Starting almost any business, including a preschool business requires a lot of time, effort and money. However, it is a highly rewarding business that can bring a smile to your face every day. Working with children can be fulfilling – but that comes only after completing the initial startup phase.
If you’re considering starting your own preschool business, you should be aware of the steps you need to take. And of course, their order. Only in that way can you be efficient and all-encompassing. Keep reading to learn more about the necessary steps you need to take.
After you’ve made up your mind about starting your own preschool business, you should start with the relevant licenses and permits. Then, you can move to creating a business plan and finding an ideal location for your business. Before getting your preschool furnished and ready, you should consider your insurance options.
When it comes to the staff, you should hire highly competent people who love working with kids. Moreover, you should draft a contract for parents to sign and invest in advertising.
8 Steps To Start A Preschool Business
1. Find out about licenses and permits
To start any business, anywhere in the world, you need to obtain certain licenses and permits. They depend on your area as well as region and country, so you should get familiar with them.
As running a preschool implies working with kids, there are usually some specific things licenses to get. That is necessary in order to be legal. And of course, to avoid getting into legal troubles, it’s best that you comply with all the rules and regulations.
You should start by getting familiar with your country’s regulations for businesses that involve taking care of children. You can also contact your local child care licensing agency.
There is plenty of information online as well. What you’ll definitely need is certification, a clean driving record and documents that confirm your ability to ensure quality child care.
2. Create a business plan
After you’ve completed the first step, you can move to the next one – creating a business plan. This is an essential step that can help any business thrive. A business plan helps you set short-term and long-term goals, and organize the structure within your business, among other things.
It also contains a detailed description of your business, your mission statement, the obligations of your staff and so on. It is basically everything you have in your head about your business, written down on paper.
It is also necessary to outline the curriculum and child care programs you will use. Moreover, it involves information about your budgeting and operations within your business. All of this helps you stay on track and move towards progress and achieving goals.
3. Find an ideal location
Then comes the location. You have a few options when it comes to an ideal location for your preschool business. If you have a big home and some unused space, you can consider starting your business in your house.
It comes with many benefits, but it also has some downsides to it, as with everything in life. This idea will reduce your perfect location-seeking time. However, if you wish to start your preschool business in a whole new facility, then you should invest some time in finding the right one.
You can find space to rent in recreational centres, local businesses and schools. Be mindful of zoning laws and licensing guidelines – the location for your preschool needs to be compliant with them. An ideal preschool location is often easily accessible, child-friendly and centrally located.
4. Get insurance
Another essential thing you should consider is insurance. You should do your research and find out what kinds of insurance you can get.
A preschool often needs several types of insurance. These include business insurance, liability coverage, property, and workers’ compensation – to protect both the children and the business. You can find out more about these in your local child care provider licensing office for guidance.
5. Get your preschool ready
Finally comes the fun part – getting your preschool ready for work. Firstly, you should get proper materials and equipment. Before placing everything inside, you should clean and disinfect the whole facility.
Moreover, you should then child-proof certain parts of your child care, according to the children’s age. You can find a childproofing checklist online to help you stay on track. Finally, you should place the furniture, equipment and toys. Don’t forget to consider storage for toys, books and other materials.
6. Hire competent staff
When you think about it, your staff is actually the voice of your preschool business. Before hiring people, consider carefully what kind of people you are looking for.
When interviewing potential employees, have in mind the characteristics that are an absolute necessity and that are a plus to have.
Basically, what every preschool needs are loving, patient, kind and sympathetic educators who have a degree in early childhood education. And most importantly, they must love working with children.
7. Draft a contract
Being a small business, it’s always a good idea to draft a contract for parents to sign when enrolling their child. The contract should clearly state certain things about both the preschool and parents. You should have a solid contract to protect yourself legally. For that, you should hire a lawyer to draft it up according to your needs.
The contract should outline your expectations for clients and their children. What you should cover is payments, picking up children, services you offer, sick children, refunds and potential injuries.
8. Invest in advertising
An inevitable part of starting a business nowadays is investing in digital marketing. That is a necessary step to take in order to attract new clients.
You can advertise your business in so many plausible ways. But, perhaps it is best that you leave that to the pros and hire a professional marketing company that will help you achieve your goal.
Starting your own business is so exciting, but it can also be overwhelming at moments. It’s important to be thorough, patient and innovative during the whole process.
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Author Bio:
Jess Cooper is a part-time journalist and blogger working closely with Insight Early Learning. She is based in Sydney, Australia. She is an energetic, creative, and highly motivated person with plenty of interests. The most prominent areas of interest include makeup and cosmetics, entertainment, fashion, style, event organization and decoration, kids, healthy food, fitness, learning languages as well as home improvement. Jess loves learning about new things and having the chance to combine those insights with her ideas and spread them to the world. She enjoys having a mindful and well-organized, healthy life, filled with all kinds of different activities and interwoven with close friendships.
