Are you about starting a nursery school? If YES, here is a complete sample nursery school business plan template & feasibility report you can use for FREE.
Okay, so we have considered all the requirements for starting a nursery school. We also took it further by analyzing and drafting a sample nursery school marketing plan template backed up by actionable guerrilla marketing ideas for nursery schools. So let’s proceed to the business planning section.
We all know that a nursery school is a pre-school childcare facility that are actually open all year round and all day to take care of kids of working or busy parents.
This business is not an easy business, which is why if you’re not certain about committing to a full-time business, there are other ways that you could be involved in childcare – from running a crèche to a playgroup. You can even start and organize a self-employed childminder at home.
It is very important to note that starting a nursery is certainly not a shortcut to wealth. In fact, you could probably make more money driving a taxi than running your own nursery. But, if you want to start a business that will be inspiring, provide hourly challenges and a lot of rewards then you should consider starting a nursery school.
Before you start your nursery, it would be wise to write down your business plan. If you are going to go through the rough patch of starting a nursery school, you should run it like a business venture, not as a hobby.
One other hurdle that you will need to scale as you start out in this industry is to write a business plan. Below is a detailed business plan for your consumption.
Nursery Schools provide preschool education services for children aged three and four, combined with day care. Most businesses in the nursery school industry are private but may get funding from a variety of sources, including state and federal grants.
We all know that getting affordable, quality child day care, especially for children under age 5, is a major concern for many parents, particularly in recent years with the rise in families with two working parents. As the need for child day care has increased, the child day care services industry began to fill the need of non-relative child care.
It was estimated that within the past five years, strained household income and pressures on local budgets have shortened the spending on nursery schools, moving the nursery school industry revenue to reduce drastically. But it has been estimated that in the coming years, improved household income and greater public attention to early education will aid to turn the nursery school industry.
Still, grand plans for preschool expansion, including a tentative plan to provide multibillion-dollar investment by increasing taxes on tobacco and on high-income households, are unlikely to come to fruition in the near future.
Also it has been verified that this industry shows a low level of capital intensity, measured as spending on capital versus labour. It is expected that the average nursery school will spend only $0.05 on depreciable capital for every $1.00 spent on labour in the next two to three years.
It is believed that nursery schools will continue to rely on teachers and other staff, employing little capital beside school buses and software.
In addition, this capital wears out slowly, limiting depreciation spending per year. It is expected that the capital intensity of the industry will remain low through 2022. Conversely, labour intensity will remain high, with wages being the single largest cost for an industry operator.
Covenant Academy is a new, standard, and a full-service nursery school in the Sterling City that will take care of toddlers from age three to five. We at Covenant Academy hope to focus on the upper end of the market: double-income professional parents.
We believe that these personally ambitious parents are typically eager in terms of their children’s development and will be willing to pay to have their children attend the best educational facilities. We believe that through adequate and specialized training of our prospective staff and our innovative learning systems, we at Covenant Academy will be able to take over the market entirely.
We believe that our well sustained educational curriculum, coupled with a custom designed facility and a low teacher: student ratio will make sure we achieve a top shelf service for the children and the parents.
We at Covenant Academy expect to become profitable by month 12, and have estimated a modest net profit by year three. Our objectives at Covenant Academy for the first two years of operation will be to create a service based operation whose primary goal is to exceed customer’s expectations.
We also expect the utilization of Covenant Academy by at least 40 different families in the first eight months. We at Covenant Academy hope to increase the number of client’s served by 20% each year and also develop a sustainable, profitable, start-up business.
Covenant Academy will be located in Sterling City, Texas, and will offer child care services for kids between the ages of three and five.
We at Covenant Academy plan to offer our innovative services from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. The cute kids of our prospective clients we believe will be exposed to a large range of activities including arts and crafts, socialization, large muscle group activities, and general learning.
We at Covenant Academy believe that we will be priced out of some people’s budget, but will offer a low student to teacher ratio and well trained staff.
We at Covenant Academy plan to offer the good people of Sterling City an upper-end nursery school facility for toddlers age three to five.
We hope to offer a low teacher to student ratio, custom facilities, and innovative learning programs. Our operation hours at Covenant Academy will be a bit wider rage than normal business hours to accommodate the working parents, the target customer.
We at Covenant Academy understand that the two income families have children, yet both parents work. That is why Covenant Academy was established as an innovative solution that acts as virtual parents, broadening the children’s skills during the day.
It is worthwhile to note that Covenant Academy is not a babysitter facility but a fully fledged Nursery school. The children are engaged throughout the day, learning new skills and reinforcing already acquired ones.
Our Business Structure
Craig Sissy, the founder and owner of Covenant Academy will be managing the daily operations of the facility. Craig Sissy got his undergraduate degree in English from the University of Washington. After graduating with a Second class upper division, Craig was no actually sure of what he wanted to do so he travelled to Australia and taught English for four years.
Within the first two years of his stay in Australia, Craig stayed with a local family. In exchange for room and board, he cared for the family’s two children. Although he had never done any child care before, Matt found love and satisfaction just taking care of the kids.
