If you are starting your own daycare business, you are a visionary at heart.
You can foresee children happily playing, napping and eating snacks in your daycare and you can visualize the generous profits to be made from building this business using a simple structure for success. And, you’d be right.
In the following paragraphs the steps to start a daycare while on a tight budget are outlined for your consideration and use. Let’s get started:
Step 1: Create the Financial Plan for Your Daycare.
Why produce this plan first when so many other items demand your time and attention? Because you are starting this daycare on a thin budget, you may need to secure startup or seed funding from family members, investors or banks. If so, you’ll need to know the amounts required and you’ll need time to order and stock the daycare in advance of launching your business. Use this business plan for a daycare to complete the financial portion of your business plan.
If, after completion of your financial forecast, it appears that you need startup funding, you can consider using one of the available sources to present your business plan for consideration. If you approach a lender, a loan may be provided with a payment schedule to repay the loan with interest. If you approach an investor, repayment may not be needed, but the investor will want to own part of your business. In either case, consider any offers carefully before accepting loans.
Step 2: Consider the Wants and Needs of the Parent Customers.
To gain an understanding of who your customers will be, create a demographic, or image, of what common interests they have in your business.
For example, will parents want the ability to leave children all day, a partial day, or only on a on-call basis? Do parents expect teaching or training of the children or will the daycare be play days only? What are parents willing to pay for daycare services? What is the average socioeconomic status of the parents? What concerns do parents have about daycare?
These questions can be answered by offering a poll to parents, or you can assess parents as they discuss their child’s entry into daycare. Either way, build an “average image” of parents that you can use for marketing purposes.
Step 3: Determine Who Your Competitors Are and Their Locations.
To determine where your competitors may be, look online, through community news, and at local events. Learn what pricing is offered to parents and what the structure of the school contains. Is it a full week of daycare or does the daycare offer partial days or on-call services? Do the children receive learning or training in any areas and what special offers are made to parents by the daycare?
Create an assessment of all competitors and then determine what offers your daycare could provide that would overcome the competitors. Bring two or three ideas to fruition and use as needed.
Step 4: Choose a Location and Outfit the Facility and Outdoor Areas.
Choosing a location will mean searching for the facility and play yard area that are best suited to the children. Because you are starting this business on a dime, you may not be able to afford the most advantageous daycare in the best location; seek facilities that are clean and include newer electrical, sewer, and plumbing fixtures, pipes and vents. Look at outdoor play areas as a “work in progress,” if the area is threadbare and worn.
When you start a daycare on a dime, you will want to purchase the essentials first: cribs, toddler chairs, tables, high chairs, child walkers, and toddler beds. Purchase furnishings as needed, including cubby shelves and cartons, and outdoor play sets. Plan on meeting needs very carefully and withholding cash for unknown contingencies or other needs.
Step 5: Market Your Daycare on a Dime.
Create a marketing plan and use your computer to do the marketing for you until you can afford to purchase other strategic methods to meet parents and encourage attendance. First, send out an announcement online to all parents you’ve made contact with to inform them of your daycare opening. Follow this with announcements of specifics related to the daycare opening.
If possible, include an interactive button that says, “Ask a question,” so parents can effectively reach you and include a Q & A section on the landing page to communicate with parents. Also, use social media callouts to update followers with the launch news.
Step 6: Place the various components of your business plan together in one document.
Use the newly-made business plan for presentations and other startup business meetings. In the meantime, encourage children to attend, engage with parents, create a unique offering, and get ready for the word of mouth to spread. We wish you the best of success!
