BUSINESS PLAN
Statement of Intent
The spot, youth academy seeks loan totalling to: $
These funds will be utilized in purchasing office equipments and other necessary supplies, offset the cost of leasing and constructing the building to house the academy at Corporate Drive off Fayetteville road, Lumberton. In addition, the loan will also be used to financing the cost of enclosing the play space and provide adequate working capital and sufficient cash reserves for the expansion of the childcare centre. The sum, together with an additional $5,000 cash investment by the principals, will transition through the expansion phase so that the business can operate at a higher level of profitability.
Table of Contents
Introduction
3
Business description
3
Mission Statement
4
Shortterm Development Goal
4
Company Location
4
Industrial Analysis
4
Market Analysis:
5
Competition
6
Operations:
8
Long Term Development
10
Financial statements
11
Funding
12
The proposal covers the establishment of the Spot, Youth Academy after school/before school institution for children. The scheme will be managed by the proprietor who will employ staff that are highly competent and wide ranging experience.
Business description
The spot, youth academy, is a childcare centre that offers flexible and high quality childcare to families who need care for their children
Effective start of business is June 14, 2014. The Spot, Youth Academy will open for business with a robust summer program. Initial opening will be a sole proprietorship. Once the business opens for two months, the owner will process necessary paperwork to change the ownership to Limited Liability Corporation (LLC).
Mission Statement
Each child will be pushed to explore, discover what is and what could be
Engage into cultural learning using structured curriculums and competent staff.
Creating adventurous opportunities through engagement of the child’s mind.
Create and promote cutting edge mentorship programs
Promote and maintain excellence in customer services delivery.
Ensure that all customers and staff are treated with well deserved respect
Ultimate goal is for every child in the program to advance in academics and society
In setting quality standards, we strive to be the best in the industry. We desire to create an entirely new way of providing care for children in before and after school programs and full time summer programs.
Vision Statement:
Develop innovation and creativity in the young minds of the children.
Immediate Development Goal
The immediate development goal is developing cultural awareness with children. We believe that children are a blank canvas to be developed into an international mind. Introducing children to other cultures at an early age helps them to foster adaptability with their peers who are different from them. With a constant influx of immigrants to this nation, we want to teach acceptance not tolerance. The teachings will be; all people are created differently but have the same basic needs as the other. It is desired to foster the motivation for children to grow up and to be aspired to travel to other countries and become global minded.
Company Location
Corporate Drive off Fayetteville Road in Lumberton, NC would be an excellent location of this business venture. This is a prime location for parents and guardians to be able to drop off and pick up their children on their way to and from work. This location is just of the main road 0(Fayetteville Road) with very little traffic. It has the convenience of two entry ways to allow parents ease of getting back onto the main throughway. This is a central location directly off I-95. This location is in the prosperous section of Lumberton. This section of Lumberton houses families who invest in the well-being of their children.
Industrial Analysis
A) Description of the Industry
Experts predict that childcare industry will grow by 20% from 2010-2020. This growth rate is faster than the average growth for this occupation. To gain employment at childcare centres employees are usually high school graduates. To gain employment as a Lead teacher in a childcare classroom, the state of North Carolina requires an individual to have and maintain Early Childhood Credentials. One can hire an employee for Lead teacher without the credential, but they must be enrolled immediately upon hiring and complete the training within 18 months of enrolment.
Childcare centre administrators must have the North Carolina Early Childhood Administration Credential or its equivalent as determined by the Department.
There will be mandatory background and fingerprints checks on all employees in the centre and anyone possessing a misdemeanour or felony conviction will be prohibited employment.
All staff involved in the staff-child ratio must be at least 16 years old, if in direct care of child without supervision must be 21 years of age. Lead teachers for classrooms must possess credentials for or to enrol in North Carolina Early Childhood Course.
Income: $ 7.25 – 9.28 per hour top 10 earn $14.08 per hour
Education: posses High School diploma with certification
Workers: 1.3 million jobs, 22% in Day care centres
Work Environment: in home care, childcare centres, other persons home. Provide full time care, could be all three shifts. For school aged children provide before and after school care.
Market Analysis:
I. Market Research
On a national scale, the main factors contributing to the increase in need for childcare services include; the increase in number of woman in the workforce, the decline of the extended family located near nuclear families and the high divorce rate. According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, more than sixty percent of children of working families are cared for outside the home. This report dated back to fall 1987, and the need has only increased in the past ten years. Now, with the Back to Work initiative great demands are placed on single parent households, sending them scurrying to find childcare.
II. Target Market Analysis
The main target markets are current families enrolled in the program and others who have children under the age of 12, and require childcare services. We currently have targeted families who are expecting or have an infant under age 12 months or over 6 years of age, and use other means of childcare separate from their siblings. The expansion will allow us to target families with children up to age 12 (Infants under 12 months, Full day Kindergarten for children 5-6 and after school care for children 6-12).
