How to open a children's development center from scratch? What is needed to open a children's development center?

Today, goods and services that are somehow related to children are gaining more and more popularity. One of the first places in this area is occupied by preschool development centers. Due to the catastrophic shortage of places in state preschool institutions, as well as their widespread deterioration and impoverishment, various development centers for kids are a great idea.

That is why many mothers, worried about the lack of quality development of their children, as well as those who are in search of earning opportunities “without interruption from the child,” are increasingly thinking about how to open a children's center. What needs to be done for this in the first place and how much effort and money will have to be spent at the initial stage. We will try to answer these and many other questions as part of this article.

Analyze the market

So, you decided to open a children's development center. Where to start and what to look for first? As in any other business, it is best to start with an analysis of the existing services market. For the upcoming enterprise to be successful, you must first carefully look around and soberly assess the presence of potential competitors. Before opening a children's development center, find out if there are such institutions in your area:

1. State kindergarten. The advantages of such an institution include the relatively low cost of services and the fact that children are looked after all day. Disadvantages - a large number of kids in the group, which negatively affects the quality of learning material. In addition, the qualifications and level of interest of educators often leaves much to be desired.
2. Private kindergarten. Of the good ones, small groups and high interest of teachers. The negative is the high level of payment.
3. Sport sections. A fairly narrow development, in addition, children are usually taken there no earlier than from three to four years.
4. Fitness clubs. Approximately the same as sports clubs, but the cost of visiting them is much more expensive.
5. Mugs in various interest clubs. The advantages include low payment and the ability to often change direction - did not like one thing - try another. We consider the “age qualification” as a minus - children of at least 4–5 years old are usually accepted in such institutions. In addition, the pedagogical level of the team does not always meet the expectations of the parents.

If your area already has a sufficient number of the above institutions, think about whether you can offer your customers something that can withstand quite a lot of competition.

How to open a children's development center: a business plan

As you know, any good business begins with careful planning. Of course, it’s impossible to draw up a detailed business plan within the framework of this article, because every region, city and village has its own prices, and everyone has different starting opportunities. But a few general recommendations can be considered. Before you open a children's development center from scratch, you need to:

• develop the business concept itself - think about what kind of services you will provide;
• prepare and execute all permits;
• select and execute documents for the premises in which the center will be located;
• to purchase the necessary equipment, manuals, toys and so on;
• determine which specialists can help you in your work, arrange casting for personnel selection;
• conduct a competent advertising campaign, arrange a presentation of a new development center;
• to establish a workflow, eliminate minor problems that cannot be clarified until the center has started work;

Now let's dwell on some of these points in more detail.

Choose a room

Of course, the choice of premises will primarily depend on your financial capabilities and the availability of offers. However, someone who already knows exactly how to open a children's development center from scratch can confidently confirm that there are several mandatory requirements that must be observed when choosing a room.

• If you do not plan to open a full-fledged kindergarten, even with a prefix mini, then a room with a total area of ​​50 to 100 m ² is quite enough for you.
• Pay attention to the height of the ceilings - at least 3 m.
• The room should be divided into several isolated rooms: dressing room / reception room, place for classes, games room, toilet / wash basin. If your center is designed for a long stay for children, you must also provide a separate room for sleeping and eating, as well as a room for staff.
• Walls and ceilings in all rooms should be such that regular wet cleaning can be carried out. Ordinary paper wallpapers will not work, you will have to make repairs.
• In bedrooms and games rooms, it is necessary to observe the temperature regime - 19-21 ° C.
• All switches and sockets must be located at least 1.8 m above floor level.
• The room must have a fire exit and be removed from the housing stock.

We hire staff

Before you open a children's development center from scratch, think about what kind of services you will provide. We can say that the selection of personnel is the most important stage in the opening process. It depends on how qualified and dedicated your employees will be whether your center will be successful and popular. The minimum recruitment you need is:

• director / manager;
• accountant;
• teachers / educators in the number of selected areas;
• assistant teacher / nanny;
• nurse;
• security guard;
• cleaning lady;

If you plan to organize meals, you will also need a cook and a dishwasher. Of course, in order to save money, employees can work part-time: a security guard, for example, can perform the duties of a plumber and an electrician, and a nanny can combine baby-sitting with a dishwasher. If relatives can help you as a staff at first, then the selection of teachers (educators) should be treated with special attention. If the kids will be bored in the classroom, and the mothers will be dissatisfied with the level and speed of development of their child, your center will soon be left without a clientele.

Advertising

Now move on to the next step. What else needs to be done to open a children's development center? Where to start attracting customers? Well, of course, with advertising, it is known to be the engine of commerce.

