How to Start a Preschool

This practical guide addresses the multifaceted challenges of establishing a successful preschool operation. Drawing from extensive case studies and industry best practices, we examine the entrepreneurial mindset required for early childhood education ventures, the importance of clearly defined mission objectives, and strategic approaches to financing, recruitment, brand development, and crisis management. The guide provides actionable frameworks for both novice and experienced educators seeking to create sustainable educational institutions.

Starting Off: Entrepreneurialism

Preschool owners will tell you that the first few years of operation are the most difficult. Successful preschool owners will tell you that overcoming those difficulties early on spearheaded them to where they are now. Some preschools inevitably fail.

The problem with those that fail is that they themselves fail to recognize the obstacles that prevent them from being a success and if your school is unable to adapt to a given situation, it is unlikely to survive. Many forget that a preschool, like any business, has competitors, is faced with licensing rules, recruitment nightmares, raising capital, keeping finances in check, developing a brand and delivering a quality product and service.

Entrepreneurialism is a term many of us believe we possess. However, ideas come cheap and everyone with the exception of a very few is capable of coming up with new and exciting ideas. Being entrepreneurial certainly helps, but the difficult part is being resourceful and putting your ideas into practice.

Once an idea has been formulated, attack it in a thoughtful and targeted way. Some ideas take longer for the public to react, so don't be put off by a slow reaction. This is the second phase of putting entrepreneurialism into practice, and like the first phase which is coming up with a thought out idea, it is still relatively easy to deliver but failing to deliver it with conviction or sticking to what you believe to be a success is as useless as not putting the idea into practice in the first place.

Listen & Learn

It should be said that not all ideas are capable of delivering success regardless of the level of conviction or the amount of money spent marketing it during the delivery phase. Most businesses that succeed listen to their customers well and by gauging your immediate client base you will soon have feedback on how your idea is being perceived.

You should be prepared to accept that your ideas are not always the right ones and when this happens, don't be afraid to experiment with something new. The worst thing you can do is continue the execution of a badly received idea, waste unnecessary money and possibly negatively impact an otherwise highly regarded reputation.

Curiosity

Many preschools are hesitant to offer something different. Whether it is the type of food they serve, or the curriculum they follow, preschools tend to fall in a predetermined path where distinction is absent and similarities are in abundance.

As stated earlier, preschools are businesses and you should let your ideas shape you as something unique enough for parents to identify the differences between your school and others. Don't feel pressured in accepting that because everyone else is doing it, you have to do it too. Some of the most established and leading preschools in the world can all be easily identified for having a unique service, a strong brand and an untouched reputation.

Be the Best

This is actually easier to implement than most businesses because many preschool owners lack the ordinary skills and prowess of the much larger and competitive industries that it could be compared to. For instance, many other businesses have business trained personnel who are well equipped and skilled in running a business. Preschool owners and staff on the other hand are predominantly trained in early learning education and many lack basic training altogether.

To be the best evaluate your competitors and compare yourself to the best in your state or country. Although you may not find yourself in competition with the best preschool in the country, it is useful to understand what makes them so highly regarded by parents. Then compare what you believe you can offer to make you a better school to those in your immediate catchment area. You will soon see that there is probably a lot more your school can offer and it may not cost much to implement.

Clarity & Mission Objective

Most educational consultants will tell you the importance of having and staying true to your mission objectives. It's almost impossible to achieve a desired outcome if the outcome is not clear to you or others in your business.

Generally, mission objectives are devised by managerial staff or owners to set the school in the right direction and determine as well as implement a culture that is complementary to creating a distinguished product and having a set of goals that all staff and parents are clearly aware of.

The same is true for business objectives. Think of a set of goals that you want your preschool to achieve financially, in terms of branding, reputation, staff recruitment and retention, facilities etc.

Mission Objective Implementation

A preschool that has no clear sense of direction or understanding of the passage between devising an objective and achieving it is unlikely to be successful. All staff should be fully aware of what is expected of them in achieving the objectives and will feel more determined in being part of the process.

To ensure its success, hold a staff meeting periodically and ask them what they think the objectives of the school are. Ask them if they think the objectives are clear enough and capable of being achieved within the time frame set. Ask them if they think new objectives should be drafted.

If there is little participation from your staff in this exercise, your mission objectives are likely to fail. On the other hand, if your staff begin formulating new ideas and stay true to the objectives, you will find yourself developing a thriving business based on the belief and determination of your staff, your leadership and the beginning of accomplishing your mission objectives.