III. Defining the Target Market
Statistics shows that more than 70% of families with children under school age have two parents working. The program will offer a full day childcare so families will not have to worry about the mid day commute between Kindergarten and an after school program as well as offer a consistent schedule for children. Being able to offer a high quality and full day program will be extremely favourable for parents.
Competition
Key Competitors Identified: Key Competitors are day care centres who offer school aged childcare, county 4-H program, County Recreation Centre, grandparents and parents who do not work during summer/winter break.
Identification of competitors
Innermost circle represents the primary business for which plan is about
Second inner circle represents direct competition. The businesses listed provide school aged care
and have been successful for more than 5 years. These businesses have established their share of the market, and are providing services that customers deem necessary. The possibility of taking their customers hinges on a program that they are not offering but is beneficial to the parents for their children.
Outer circle provides competition because they render services at little to no cost to the parent. To be able to pull their customers, the program would have to be affordable or, accept State provided funds to subsidize the price for care.
Competitors’ Strengths and weaknesses Analysis
The quality of the service we will provide separates us from the competitors. While there are other childcare centres in the area, none offers the small group sizes, teacher to child ratios and unique environment that the spot, youth academy will provide. No other centre in the area will offer the "extra" services provided to the families of the centre as well as the community.
Most consumers in search of childcare realize that you get what you pay for. Most conscious consumers understand the concept of the "Trilemma in Child Care". To get quality care, it is necessary to pay staff well in order to get qualified people who will remain at the centre and at the same time offer affordable rates to parents (Abrahams, 1003). For those families who are not aware of this three-legged stool, they usually learn after one bad experience with childcare.
Marketing Plan and Sales Strategy: (4 P’s)
I. Product/Services
As stated previously, the spot, Youth academy will be providing "high" quality childcare to families with young children. The definition of high quality can be different for each childcare centre as well as for each potential client looking for childcare.
What all this means in terms of benefits to the family is having their child in a facility where they are going to be nurtured and supported in such a way that promotes positive self-esteem and provides the opportunity for optimal growth in all areas of development
II. Place
As mentioned earlier the business will be strategically located along Corporate Drive off Fayetteville Road in Lumberton. This is a prime location for parents and guardians to be able to drop off and pick up their children on their way to and from work; it has the convenience of two entryways to allow parents ease of getting back onto the main throughway (Tezak, & Folawn, 2011). In addition, the centre will be located in an area that will maintain the "home like" feeling of the facility.
III. Promotion
The spot where the Youth academy will be promoted, advertised and marketed, will be within the school vicinity as well as the Local community through; distribution of posters, leaflets and an information booklet for parents. Furthermore, parent teacher involvement will be encouraged to provide a platform participatory management of the academy (Packham, 2012).
IV. Price
In terms of rate, while they are just slightly higher than average, the service will be of much higher quality than those of competitors. Many professional people opt to hire a Nanny to come to their home, which in today’s market can run anywhere from $200 to $350 a week, depending on the number of children a family has. Many parents would opt for a childcare centre for their children if given the opportunity of a quality program. Therefore, while the rates are slightly higher, the clientele we will be attracting has been already paying in this bracket or can afford to do so although we offer the services at a rate that is slightly high, there are subsidised rate to those who would otherwise be unable to afford. We realize that much of what we provide is an intangible product. So the image factor of what we perceive high quality to be is what we will strive to sell. This is much more attainable with qualified and well-trained employees.
Operations:
Business facilities described
The building itself will be more than 5,000 square feet, more than 4,000 of which will be useable child space. The setting will be ideal for children, with plenty of shaded yard space for outdoor play.
Policies defined and analyzed
I. Weekend workshops for parents and their children
Most often parents do not have time to stop and play with their children at drop off or pick up time. In many cases only one parent drops off and picks up the child, so one parent rarely sees teachers and the facility. Workshops will allow parents and children to explore together and at the same time promote our program to potential families. This feature would generate additional income through community parenting workshops as well.
II. Teachers Over time
Each evening there will be one teacher designated to be "on call" in the event a parent needs to be late. An additional fee will be charged but it will not jeopardize the child’s enrollment as it does in many other programs. With many of our clients being doctors, dentists, corporate and accounting executives, and self-employed this feature will ease the minds of many parents who may have to rush to a medical emergency, meetings and traffic.
III. Developmental Progress Reports
The academy maintains a report of the progress made by each child, at an interval 6 months. Teachers will have time to observe and record children’s developmental progress in the classroom, put it into a written report and then have a time to sit down and talk with parents. Getting up close and candid with the students and parents and teachers is on of the fundamental services of our program that lack in competing institution.
IV. Once a Month, Parents Night out Child Care.
Each month Tender Years will offer a Saturday night of childcare to those families enrolled in this program. Near the Christmas season, additional weekend times will be available to families. This service may be open to the public and used as an advertising tool.