When he returned to the united states Craig decided to start a solid career in the field that makes him happy and fulfilled. Ultimately, He entered the University of California for his Master of Education Program in toddler development.
After graduation, Craig became very confident in his abilities and decided that he would appreciate the autonomy of running his own business. He purchased a house for the facility has been working hard on this project ever since. He has layer a basic foundation that will surely guarantee success and these are the very workforce he wish to work with at Covenant Academy:
School Director
School Administrator
Tutors for Various Learning Areas for Toddlers
Marketing and Sales Executive
Accountant / Bursar
Client Service Executive
Cleaners
Security Officers
We at Covenant Academy understand that just within the United States, there are approximately 20,000 businesses that provide preschool and early education services to the general public. We were meant to believe that annually, these businesses generate $10 billion of revenue while providing jobs for 180,000 people. Annual payrolls in each of the last five years have exceeded $2 billion.
Preschools are considered to be part of a mature industry, and the expected future growth rate will remain in line with that of the economy’s GDP. We also understand how competitive the industry is and how businesses in the industry are trying so hard to overshadow other ventures, which is why we are so keen to understand all possible loopholes and establish a competitive business.
We took our time to research and write a comprehensive SWOT Analysis, that explains our strength and possible weaknesses. We believe that all issues will be taken care of before we open our doors for operation. Outlined below is a comprehensive SWOT Analysis conducted by Nicklaus Communications for Covenant Academy:
According to our comprehensive SWOT Analysis, the core strength of Covenant Academy lies in the will and experience of our team; our workforce. We at Covenant Academy believe that we have a team that has the right passion and drive for taking care of toddlers, a specific workforce with excellent qualifications and experience in education industry.
Our SWOT Analysis also noted that Covenant Academy is well positioned in a community with the right demographic composition and that we will attract loads of parents who would want to register their kids from the first day we open our doors at Covenant Academy.
Our SWOT Analysis noted that our weaknesses might be the time it will take some time for our organization to break into the market and gain acceptance in the already saturated education industry. Also we might not have the required money to pump into advertising and promoting our brand the way we would want to.
The opportunities in the education industry are very huge due to the number of parents who would want their kids to be in safe place and to gain adequate knowledge. As a standard, safe and highly comfortable nursery school, we are ready to take advantage of any opportunity that comes our way.
Our SWOT Analysis noted that some of the threats that we are likely going to face as a nursery school operating in the United States of America are unfavourable government policies that might affect us directly and indirectly, 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.
The improvement in the Nursery industry is the main reason that is attracting parents to enrol their wards is the safe and capable institutions, cleanliness, location and of course the overall comfort of their toddlers. It is worthwhile to note that the trend in the nursery industry is such that businesses in this industry can now comfortably start their Nursery school business in a business district; a place where it is easier for working class parents to pick their kids after work and do all things necessary.
Although competition among pre-schools is one way to bring tuition costs down, government action should be taken to make pre-school education more accessible for children from all backgrounds, whether it be ethnic, economic, or social. Investing in early childhood education will benefit individual children and society as a whole.
Since most pre-school programs are administered by private organizations, more funding is being provided at the state and federal level to provide make it possible for children to have the opportunity to attend pre-school, especially children coming from families living below the poverty line.
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.
We at Covenant Academy hope to concentrate solely on the double income working professional families because they are the part of the population that can most easily afford nursery schools, are the ones who need day care because of their work obligations, appreciate the advanced learning and development we at Covenant Academy are very much ready to offer.
We believe that with both parents working, this part of the American population will always need some sort of provisions for the care of their child. It is very important to note that the Department of Labour indicates that over 50% of children are cared by relatives compared to 29% for commercial education institutions.
But we are confident that our targeted group always wants a more structured learning environment. We all know that using relatives are great for nights out or weekends, but it cannot be argued or compared to a structured program when it comes to the learning and development that we at Covenant Academy are offering.
Our competitive advantage
We at Covenant Academy are bent on targeting a specific niche in child care space and we understand the market properly. We plan to always adequately spread our services to let us attract our target market. We at Covenant Academy plan to use the touring of our facilities to sell our services.
We understand how important this is, because we understand that most parents want to see a facility before they will send their kids there. Our facilities at Covenant Academy are so good that they speak for themselves. We believe that our competitive advantage is in two folds and they include:
We at Covenant Academy understand that our educational facility can only be as good as the teachers and assistants. Which is why we at Covenant Academy have established an intensive training program that all teachers and assistants are put through so they are proficient at teaching the specific programs that we at Covenant Academy have organise for all prospective toddlers age three to five.
We at Covenant Academy understand that the specialized learning programs for toddlers within our target market will have to focus on specific traits and only work on one trait/ skill at once. We understand that as much as this is successful in reinforcing the skill, it is often very difficult for the child to appreciate the interrelationships of the different skills.
Consequently, the child can learn the skill, but has difficulty applying the skill when faced with multiple stimuli. We at Covenant Academy possess adequate experience so that the child is unsure of what to do because of the multiple stimuli and these several skills that they have learned independently, the child tends to shut down out of confusion. We are prepared to create a learning pattern that brings out the best in kids.
