1.0 Executive Summary
The purpose of the proposed business venture, Tomorrow’s Leaders Academy, will be to provide daycare services to children of age bracket six weeks to 4 years. This will be done through the provision of a secure, safe, and serene environment for the ultimate goal of best child welfare. The proposed academy will be a partnership owned enterprise which will be located in Georgia infant education. In Georgia where the academy will be established, there is ready market due to existing excessive demand for daycare services as about 80% of parents’ population work as full-time employees away from home. The existing organizations offering similar services are therefore overwhelmed and unable to satisfy this niche. Also, due to a limited number of facilities against high demand, the quality of existing services has been highly compromised. Tomorrow’s Leaders Academy intends to bridge the gap by offering best indoor and outdoor facilities, and longer service hours through the use of best qualified human resource. The partnership acknowledges the existing competition in the industry, thus we intend to use competitive pricing which is about 5% relatively cheaper than our competitors, together with extended service hours to make our services more attractive to a broader customer base (Coad & Holzl, 2010). With the capacity of the facility anticipated to accommodate up to 100 children, it is expected that the academy will control a market share of approximately 15% in the first year of operation within 16 kilometers of Georgia with projection of a growth of up to 30% in the next 5 years. The organization intends to achieve this growth through product differentiation and unique branding of the services we offer. The academy strategic management team will ensure that it provides best quality services which puts it in the map above its competitors (Coad &Holzl, 2010). Moreover, the business will use low cost approach in our marketing mix to make our services resonate well with the majority of the target population.
To implement the idea, the business will require an initial startup amount of $10,000,000 for asset development as well as operating expenses. About 80% of this amount will be invested in the first year of operation with the rest carried to the second year. Owing to the fact that Tomorrow’s Leaders Academy does not have the required capital, the startup will be raised from owners’ equity, well-wishers and loans from credit institutions. In its operations, the business is expected to use a lean human resource team to cut down costs on expenditure for faster economic profits. We will also invest in risk assessment and management to ensure any uncertainty is arrested well before it impacts on the investment (Weerakoon, 2016). By employing these strategies, we expect to break even in the second year with a projected net profit after tax at $4,016,982. In the first year, there will be no services offered as the activities will focus on putting in place necessary infrastructure for best service delivery. From the second year into the third year, it is expected that as a result of advertisement activities and quality of our services, more people will buy from us. Thus our sales will increase significantly up to the fourth year. As the number of clients surges, we will enjoy advantages due to economies of scale which will see our profits grow up to $9, 705,099. We expect that from the fifth year, the benefits will increase at a decreasing rate as the business reaches full capacity of its operation and near fully exhausted market share (Weerakon, 2016).
1.1 Market
Tomorrow’s Leaders Academy child care is an organization that delivers daycare services to children between the ages 6 weeks to 4 years. The middle-class child care enterprise provides a secure, safe, and serene environment for children and where parents feel comfortable trusting the guardians with their little ones.
The child care market in the area is highly competitive with over 300 different organizations running. There are generally two types of facilities available to the locals. One is large and commercially operated. These hold a capacity of 20 to 100 children while medium facilities have a capacity of up to 20 kids.
As the market is very competitive, Tomorrow’s Leaders Academy will employ two types of strategies for its market differentiation. The first will be pricing strategy where the prices will be 5 percent less than the commercially operated facilities. The second strategy will be ensuring the organization deliver the best customer services in the area. The facility will be customer based and a client philosophy will be infused in all the employees. Therefore, Tomorrow’s Leaders Academy will spend extra resources in training and employing the best staff. This is vital since they will be interacting with the parents and the kids and hence the need to make good lasting impressions that will ensure loyal clients who will also voice in good words for the organization.
