Business & Financial

The owners of child care centers often do not refer to or think of their center as a business. However, that is exactly what it is – a business and it must be operated as such. It is commonly the case that the child care center has an excellent reputation and provides quality child care. However, it is being operated poorly from a business and financial standpoint. One of the main reasons independents, in particular, tend to have challenges in this area is that many people who own an independent child care center may know a lot about running a child care center but haven’t developed the skills needed to build a successful business.

Success operation of a child care business requires a number of skills and functions – managing teachers and staff, purchasing, lunch and snack preparation, employee training and development, state licensing and regulatory compliance, etc. Now, consider the functions and skills involved in managing a business, any business – interpreting profit and loss statements & balance sheets, cash & financial management, business development, lender & investor relations, strategic planning & marketing, etc. It’s easy to see that the knowledge and skills that might lead to the creation of an excellent child care center are quite different from those needed to manage and grow a successful business.

In this section, you’ll get proven insights and tools to help you better understand and manage the business side of your child care center. Our business development resources will help you create your own successful operating system. It’s through a structured, organized operating system that a child care business can provide a high level of education, quality and profitability with more predictability and consistency without the owner having to practically “live in the center”. Having a well-thought out and functioning operating system is one of the keys to creating a truly successful (and more valuable) business “and” a better life-style.

Everyone knows it is of upmost importance to provide a safe and nurturing environment for the children entrusted to you and your employees. However, another importing part of managing a child care business is the ability to read and understand the financial numbers of the business. Success can’t just be measured in terms of happy children and parents but also in the cold, hard realities of facts, figures and finances.

As the cost of meeting regulatory requirements increase, it becomes even more important to keep a close eye on the financial side of the business. Just a few percentage points in key expense categories like labor cost, supplies and facilities can take a child care business from being a profitable operation to losing money. Only your numbers can tell you if your child care business is performing the way it should be or not. Our financial programs, reports and tools are easy to understand and implement. This section will help you better understand the business and financial dynamics of your child care center so you manage it like the business it is.