Ambition

Aiming high is a gift that many of us have, but few either fail to meet this with hard work or end up being overcome with insecurity and doubt. When starting a preschool, it is more important than most businesses to aim big since licensing requirements in most jurisdictions determine how many students you can enrol.

If you are certain that your first year will attract enrolments of 45, be sure to find facilities that will be sufficient for 100. It is easier to grow into larger premises than be forced to find an alternative once small premises no longer meet requirements. Aiming big is not always advisable, but if it can be met with hard work, determination and a good product and service you will find yourself growing at a faster rate than smaller businesses that grow organically.

Using Other People's Money

Many preschool owners borrow funds through debt or equity routes. Borrowing money from family, the bank or investors will probably be as hard as everything else in the business including marketing a saleable product.

Once your preschool has cash in the bank be careful how you invest it. Always think of the money as being yours. You are after all responsible for any losses and in most cases will have to find a way of paying it back if your business fails.

The key to making good investments with the money you have available is to meticulously question every decision that involves financial input. Weigh up your options if you have more options available and make sure you pick the most cost effective. Shop around for resources and equipment and try and spread out your spending as much as possible in order to give yourself more time to increase income and limit losses.

Where necessary recognize a non cost effective choice and cut your losses as soon as possible to avoid turning a short term loss making decision into an ongoing one.

Recruitment

It is wrong to think that recruitment is as easy as hiring and firing, especially in a preschool environment. While some geographical locations are faced with an abundance of qualified staff others find it increasingly difficult to attract and retain valuable teachers.

Preschools like any other schooling or educational environment are very sensitive to the actions, reactions and personalities of teachers and key staff. Schools in general have to be more stable and so teacher turn over rates should be at a bare minimum.

Unlike other businesses, preschool workers build strong bonds with their students and parents and even the community. These bonds are quickly broken with disruptions in the workforce. However, this does not imply that inefficient or incompetent staff should be afforded the right of employment merely to avoid a disruption.

As a new preschool, you will find it difficult to attract the best staff members that larger establishments can afford to offer better compensation and other benefits. The best way to attract the best is to instill a sense of long term growth with the school and make them believe in your leadership qualities that will guide your school into something they want to be a part of.

Once you have a culture that you believe is a good working environment, explore the factors that make your preschool a good place to work. Would it cost much more to offer a bonus after two years of employment?

Finally, retention is as important as recruitment in that unfulfilled staff are likely to seek alternative employment or worse still, disrupt the harmony of your school and vent their concerns to other staff or parents. The same culture that attracts new teachers should be the one that makes teachers happy to continue working for you. Remember that fulfillment, training, and recognition are often more valuable to an employee than compensation.

Brand Development

For some corporations, building a brand is a multi million dollar exercise and even then some end up in failure. Schools are very different when it comes to branding, primarily due to the fact that it involves two important aspects of our community: children and education.

For this reason, brand development for a school requires a solid foundation and care needs to be taken to ensure that your brand is not misinterpreted or based on half truths. You owe your community a responsibility in being truthful and accurate in your advertising.

Perhaps the most effective method of setting up your brand at a low cost is by conveying yourself or your teachers as the face of the school. People are much more interested in people than they are in other aspects of your business. Whether it's your qualifications and experience or your ideas in taking the business forward, news outlets and the community are more interested in what you have to say than what an advert in the local paper communicates.

Nonetheless, an effective logo and brand image are also important and should be distinctive enough for people to recognize and remember.

Crisis Management

Due to the nature of children and the inherent overprotection and concern that parents and the community have for them, crises in preschools should be expected. Often parents are incapable of being rational with their actions and many allow emotions to overcome logic leading to a crises.

Schools that deal with crises well are the schools that communicate with parents enough, but don't let parents feel empowered to command to teachers or owners how the school should be operated. Some crises are unavoidable and rarely a situation arises where immediate action such as the termination of employment is required or legal action is necessary.

Identify a developing problem and tackle it head on. Often dealing with what is a small problem preempts a disproportionate crises from occurring. The key to understanding crises management in a school is to be as reasonable as possible.

Often schools will conduct staff or managerial meetings to vote on action regarding a crises or to assist in clarifying a misconception to parents. Preschool owners will want avoid making an executive decision in times of a crises as this is often interpreted as being irrational or overly autonomous. Instead form a committee of teachers and maybe even a parent representative and make a joint decision. This way parents will be appreciative of the fact that more than one person is leading the school out of crises and there is evidence of greater cohesion and a shared common objective.