1.2 The Customers
Tomorrow’s Leaders Academy child care facility will focus on two major segments of target customers. The first will be parents who work full time. This customer segment is expected to account for about 80% of the total client population. The group is also increasing at a high rate of about 20% and they are spread to about 100 in every 10 miles’ radius. The second class of clients are the ones who use the facility sporadically when they are running errands. The group is also highly increasing with about 25% in a similar radius.
1.3 Management Team
The management of Tomorrow’s Leaders Academy child care facility will be led by two veterans who have vast knowledge in the industry. Debra will be the marketing manager since she has a background in sales, management, and marketing. During her time at a similar facility she had managed to grow the client base by 12% and received over 10 awards. Debra’s partner Antoniohas an administration and finance background and will, therefore be effective in managing the financial resources of the organizations.
1.4 Mission
Tomorrow’s Leaders Academychild care facility aims at offering secure and safe services to its children at all times. To educate and equip each child with the necessary tools required to enter primary school.
1.5 Key Successes
Keys to success for the company will include:
1. Maintaining a reputable and untarnished reputation in the community.
2. Quality care.
3. Competitive pricing.
4. Flexible hours.
2.0 History and Ownership
Tomorrow’s Leaders Academy is a private enterprise that seeks to enlighten children to become the best. It will be based in Georgia infant education. The proprietorship is owned in majority by its president and co-founder Debra and Antonio. The two partners play a major role in running the business. None of the two owns more than 10 percent, though they will be active participants in day to day running, consulting and management of decision, the two partners do not own a financial stake in the business. When the company attains its speculated growth and profitability objective, the Academy will re-register as a corporation or limited company, whichever will fit the future enterprise requirement.
2.1 Legal Structure
The governing arm of Tomorrow’s Leaders Academy is led by Debra. She is responsible for establishing, developing and enforcing the policies with the assistance of appointed number of boards which constitute 10 parents. The schools will offer an oversight of all activities, entailing financial regulation, hire and monitors the daycare directors.
State licensing will be a regulatory requirement in the daycare academy. To ensure good quality of our children in nurturing tomorrow leaders, the institution follows regulations governing safety, operation and governing staffing. The assigned regulations in our daycare academy ensure that separate teachers are allocated to a specific group of children. Due to the variation of age amidst our children, Tomorrow’s leaders Academy develops different schedules appropriate for their age.
With 20 to 100 children in every institution, Tomorrow’s Leaders Academy will employ 15 staff. Amidst these staff are a director and assistant directors who are responsible for running day-to-day management. Other workers in Tomorrow’s Leaders Academy include accountant, secretaries, transportation staff and food workers. Our organization structure is designed with organization charts which are supplemented by well-defined software that helps us track teachers work.
2.2 Facilities
Tomorrow’s Leaders Academy enjoys both outdoor and indoor facilities. The institution is fortunate as it has appealing and spacious outdoor and indoor areas that are forever developing. The indoor area constitutes two rooms with adjoining entrance hall which allows light to pass through space. The entrance hall is the critical point of the Academy where communication and information are shared with the family and is also a welcoming region for the children as they enter to commence their day.
The outdoor region concentrates on the appealing vegetation and native tree and big UV that offers an abundance of shade in the large garden. The Academy has a big range of climbing structure, a sensory garden, mud pit, vegetable patch, well-covered verandas and a sand play region. To maintain the gardens throughout the year, Tomorrow Leaders Academy has installed water system with comprising seven tanks around the gardens.
Tomorrow’s Leader Academy believes that environmental study should commence at a tender age with an engagement with nature. The reasons why outdoors are given priority is because the institution understands that children have a greater freedom outside, not only to run, shout and climb but also manipulate and interact with the environment.
2.3 Values and Culture
When developing the curriculum, tomorrow’s Leader Academy put in place the value and culture of the institution so as to create the best environment for the children. The institution strongly supports and respects family culture and history, expectation and parental values. Outside family matters, children learn through reciprocal and responsive relationship via social context. Play is an important element for child development and growth. Another value entails active involvement and exploration which assist children in Tomorrow Leaders Academy to develop self-esteem and confidence.