Our source of income at Covenant Academy will come from providing preschool, early childhood education services and after school care for children enrolled in our well defined educational facility. We at Covenant Academy also believe that from time to time, we will be able to receive state based grants that will help us in subsidizing the costs associated with providing our services for young children within the State.
We at Covenant Academy believe that we will be able to provide a broad range of educational services including artistic training, general education, and computer training for young children. We at Covenant Academy will also serve breakfast and lunch to students enrolled in our Institute.
We will also make sure that all employees possess the necessary licensure and background check so that they are qualified to work with children under the age of six. This will be one of the foremost priorities of Covenant Academy.
We at Covenant plan to use the very first two months to renovate the facility and bringing it up to specifications, both for the state health and license codes. Within the same period, we must have been done with the training program and manuals. The first week of the third month will be used for training of the staff. We at Covenant Academy understand that by the middle of the third month, we will start accepting children for care.
We also expect that the facility will be under-utilized until the eighth month. By then, word will have spread and the classes will be filling up quite nicely. We at Covenant Academy believe that from month seven on, there will be a steady, incremental increase in sales. We have researched the industry and have come out with a detailed sales projection and they are:
Note: it is worthwhile to note just like we stated above that this forecast was done based on what is obtainable in the industry and with the believe that none of the threats we mentioned above will be a hindrance or may likely appear.
We at Covenant Academy plan to makes use a number of
It is also our plan to build relationships with public and private schools within the our target market in order to generate referrals among parents that have older children in grade school and are seeking preschool services for their younger children. We at Covenant Academy will also use an internet based strategy. This is very important as many people seeking local services, such as preschools, now the Internet to conduct their preliminary searches.
We at Covenant Academy also plan to register our Institute with online portals so that potential customers can easily reach the business. We will also develop our own online website. We will maintain a sizable amount of print and traditional advertising methods within local markets to promote the services we are offering. Below is the summary of all the marketing strategies we plan to use:
We at Covenant Academy plan to ensure maximum visibility for our Institute within our targeted market. Below is an overview of the publicity and advertising strategies of Covenant Academy:
Our strategy at Covenant Academy will be based on a communication effort to explain the virtues and importance of all our services and how we can successfully speed up the children’s development considerably. In addition to one on one explanation of the program and its merits, the prospective parents will be given tours of the facilities.
We at Covenant Academy hope to 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.
It is very important to note that we at Covenant Academy after our extensive research and thorough discussion understand efficiently that different customers prefer different payment options as it suits them but at different times and ways.
We plan to make sure that we provide them with payment options that will make their transactions less stressful and very open. Listed below are the payment options we at Covenant Academy plan to make available to our customers;
We have also chosen to partner with a known bank in the United States in order to give our customers the best they can ever get in the nursery school industry of the United States.
It is very crucial to note that Covenant Academy will start out as a simple proprietorship, owned by its founder. We believe that as the operation grows, the owner will consider re-registering as a Limited Liability Company or as a corporation, whichever will better suit the future business needs.
Every possible threats and analyses have been considered, and the future we see for Covenant Academy is as bright as the sun. We have analysed the possible place we wish to spend our start up capital and they include:
From the above projection, we need approximately $250,000 to start Covenant Academy, and we have made all possible plans to raise the said amount.
Generating Funding / Start-up Capital for Covenant Academy
We at Covenant Academy understand that adequate funding will go a long way to make sure you achieve your desired goal. Finance basically is a very crucial factor when it comes to building any business, and building a successful business is not a one day job but a continuous job that requires consistency and hard work.
Covenant Academy is the dream of Craig Sissy, who is the founder and owner of Covenant Academy, and will be managing the daily operations of the facility. We have decided to start up the business as a sole proprietorship business, and will sponsor the business solely, but we consider other sources as the business grows. For now the strategies we hope to raise funds may include:
We at Covenant Academy believe that we will be offering child care/development for toddlers age three to five, and that we will be targeting double income professional families who, because of work obligations, do not have the time during the day to care for their child.
We at Covenant Academy are very keen to get to families that are hungry to offer their kids something more than simple baby-sitting facilities, those individuals who like their children to be registered in a program that offers development of many different skills including: socialization skills, arts and crafts, large muscle group workouts, reading, numbers, etc.
We at Covenant Academy plan to make use of our facility tour to impress our prospective clients. We believe that our facilities were custom designed to achieve very specific educational goals and we are very proud to have it. We believe that these tours will occur during the day and will serve as a perfect opportunity for prospective patrons to view the care as it is occurring.
We hope and trust that this strategy will serve to build a trust bond between Covenant Academy and the parent who naturally is cautious about leaving the child with strangers to have the child cared for and taught the entire day.
We at Covenant Academy believe that in case of an economic downturn, we may face a decline in our incomes. But we believe that the demand for parents that want to register their children in our care will keep increasing steadily. Which means that Covenant Academy will always remain profitable and our cash flow will remain positive at all times despite certain drawbacks in the economy.
Checklist/Milestone
