employing 1,664,311 people. There are about 53,000
commercial facilities, plus about 21,000 facilities run by non-profit organizations. The
industry is highly fragmented as the top 50 companies generate less than 20% of
revenue for the entire industry.
Preschool programs became popular especially as more percentage of women in the
workforce grew by nearly 71% in 2007. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics
(BLS), 28% of mothers with young children worked in 1975, which has more than
doubled by 60% by 2013. Over the same period, employees in the daycare industry
increased by nearly 250%. The bureau also noted that investment in childcare by non-
profit and government agencies, as well as new tax credits, also helped to fuel the
industry’s growth.
According to the Child Care Aware group, about 11 million children under the ages of 5,
spend an average of 35 hours a week in childcare. Infants in center-based care had an
average annual cost that ranged from $5,496 in Mississippi to $16,549 in
Massachusetts; 4 year olds had care in a center ranging from $4,515 in Tennessee to
$12,320 in Massachusetts; with the quality of care and degree of regulation varying
widely. Also, childcare workers were seen to be paid the lowest wages in any
professional field, $21,490 on average.
However, the recovery of the economy is already impacting greatly on the preschool
market. Parents and especially mothers are going back to work, thereby causing the
demand for preschools and preschool services to grow. This means that disposable
income will increase which will let parents especially women put more resources
towards child care like the high value early educational programs.
Even though this might seem like a saturated field, it isn’t, as there is always a constant
demand for parents to prepare their children for proper schooling. The incentives in
venturing into or starting a pre – school are having an impact on toddlers who are
struggling academically and getting them engaged so that their parents will carry out
their businesses or other activities.
The Future Stars® Preschool is going to offer daycare services within the scope of the
education board in the United States of America. Our intention of starting our pre –
school is to soundly prepare toddlers who are under the ages of three and four for
kindergarten and of course to make profits from the education industry and we will do all
that is permitted by the law in the US to achieve our aim and business goal.
Our service offerings are listed below;
Provide daycare services for children under the ages of three and four to prepare
them for kindergarten.
Running a Standard and licensed Daycare Center
Offering Home Tutor Services for toddlers as requested by their parents
Retailing of Kids Educational Books and Materials
Our mission is to provide professional, safe and conducive daycare and learning
environment to toddlers. Our overall business goal is to position our tutorial college to
become the leading pre -school brand in the educational industry in the whole of Ashville
– North Carolina, and also to be amongst the top 50 preschools / daycare center in the
United States of America within the first 10 years of operations.
Future Stars® Pre – School will build a solid business structure that can support the
growth of our pre – school. We will ensure that we hire competent hands to help us build
the business of our dream. The fact that we want to become the leading pre – school /
daycare brand in the educational industry in the whole of Ashville – North Carolina
makes it highly necessary to deliberately build a well – structured business from the
onset.
At Future Stars® Preschool we will ensure that we hire people that are qualified,
hardworking, creative, customer centric and are ready to work to help us build a
prosperous business that will benefit all the stake holders (the owners, workforce, and
customers).
As a matter of fact, profit-sharing arrangement will be made available to all our long
serving senior staff members and it will be based on their performance for a period of
five years or more as agreed by the board of trustees of the company.
In view of the above, we have decided to hire qualified and competent hands to occupy
the following positions;
Responsible for providing direction for the pre – school / daycare center
Creating, communicating, and implementing the organization’s vision, mission,
and overall direction – i.e. leading the development and implementation of the
overall organization’s strategy.
Responsible for handling high profile clients and deals
Responsible for fixing fees and signing business deals (partnership)
Responsible for signing checks and documents on behalf of the tutorial college
Coordinates all arms of the pre – school
Evaluates the success of the pre – school / daycare center
Reports to the board of the pre – school / daycare center
School Administrator
Responsible for changing diapers for kids and cleaning them up when they
messed up themselves
Responsible for feeding toddlers
Ensures that toddlers sleep as at when due and help calm them when they are
crying
Goes the extra mile to ensure that toddles are comfortable and well taken care of.
Contributes his / her quota towards growing the pre – school / daycare center
Receives complaints from parents and channel it to the appropriate quarters
Handles any other duty as assigned by the school coordinator.
Identifies, prioritizes, and reaches out to new parents, and business opportunities
et al
Identifies development opportunities; follows up on development leads and
contacts; participates in the structuring and financing of projects; assures the
completion of development projects.
Writing winning proposal documents, negotiate fees and rates in line with
organizations’ policy
Responsible for handling business research, market surveys and feasibility
studies for clients
Responsible for supervising implementation, advocate for the customer’s needs,
and communicate with clients
Develops, executes and evaluate new plans for expanding increase sales
Document all customer contact and information
Represents the company in strategic meetings
Help increase sales and growth for the company
Accountant / Bursar
Responsible for preparing financial reports, budgets, and financial statements for
the organization
Provides managements with financial analyses, development budgets, and
accounting reports; analyzes financial feasibility for the most complex proposed
projects; conducts market research to forecast trends and business conditions.
