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Running a pre – school can be a very rewarding and profitable venture. An entrepreneur who is
interested in children education and also having a business might find that opening a preschool would
meet both desires. Before starting a preschool, one must be prepared by ensuring that they carefully
plan out the venture from the beginning, by researching on local and state laws that govern pre – school
education business.
There must also be planning as regards space, getting insurance, developing a curriculum, hiring
additional staff, advertising and registration of children. A pre – school program is a business that
requires that no details be overlooked.
The first thing that needs to be done before starting out is in contacting the local governing body of child
care for relevant information regarding the opening of a preschool. When approaching the governing
agency, ask to meet with the administrators, so as to discuss your business idea, and get information on
how to become a licensed preschool program provider.
After gathering all the information that you would need including written literature, you would need to
contact the local government as regards getting a license to start. Depending on the state you will be
operating in, you might be required to register and pay a fee to obtain licensees.
No business is complete without a business plan. This will allow you to clearly see if the business will
prosper or not. The business plan should include where you intend to source for capital. You will also
need to ensure that the property you intend to use as a facility is in an acceptable area from which the
business can be started, even if it is a section of your own residence, this can be done by contacting the
zoning department of your local government, and if the area you choose is not suitable, you will be
advised on suitable areas.
After applying for a business license as required by the state and meeting any other special
requirements needed in order to become a preschool, you should then consult with insurance agencies
regarding the right coverage for your facility. Ensure you choose a plan that will adequately cover you,
your clients, as well as your business.
Lastly, ensure that you prepare your location for safety inspections, while ensuring that your facility has
emergency evacuation plan in place for any unforeseen circumstances or disasters. Also prepare a
curriculum for your pre – school program.
You can either choose an established program from a particular publisher or choose various materials
from several publishers, while not forgetting that you have an option of creating your own curriculum.
Do not also forget to hire qualified staff after running background checks, and marketing your school.
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.
Future Stars® Pre – School is a standard and well – equipped pre – school that will be located in a well –
populated residential estate in Ashville – North Carolina, United States of America. We are a preschool
that provide day care services for children under the ages of three and four to prepare them for
kindergarten. Aside from the fact that we will operate a preschool center, we will also engage in home
tutoring – we will go to the homes of our students as demanded by their parents.
Future Stars® Preschool is a client-focused and result driven preschool that provides day care services
and broad-based learning approaches and experience at an affordable fee that won’t in any way put a
hole in the pocket of our clients (parents). We will offer a standard and professional pre – school
daycare and teaching services designed for toddlers in a highly secured, neat and conducive learning
environment. We will ensure that we work hard to meet and surpass all our parents’ expectations and
educational goals whenever they enroll their kids in our pre – school.
At Future Stars® Preschool, our kids’ and their parents’ overall best interest would always come first,
and everything we do is guided by our values and professional ethics. We will ensure that we hire
professional educationist and care – giver who are well trained to handle kids that are of pre – school
age in various kids development learning areas who are well experienced and passionate in imparting
knowledge to toddlers at various learning ladder (potty training, rhymes, walking, dancing and talking et
al).
Future Stars® Preschool will at all times demonstrate her commitment to sustainability, both individually
and as an educational organization, by actively participating in our communities and integrating
sustainable business practices wherever possible. We will ensure that we hold ourselves accountable to
the highest standards by meeting our clients’ (parents) needs precisely and completely. We will cultivate
a working environment that provides a human, sustainable approach to earning a living, and living in our
world, for our partners, employees and for our students.
Our overall business goal is to position Future Stars® Pre – School 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 pre – schools in the United States of America within the first 10 years of operations.
This might look too tall a dream but we are optimistic that this will surely come to pass because we have
done our research and feasibility studies and we are enthusiastic and confident that Ashville – North
Carolina is the right place to launch our pre – school; they have the right demographic composition that
can support and sustain our business model.
Future Stars® Preschool is founded by Mrs. Clara Jake – MacPherson. She has a Degree in Education with
bias in children education and she has well over 16 years of experience in the educational industry in the
United States of America. She will be bringing in her wealth of experience to help build Future Stars® Pre
– School to enviable heights.
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.
Provide daycare services for children under the ages of three and four to prepare them for kindergarten.
Our vision is to build a highly competitive pre – school / daycare center that will become the number
one choice for parents in the whole of Ashville – North Carolina. Our vision reflects our values: integrity,
service, excellence and teamwork.
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;
School Administrator
Accountant / Bursar
Cleaners
Security Officer
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 signing checks and documents on behalf of the tutorial college
School Administrator
Responsible for overseeing the smooth running of HR and administrative tasks for the pre – school
Design job descriptions with KPI to drive performance management for all staff members
Regularly hold meetings with key stakeholders (parents and member of the school board) to review the
effectiveness of the schools’ Policies, Procedures and Processes
Maintains office supplies by checking stocks; placing and expediting orders; evaluating new products.
Oversee the smooth running of the daily activities of the tutorial college.