Workforce plan defined and analyzed
The management of the spot, youth academy will ensure that properly and highly trained staffs are absorbed in the school care, the candidates background will be scrutinised to enable the school care have the best staffs.
Organization Chart
Organizational management
Sole Proprietor will manage the Spot Youth Academy. The management shall hire two full time employees. One will be Assistant Manager and one Cook. Part time employees will consist of An Assistant Manager, kitchen helper and eight staff members for classrooms. The two staff members as Assistant Managers will be delegated mangers for designated shifts for daily operations of the centre. The manager will have competent and motivated staff to accomplish designated task. Assistant managers will have the following responsibilities to perform on a daily basis:
Ensure students are checked in correctly
Keep accountability of staff and students to be in compliance with state mandated child to staff ratio
Create activities for weekly calendar
Providing all the necessary supplies to facilitate performance of all actrivities.
Promote education for staff members
Keep abreast of current and upcoming staff training requirements
Perform all accounting transactions for the center
Perform orientation, training and retraining of all classroom employees
Ensure the standards of quality are set and maintained
Ensure classroom employees maintain a clean room and atmosphere to reduce spread of Communicable diseases and germs
Maintain a professional mannerism between staff and clients
Demonstrate commitment business success through unreserved and determined effort in all business operations.
Demonstrate required leadership needed to operate a successful and growing business
The owner will ensure that a Manager is on duty at all times. In the event of an emergency, the owner can be contacted by phone for further instructions.
Personnel:
Daily staffing will consist of ten employees per shift, one Assistant Manager, eight classroom staff, and either the cook or the kitchen helper. Full time positions will be held by the Assistant Manager and kitchen staff during the school year for before and after school care. Those two positions will have a split day, providing morning care and afternoon care. It is projected that during summer, there will be full time employees or two sets of part time employees (flexibility based on hours of operation).
All employees will be subject to a background investigation. Once cleared from the investigation perspective new hires are required to submit all state mandated training certificates. All certificates must be submitted before an interview for hire will be scheduled. All certifications will be verified to ensure its legitimacy and must be current.
Owner will develop an orientation and training program for all new hires. It is the policy of the institution to ensure that orientation and training of new staff is done prior to their inclusion in work rotation.
Owner has more than twenty years of work experience in the Human Resources career field on multi levels; this knowledge will be used to set in place the best Assistant Manager to handle daily operations. The assistant manager will be required to have extensive knowledge and experience in human relations, customer service and other management areas.
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Long Term Development
The expertise required is available to run a childcare facility in the target area on a cost effective basis. The profit margins will increase exponentially with the increase in licensed capacity. The main goal will be to establish the centre, then expand and promote the program as swiftly as possible. The centre will continue to increase its revenues after it obtains national accreditation through The National Association of Education for Young Children. The marketing strategy will be aggressive; in order to fill the centre as soon as possible and to offer this much needed service to the community without further delay.
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Financials
The proposal for licensor is for a facility accommodating 90 children ages 6 weeks thru 12 years. The financial projections shall cover on these ages and numbers.
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I. Fees
Age Group
Weekly @9 hours per working day
Part-time
Extended hours
Infant
$150.00
$40.00 p/day
$4.00 per/hr (past 9 hrs)
Personnel:
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Pre-K only
$4.00 (past2:30)
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II. Revenues
Infants:
9 slots @ $150/wk
2 slots @ $40/day x 5 days
Personnel:
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Toddlers:
15 slots @ $125.00/wk
3 slots @ $ 35.00/day
Personnel:
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Pre-school:
18 slots @ $115.00/wk
4 slots @ $ 25.00/day
Personnel:
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Pre-Kindergarten:
24 slots @ $115.00/wk
4 slots @ $ 25.00/day
Personnel:
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Kindergarten/School Age:
12 slots @ $ 90.00
12 slots @ $ 4.00 p/hr X 3 hrs p/day
Personnel:
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Yearly Registration fees:
74 slots @ $25.00 per year/52
Personnel:
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Assume 85% occupancy:
Estimated Annual Revenue (85%):
Estimated Annual Revenue (100%):
Sources and Application of Funding
Sources:
New Debt:
$ 82,980
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$ 5,000
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Retro fit of building
$ 68,219
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. 5,000
Funding
The management shall offer a reduced rate to low income families and families with more than one child attending the spot, youth centre. In order to achieve this viability, the spot youth centre will have to run at a reasonable capacity in year 2 and year 3
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Abrahams, R., Abraham, R.M. & Kleiner, E. (2003). The successful business plan: secrets & strategies. Redwood City, California: The Planning Sop.
Packham, C. (2012). Skin care. Rospa Occupational Safety & Health Journal, 42(3), 21-23.
Tezak, J.E. & Folawn, T. (2011). Successful academy management. Stamford, Connecticut: Cengage Learning.