Responsible for financial forecasting and risks analysis.
Performs cash management, general ledger accounting, and financial reporting
for one or more properties.
Responsible for developing and managing financial systems and policies
Responsible for administering payrolls
Ensuring compliance with taxation legislation
Handles all financial transactions for the tutorial college
Serves as internal auditor for the tutorial college
Security Officers
Strength:
Our core strength lies in the power of our team; our workforce. We have a team that has
the right passion and drive for taking care of toddlers, a team with excellent
qualifications and experience in daycare / pre – school education. We are well
positioned in a community with the right demographic composition and we know we will
attract loads of parents who would want to enroll their kids from the first day we open our
doors for daycare services.
Weakness:
As a new pre – school / daycare center in Ashville – North Carolina, it might take some
time for our organization to break into the market and gain acceptance in the already
saturated pre – school / education industry; that is perhaps our major weakness. Also
we might not have the required money to pump into advertising and promoting our brand
the way we would want to.
Opportunities:
The opportunities in the pre – school / education industry is massive considering the
number of parents who would want their kids under school age to be in safe place and to
get them prepared for kindergarten. As a standard, safe and highly comfortable daycare
center, we are ready to take advantage of any opportunity that comes our way.
Threat:
Every business faces a threats or challenges at any part of the life cycle of the business.
These threats can be external or internal. This shows the importance of a business plan,
because most threats or challenges are to be anticipated and plans put in place to
cushion what effect they might bring to the pre – school.
Some of the threats that we are likely going to face as a pre – school operating in the
United States of America are unfavorable government policies that might affect daycare
centers, the arrival of a competitor within our location of operations and global economic
downturn which usually affects spending / purchasing power. There is hardly anything
we can do as regards these threats other than to be optimistic that things will continue to
work for our good.
Market Trends
The trend in the pre – school / daycare center line of business is that the keys to
attracting parents to enroll their wards is the safety, cleanliness, location and of course
the overall comfort of their toddlers. The trend in the daycare center industry is such that
players in this industry can now comfortably start their daycare business in an business
district; a place where it is easier for working class parents to take advantage of their
launch breaks and even tea breaks to dash down to breast – feed and cuddle their
children before dashing back to work.
The demand for pre – schools is driven by the fact that most parents work or are
engaged in businesses that takes them away from their kids that are under school age
and one of the options left is to enroll such kid in a daycare center.
The economic downturn hasn’t really affected this industry, especially in countries that
believe in the efficacy of early education. The areas you would need to spend heavily on
is in ensuring that your school is up to standard, is the facility, your advertisements, and
insurance.
As a standard preschool / daycare center, Future Stars® Pre – School offers a wide
range of pre – school services hence we are well trained and equipped to services a
wide range of kids are different growth level irrespective of any challenges et al.
Our target market as a preschool / daycare center cuts across parents with kids under
school age of different class and people from all walks of life. We are coming into the pre
– school / education industry with a business concept that will enable us work with the
toddlers at different learning stages.
Below is a list of the parents / toddlers that we have specifically design our pre – school
services for;
Sources of Income
Future Stars® Preschool is established with the aim of maximizing profits in the
preschool / education industry and we are going to go all the way to ensure that we do
all it takes to attract parents on a regular basis. Future Stars® Preschool will generate
income by offering the following services;
Provide daycare services for children under the ages of three and four to prepare
them for kindergarten.
Running a Standard and licensed Daycare Center
Offering Home Tutor Services for toddlers as requested by their parents
Retailing of Kids Educational Books and Materials
Sales Forecast
One thing is certain; there would always be parents who may want their kids under
school age to be in safe place and to get them prepared for kindergarten. As a standard,
safe and highly comfortable daycare center, we are ready to take advantage of any
opportunity that comes our way.
We are well positioned to take on the available market in Ashville – North Carolina and
we are quite optimistic that we will meet our set target of generating enough income /
profits from the first six month of operations and grow the pre – school and our student
base.
We have been able to critically examine the preschool / daycare center market and we
have analyzed our chances in the industry and we have been able to come up with the
following sales forecast. The sales projection is based on information gathered on the
field and some assumptions that are peculiar to similar startups in Ashville – North
Carolina.
Below is the sales projection for Future Stars® Pre – School, it is based on the location
of our daycare center and of course the wide range of pre – school services that we will
be offering;
N.B: This projection is done based on what is obtainable in the industry and with the
assumption that there won’t be any major economic meltdown and natural disasters
within the period stated above. So, there won’t be any major competitor offering same
additional services as we do within same location. Please note that the above projection
might be lower and at the same time it might be higher.