3.0 SWOT Analysis
A SWOT analysis will examine the Tomorrow's Leaders Academy's internal strengths and weaknesses as well as the available opportunities and threats that it may face (Sarsby, 2016). The Academy is a Childcare Centre based in Georgia. This week, we will conduct a SWOT analysis of the Academy as well as an in-depth examination of its Mission and Vision Statements.
3.1 Strengths
The Academy enjoys numerous strengths that will enable the daycare to thrive in the area (Sarsby, 2016). First, the location of the daycare is a significant strength. Secondly, the Academy’s pricing strategy is expected to attract more clients despite the high level of competition. Thirdly, the population of the area consists of working-class individuals, which increases the demand for daycare services. Also, the daycare intends to open for more extended hours compared to other centers in the area. The founder, Debra, is knowledgeable in marketing. This is necessary for the facility as she will spearhead marketing of the daycare to the locals. Lastly, the spacious outdoor and indoor areas are essential for kids to interact with the environment.
3.2 Weaknesses
There are several weaknesses in the business plan. Firstly, Startup costs for the daycare can be excessive. This is because there is need to build facilities such as a kitchen and playroom, insurance costs need to be paid in addition to the costs of hiring and training employees. Secondly, a license is a compulsory requirement for such a center. The licensing process can be strenuous and costly. Lastly, not much income may be generated at the start yet funds are required for the day to day running of the business as well as its management.
3.3 Opportunities
The critical opportunity for the business is based on the training of employees that aims at ensuring that quality services are offered. This will attract highly satisfied repeat clients. Once the daycare is established, an opportunity exists to liaise with local companies to encourage their employees to use the center at subsidized costs. Also, the availability of spacious buildings would attract more clients as these offers playing grounds for their children. Lastly, the daycare has an opportunity to expand its services to cater for children with special needs, which is growing market.
3.4 Threats
The significant threat to Tomorrow's leaders Academy lies in the availability of other such centers within the same area. This competition poses a considerable threat to the Academy. Secondly, the center also needs to keep up with healthcare legislation and childcare regulations and standards. There may exist strict employment laws as well as other legislature, and the failure to comply with these is a threat to the center (Bh̲m, 2008). Lastly, there may exist threats of lack of financial backing.
3.5 Examination of the Mission and Vision Statements
The Academy’s mission is to offer safe and secure services to the children and to equip them with the necessary tools required for the next step in their studies. The vision of the Academy is to be the champions in the provision of quality child care and nurture them to be lifelong leaders. The training of their employees will aid in the achievement of this mission and vision. They will be qualified to offer quality services and to manage the kids safely. The spacious rooms will make it possible to expand and provide the kids with skills required to join a primary school. The strengths and opportunities available for the center are crucial to its success. The pricing strategy will offer them a competitive edge from other centers in the area. The more extended opening hours is a plus for them as it will attract clients who work till late hours. By offering the best services, the institution will maintain its reputation and will go a long way during its expansion plan to other locations. With the help of the management and the qualified personnel, Tomorrow's Leaders school will achieve its mission and vision statements which are critical to the success of the academy.
Tomorrow’s Leaders Academy SWOT analysis will assist it in the planning of its establishment. Debra and her team should ensure that they build on their strengths as a key to their success. The management should also seize all available opportunities and make good use of them. They also need to learn how to deal with and overcome their weaknesses and threats. Incorporation of all these will assist the Academy in achieving its mission and vision statements. Focus on its keys to success will ultimately lead to the success of the business.
This segment of the business plan describes the products and services that Tomorrow’s Leaders Academy will be offering. We will explain how our products and services will be differentiated from those provided by the competitors and conduct a market analysis for them. We will also look at the market attractiveness in terms of both value and volume.