Ensure that kids participate in learning activities such as potty trainings, rhymes and dancing et al
Responsible for changing diapers for kids and cleaning them up when they messed up themselves
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
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
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.
Performs cash management, general ledger accounting, and financial reporting for one or more
properties.
Responsible for developing and managing financial systems and policies
Welcomes toddlers and their parents by greeting them in person or on the telephone; answering or
directing inquiries.
Ensures that all contacts with parents (e-mail, walk-In center, SMS or phone) provides them with a
personalized customer service experience of the highest level
Through interaction with parents on the phone, uses every opportunity to build their interest in the
school’s products and services
Manages administrative duties assigned by the school coordinator in an effective and timely manner
Consistently stays abreast of any new information on the schools’ products, promotional campaigns etc.
to ensure accurate and helpful information is supplied to students when they make enquiries
Cleaners:
Maintain a clean daycare facility by sweeping, vacuuming, dusting, cleaning of glass doors and windows,
etc. if required.
Security Officers
Ensure that the daycare facility is secured at all time
Future Stars® Pre – School engaged the services of a core professional in the area of business consulting
and structuring to assist our pre – school in building a well – structured educational business that can
favorably compete in the highly competitive education industry.
Part of what the team of business consultant did was to work with the management of our organization
in conducting a SWOT analysis for Future Stars® Pre – School. Here is a summary from the result of the
SWOT analysis that was conducted on behalf of The Future Stars® Pre – School;
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.
Our Target Market
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;
Parents with toddlers under school age who run their own business and are too busy to take care of
their wards during business hours
This field is a highly intense one because of the level of quality service offerings by the pre – schools,
who are more pressured to deliver better services. Due to this pressure, there is a jostling amongst the
different pre – schools to get more parents to enroll their toddlers in their daycare center, thereby
increasing their earnings as well.
We are quite aware that to be highly competitive in the preschool / education industry means that you
should be able to deliver consistent quality service, parents should be able to experience remarkable
difference and improvement in their toddlers and you should be able to meet the expectations of the
educational governing board in the United States of America.
Our competitive advantage 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 / preschool 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.
Lastly, all our employees will be well taken care of, and their welfare package will be among the best
within our category (startups pre – school / daycare center in the United States) in the industry meaning
that they will be more than willing to build the business with us and help deliver our set goals and
achieve all our business aims and objectives.
We are mindful of the fact that there is stiffer competition amongst pre – schools / daycare centers in
the United States of America hence we have been able to hire some of the best marketing experts to
handle our sales and marketing.
Our sales and marketing team will be recruited base on their vast experience in the industry and they
will be trained on a regular basis so as to be well equipped to meet their targets and the overall goal of
Future Stars® Pre – School. We want to build a standard and first – class pre – school / daycare center
that will leverage on word of mouth advertisement from satisfied parents
Our goal is to grow our preschool to become one of the top 50 pre – schools / daycare center in the
United States of America which is why we have mapped out strategy that will help us take advantage of
the available market and grow to become a major force to reckon with not only in Ashville – North
Carolina but also in other cities in the United States of America.
Future Stars® Pre – School is set to make use of the following marketing and sales strategies to attract
clients;
Introduce our pre – school / daycare center by sending introductory letters alongside our brochure to
parents / household and key stake holders in Ashville – North Carolina.
Print out fliers and business cards and strategically drop them in religious centers, libraries and public
facilities.
Use friends and family to spread word about your pre – school / daycare center
Post information about our pre – school / daycare center on bulletin boards in places like churches,
maternity clinics, parks, libraries, and local coffee shops et al
Place a small or classified advertisement in the newspaper, or local publication about our pre – school /
daycare center
Leverage on referral networks such as agencies that will help match parents with toddlers under school
age with our pre – school/ daycare center.
Join relevant association or body that will enable you network and meet others in same industry.
Advertising online by using an advertising platform such as Google Adwords, that will allow us place text
advertisements alongside on websites with related contents, and along results from search engines.
Advertise our pre – school in relevant educational magazines, newspapers, TV stations, and radio
station.
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.
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.
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
Install our Bill Boards on strategic locations all around Ashville – North Carolina.
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.
In setting up a pre – school business, the amount or cost will depend on the approach and scale you
want to undertake. If you intend to go big by renting a place, then you would need a higher amount of
capital as you would need to ensure that your employees are well taken care of, and that your pre –
school’s environment is conducive enough to keep kids.
This means that the start-up can either be low or high depending on your goals, vision and aspirations
for your business.
The materials and equipment that will be used are nearly the same cost everywhere, and any difference
in prices would be minimal and can be overlooked. As for the detailed cost analysis for starting a pre –
school business; it might differ in other countries due to the value of their money. However, this is what
it would cost us in the United of America;
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
Opening of Corporate Bank Accounts various banks in the United States: Completed
Purchase of the Needed furniture, office equipment, electronic appliances and facility facelift: In
progress
Creating Awareness for the pre – school in Ashville – North Carolina: In Progress
Establishing business relationship with vendors and key players in the education industry: In Progress