Generally for pre – school and daycare services flat fees on a weekly or monthly basis is
what is obtainable. As a result of this, Future Stars® Pre – School will charge our
parents who enrolled their toddlers in our daycare center flat fees except for few
occasions where there will be need for us to charge special students on hourly basis.
At Future Stars® Pre – School we will keep our fees below the average market rate for
all of our students by keeping our overhead low and by collecting payment in advance.
In addition, we will also offer special discounted rates to all our students at regular
intervals.
We are aware that there are some kids that would need special assistance, we will offer
flat rate for such services that will be tailored to take care of such kids’ needs.
Payment Options
At Future Stars® Pre – School, our payment policy will be all inclusive because we are
quite aware that different people prefer different payment options as it suits them. Here
are the payment options that we will make available to our clients;
In view of the above, we have chosen banking platforms that will help us achieve our
plans with little or no itches.
Preschool Business Plan – Publicity and Advertising Strategy
We have been able to work with our brand and publicity consultants to help us map out
publicity and advertising strategies that will help us walk our way into the heart of our
target market. We are set to become the number one choice for both parents and
students in the whole of Ashville – North Carolina which is why we have made
provisions for effective publicity and advertisement of our pre – school / daycare center.
Below are the platforms we intend to leverage on to promote and advertise Future
Stars® Pre – School;
Place adverts on both print (community based newspapers and magazines) and
electronic media platforms
Sponsor relevant community based events / programs
Leverage on the internet and social media platforms like; Instagram, Facebook ,
twitter, YouTube, Google + et al to promote our brand
Install our Bill Boards on strategic locations all around Ashville – North Carolina.
Engage in road show from time to time in targeted neighborhoods
Distribute our fliers and handbills in target areas
Contact corporate organizations by calling them up and informing them of our pre
– school / daycare center, and the advantage we over the others.
Passing general information via our social media handles like twitter, Facebook,
Google hangouts etc.
Ensure that all our staff members wear our branded shirts and all our vehicles are
well branded with our schools’ logo et al.
Business incorporating fees in the United States of America will cost – $750.
The budget for Liability insurance, permits and license will cost – $3,500
Acquiring a facility / property that will accommodate the number of kids that we
want to take care of for at least 6 months (Re – Construction of the facility
inclusive) will cost – $35,000.
Equipping the office (computers, printers, projectors, markers, pens and pencils,
furniture, telephones, filing cabinets, and electronics) will cost – $10,000
The budget for paying staff members and utility bills for at least 3 months –
$70,000
The budget for start – up inventories (toiletries, toys, cots, and mats et al) –
$2,500
Launching an official Website will cost – $500
Additional Expenditure such as Business cards, Signage, Adverts and
Promotions will cost – $5,000
Going by the report from the market research and feasibility studies conducted, we will
need about two hundred and fifty thousand (250,000) U.S. dollars to successfully set –
up a medium scale but standard and well equipped pre – school / daycare center in the
United States of America.
Generating Funding / Startup Capital for Future Stars® Pre – School
Future Stars® Pre – School is a private business that will be owned by Mrs. Clara Jake
– McPherson and family. They are the sole financial of the business which is why they
decided to restrict the sourcing of the start – up capital for the business to just three
major sources.
These are the areas we intend generating our start – up capital;
Generate part of the start – up capital from personal savings and sale of his
stocks
Generate part of the start – up capital from friends and other extended family
members
Generate a larger chunk of the startup capital from the bank (loan facility).
N.B: We have been able to generate about $100,000 (Personal savings $85,000 and
soft loan from family members $15,000) and we are at the final stages of obtaining a
loan facility of $150,000 from our bank. All the papers and document has been duly
signed and submitted, the loan has been approved and any moment from now our
account will be credited.
PRESCHOOL BUSINESS GROWTH: Sustainability and Expansion Strategy
It is easier for businesses to survive when they have steady flow of business deals /
customers patronizing their products and services. We are aware of this which is why we
have decided to offer a wide range of tutorial services and other related services to high
school students, students with disabilities and elderly students (adult education).
We know that if we continue to deliver excellent daycare services, there will be steady
flow of income for the organization.
Our key sustainability and expansion strategy is to ensure that we only hire competent
and selfless staff members, create a conducive working environment and employee
benefits for our staff members. In the nearest future, we will explore the options of either
selling out franchise or expanding our scope beyond Ashville – North Carolina to other
major cities in the United States of America.
We know that if we implement our business strategies, we will achieve our business
goals and objectives in record time.
Check List / Milestone