4.0 Service Description
Tomorrow Leader's Academy offers safe and secure services to its children. The services are offered to children between the age of 6 weeks and four years. The Academy incorporates a curriculum that will prepare the children to interact with the environment and build their self-esteem and confidence.
4.1 Working Hours
The hours of operation will be from 6.30 am to 9.30 pm where the facility will be open from Monday through to Friday. Consideration of any changes to the operating hours during the weekends and over the holidays will be made. This will be based on the clientele of the area and the market reaction.
4.2 Product Comparison
Drop-off and Pick-up services will be offered early every morning and evening. Several services will also be provided to the Georgia Community. These include Full-Time Child Daycare, Part-Time Care, and Drop-In Care. The children take part in indoor and outdoor activities. Parents will be required to pack lunch and meals for the children. A kitchenette will also be set up to facilitate preparation of meals for children whose parents do not pack food for them.
4.3 Competitive Comparison
The childcare industry in Georgia is saturated as a result of the existence of other daycare providers in the area. Tomorrow’s Leaders Academy seeks to differentiate itself from its competitors by opening for more extended hours and incorporating a 5% less pricing strategy. Caregivers will be taken through thorough training on advanced studies in early childhood development. (Finch, 2013)
4.4 Fulfillment
Debra and Antonio, the founders of the facility, will champion customer fulfillment in the delivery of services. The school will employ and maintain the use of the latest technology to ensure it offers quality services. This will ensure that the services offered are line with the values, mission, and vision of the facility.
4.5 Future Services
Once the Academy penetrates the market and does well, it will open additional centers in other parts of the state. Three more outlets are planned after two years of successful operation. The future expansion will allow the facility to offer services for children with special needs.
5.0 Market Analysis
Tomorrow’s Leaders Academy will be offering childcare services for toddlers aged between 6 weeks and four years. The facility is targeting professionals who work on a full-time basis. Usually, they do not have time to take care of their children during the day. The academy targets families that want their kids enrolled in a leadership program besides the usual babysitting services. Parents around the area that wish to run errands may take their kids to the facility during these times. Despite the competition, there is always room in the area for a high-quality child care facility.
5.1 Market Segmentation
The Academy seeks to meet the need for daycare services in the 10 miles radius of Georgia. The regular client base is the parents who work full time to comprise 80% of the client base. Since the facility also incorporates part-time services, they will comprise 20% of the revenue. Customer satisfaction will be crucial to keep the parents happy thereby they will keep the children in the facility. (Curtis, 2014)
5.2 Market Analysis
Childcare Market Analysis
Potential Customers
Growth
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
CAGR
Full-time families
9%
12,000
12,000
13,080
14,257
15,540
6.68%
Drop-ins
6%
2,665
2,825
2,995
3,175
3,366
6.01%
Total
15%
14,665
14,825
16,075
17,432
18,906
12.69%
5.3 Target Market Segment Strategy
Full-time working couples are the main target market for Tomorrow’s Leaders Academy. Due to their work obligations, they need quality childcare services for their children (Barrera, 2016). They form the segment of the population that can afford daycare services. Referrals and word of mouth will be the marketing strategies in place. Offering excellent services will enable the facility to maintain its reputation in the community. This will enable them to obtain a more significant market share in this target market.
5.4 Market Needs
With increased inflation, families require two incomes to survive. This increases the demand for childcare facilities as more time is spent working. This does not seem to change in the foreseeable future. Demand for childcare facilities is expected to increase even into the future.
5.5 Service Business Analysis
There are other facilities offering daycare services in the area. One is large and commercially operated, but the rest are medium sized just like Tomorrow's Leaders Academy. There exist other licensed child care facilities in the area. The Academy believes that it will be successful due to its pricing strategy, quality of management and training of their staff. Some of the childcare providers that offer competition are in the table below.
Competitor
Comment
The Play House
This is the large commercially operated daycare.
We Care Christian Daycare
It is a church-based religious daycare provider
Rainbow Daycare
This is a licensed daycare business facility.