Of course, it all depends on your financial capabilities, but in general terms, methods for attracting customers can be as follows:

• colorful flyers-invitations (distribution on the street, distribution through mailboxes, you can agree with the teachers and leave in the locker rooms of kindergartens or in clinics);
• banners and banners on the streets of the district;
• advertising in transport (routes passing through your area);
• organization of children's events with the invitation of animators for residents of the neighborhood, on children's playgrounds;
• creation, development and promotion of your own website;
• creation of a group in social networks and forums of the region;
• viral advertising;
• advertising on a local TV channel or radio station;

Payback and profitability

Before opening a children's development center, it is necessary not only to study competitors' activities well, but also to carefully calculate expenses. The main monthly expense items will be as follows:

• rental of premises, utility costs;
• remuneration of employees;
• taxes
• day and night security;
• One-time expenses are also possible:
• repair in the room;
• purchase of furniture, toys and sports equipment;
• expenses for execution of a package of documents and permits of various authorities (SES, firefighters, etc.);
• purchase of household and office equipment (boiler, TV, computer, music center, etc.);

Based on the experience of people who have already opened such centers, we can say that depending on the region in which you live, total expenses can range from 50–70 thousand rubles (20–25 thousand UAH) to half a million (150–160 thousand UAH). The payback of such projects is estimated at the level of 2-3 years, and profitability - 20-25%.

So if you dream of quick profit and high income, you should look for another way to achieve what you want.

How difficult is it to open a franchise children's development center

If all of the above seems to you too complicated, and you are still afraid to take the first step, you can consider the possibility of acquiring a franchise. This means that for a fee, an existing and successfully operating company will provide you with all its best practices. You just have to step by step to repeat the path traveled. The specialists of the franchisor company (the one who shares his experience) will accompany the opening of the center from the first to the last day, will bring you, so to speak, "to the result."

So, what is needed to open a franchise children's development center? On the Internet you can find a lot of offers, it remains only to carefully study them and choose the most suitable for yourself. In this case, be sure to carefully study the terms of the franchise, as some companies may put forward conditions that may subsequently be unacceptable. For example, it may be too large monthly deductions (royalties).

What you need to open a center in Russia

Before you start your work, you need to formalize everything and get the appropriate permissions. Here is a list of what you need to open a children's development center:

• register an individual business;
• select OKVED codes that are suitable for your type of activity, these can be: 93.05, 85.32, 92.51, which means personal services, childcare and childcare and the organization of club-type institutions, respectively;
• get and open a bank account;
• to register (register) with the tax service at the place of residence;
• choose a tax system - many advise in this case to choose the simplified tax system, this allows you to significantly save on the services of an accountant;

If the activities of your institution will be associated with training, then in order to open a children's development center, an additional license will be required. This is a rather troublesome business, but there is one unwritten rule - if the full official name of your center does not contain the words “training”, “educational”, you can not issue a license. But best of all, for each specific case, get the advice of a qualified lawyer. It doesn’t cost so much, but in the future it will allow to avoid troubles and fines.

Features of opening a center in Ukraine

Honestly, the opening of such a center in Ukraine is not much different from the Russian counterpart. The biggest difference is that it is quite difficult to open such a center without issuing a license. Therefore, before you open a children's development center in Ukraine, you must definitely get legal advice. Most often, they are advised to choose the following OKVED codes:

• 47.90 - retail trade outside the store;
• 96.06 - the provision of other individual services;
• 93.29 - the organization of other types of recreation and entertainment;

In Ukraine, you will also have to register a private enterprise, or rather, FLP - an individual entrepreneur. For work, it is best to choose the second group of taxation, so you have to pay less taxes. And one more small nuance: in Ukraine the contract for hiring employees is tripartite - they must be registered at the employment center.

Some tips

Now, at least in general terms, you know how to open a children's development center from scratch. At the end of the article I want to add some useful tips that will help you save some money and reduce the payback period of a young enterprise.

1. If you have chosen “unlicensed” OKVED, do not write “teacher” or “teacher” in the employee’s work books. Use the wording “consultant” or “instructor” better, the same applies to an employment contract.
2. Create a highlight for your center - something that will be beneficial to distinguish it from other similar institutions. For example, if only you have clowns performing every first day of the month, or in the month when the child has a birthday, he will be entitled to a discount on a subscription. Anything - if only it would be remembered by people.
3. Conduct a monthly / quarterly survey of parents. Find out what other skills they want to develop with their children, for which they are willing to pay extra. Maybe mothers will want to invite a child yoga instructor, and classes with a French teacher are not interesting to them.
4. In order to partially recoup the cost of renting a room, you can sublet part of it hourly for classes with a psychologist or speech therapist.
5. Enter the bonus invitation system on the principle: “bring 3 friends and get a discount for the next month”. This will provide your center with an additional influx of visitors.

Well, of course, love your new venture. Remember: in order to open and successfully develop such a center, first of all you need to love children.