5.6 Competition and Buying Patterns
The child care market in the area is highly competitive with over 300 different organizations running. The primary market players are licensed care centers and church childcare facilities. They are the primary competitors of Tomorrow's Leaders Academy. Its critical success factors are maintaining a reputable and untarnished reputation in the community, quality care, competitive pricing, flexible hours. These factors will enable the academy to compete well in the market.
Tomorrow's Leaders Academy intends to venture into a market that is highly competitive. The presence of other facilities gives the Academy the needs to differentiate its products to thrive. Offering quality services and maintaining a good reputation will enable it to compete favorably in the market. The market analysis conducted is crucial in ensuring that the management identifies various factors that will impact the business. The market analysis helps them understand the buying patterns of the area as well as the level of competition available.
6.0 Strategy Implementation
Tomorrow`s Leaders Academy child day care is committed to succeeding through offering quality and high standard services. The offers will include providing a safe, secure and protected care environment for children left under their care/ custody by their clients (parents/ guardians). The objectives of the academy are not only to benefit the parents but also their children. For parents, the academy intends to make them feel doubtless about the security and safety of their children by creating a 100% trust in them. For the children, the academy not only wants to give them the best personal attention but also to provide them with the fun experience, educative programs aimed at developing their brains, safe environment and most importantly show love to them. To realize these objectives set by the Tomorrow`s Leaders Academy, strategy implementation will take place in four phases as discussed below.
6.1 Aligning to the Set Standards for Daycare Operators
While there are established standards and primary qualifications for any individual or organization intending to run childcare, Tomorrow`s Leadership Academy childcare first strategy will be to meet all these requirements/ standards. This will include securing/ obtaining all the necessary licenses and certificates of operation. Moreover, background checkups will be conducted on staffs before they are contracted to offer their services at the academy. Also, the academy will meet all the health standards, and mechanisms are already in place to ensure that the best standards of hygiene kept at all time. This involves a staff who has been contracted to be in-charge of cleanliness in the academy explicitly. Lastly, the academy will ensure that their curriculum conforms with the accepted standards of curriculum on early childhood development programs.
6.2 Advertisement and Profit
While there are already existing competitors in the field of child care, Tomorrow`s Leaders Academy child care still expect to make considerable profit notwithstanding their relatively lower charges. This will be achieved through adopting the one on one advertisement to potential clients, cutting cost on commercial advertisements; which of course will reach a larger population, but not necessarily the targeted potential clients. Moreover, the academy will use the parents as their ambassadors influenced by the quality of services that the academy will be offering to them
6.3 Developing Informative Materials
This will include providing parents with information on their choices. Parents ordinarily like it when they are presented with an opportunity to choose (McDowell, 2018). While other organizations have not recognized this strength, it is a strategy that the academy will exploit, through offering to clients exhaustive information that facilitates their decision-making process. It is an expectation that most client will prefer the academy based on this act of presenting them with an opportunity to choose and more importantly, demonstrating to them why they need to select the Tomorrow`s Leaders Academy child care.
6.4 Delivery
The Tomorrow`s academy has objectives/ aims/ goals/ mission among other things. The academy has made promises, which it has to deliver. In this light, an external auditor will be contracted to regularly evaluate how the academy has been able to perform on its objectives. From the report, the academy will be able to make adjustments accordingly; furthermore, a suggestion box will be set at the academy for clients to put their suggestions/ complains, which will be then taken up with the governing board for consideration and appropriate measure taken after that. Additionally, they have put arrangements in place to facilitate pickups and drops for clients who may be inconvenienced by having to bring their children to the academy daily. This too goes to the parents who may not be able to have packed-lunch for their children. A kitchen has been built which will be used to prepare meals for such kids.
7.0 Management Summary
The management will take an all-inclusive approach (Ginter, 2018). At the top will be Mrs. Debra who has acquired good managerial skills from her professional background as has been discussed in the previous section. Mrs. Debra will not be alone at the top administrative position, but she will be working in partnership with Mr. Antonio who just as Mrs. Debra, has an excellent professional background which equips him with the necessary skills to lead Tomorrow`s Leadership Academy Daycare. These two will be assisted by ten parents who are selected from the parents whose children will be under the care of Tomorrow`s Leadership Academy child care.
The staffs too will be central to the management of the affairs of the academy as they are involved in day to day running of the organization. The academy will make an effort to ensure that all the necessary and essential licenses are procured and that the staffs are well scrutinized before they are allowed to interact with children (Coles, 2018). Lastly, a committee will be set to deal with complains and suggestions put forward.
8.0 Financial Plan
One of the critical aspects of a business plan is the financial forecasting especially if the company needs to secure a loan from banks (Kyrkach, 2014). Cash Flow Forecast is possibly the most crucial part of the planning; however, each other documents attributed to financial outlining are essential from a projecting perspective (Bouma, Durham &Meunier-Goddik, 2014).
8.1 Projected Earnings
The first step to develop a financial plan for Tomorrow’s Leaders Academy Children Care is to start with a spreadsheet that projects its sales over the course of the five year period (see the excel spreadsheet). The statement will allow the business organization to estimate the inflow and outflow of cash to evaluate how much, when and for how long capital surpluses or deficits will persist for Tomorrow’s Leaders Academy Children Care (Morrow, 2013). The cash inflows for the private organization will encompass cash operating and capital receipts as well as other incomes received by the business from other miscellaneous transactions. The cash outflow will include business operating and capital outlays, expenses and repayment of loans. The aspects included in the cash outlays are principal interest and debt repayment required by the creditors and banks.
In order to enhance the accuracy of financial projections for Tomorrow’s Leaders Academy Children Care (TLACC), it is critical to analyze the financial performance of the baby care niche. Notably, a 2016 research found that parents in Georgia spend between $ 6,605 and $20, 209 every year in day care services. The annual average cost of center-based day care was $10, 468 per year and $5.31 per hour. In line with the strategy of providing quality care at an affordable price, services at Tomorrow’s Leaders Academy Child Care will be 5% cheaper. Therefore, the average hourly rate at Tomorrow’s Leaders Academy Child Care will be $5.04. While the center will operate for 12 hours from 6.00am to 6.00pm, most working parents being their kids at 7.00, as they go to work and pick them at 5.00pm. For the 10 hours, the Academy will earn $50.4 per day from one kid ($5.04 hourly rate * 10 hours). It is important to note that the $5.04 hourly charge is for children without disabilities. Given that children with special needs require special attention and resources, Tomorrow’s Leaders Academy will charge $6.04 per hour. By the second year, the facility targets to receive about 50 children without disabilities and about 10 with special needs. The institution will be working for 6 days per week or 312 days per year. The organization will receive additional cash from its other business transactions which include selling toys, books, and equipment for children with special needs.
Number
Rate /hour
Total /day
Total per Year
Children without disabilities
50
$5.04
$2520
$786240
Children with special needs
12
$6.04
$724.8
$226137.6
Selling toys, books, and learning equipment for children with special needs
-
-
$2200
$686400
TOTAL EARNING
$1,698,777.6
Spending will include salaries for caregivers and shop attendants plus other utility bills such as water, electricity, and house rent. The student to caregiver ratio will be 6:1 among children without disabilities and 3:1 for learners with special needs. There will only be one shop attendant. As of March 29, 2018, the average salary for a Day-Care Center teacher in Georgia was $27, 848. In America, this salary ranges from $25, 687 to $35,535 per year.
Number
Salary/unit
Total/year
Salary for caregivers for children without disabilities
8
$27, 848/teacher
$222,784
Salary for caregivers for children with special learning needs
4
$28, 893/teacher
$ 115,572
