Starting a nursery in the UK

Want to start your own nursery, but not sure how to put everything together and work out your budget.

Struggling to create your business plan?

Then you’ve come to the right place.

Starting a nursery business is not for everyone.

I’ve supported numerous people to open their own nursery. 

If you’re not ready to put in the hard-work or you think there’s some shortcut to opening your own nursery. 

Then stop watching now.

I’ve had to turn away quite a few people that think that opening a nursery is easy and don’t want to follow the steps needed to open.

Fortunately having gone through the process many times I have come up steps to open a nursery that makes it very simple to open. Which I will tell you about at the end of the video.

But, you still have to go through this process.

There will be parts that you will finder harder than others, which is where the one-to-one consultations come in handy.

But trying to skip steps, will only cause problems down the line.

And creating your nursery budget is not a step you should skip.

Welcome to the channel how to open a nursery with myself Curtly Ania, where I support you to run, open and grow your own nursery.

In today’s video we are going over starting a nursery in 2023, tips, creating your budget.

This is so crucial as so many people, especially if you’ve never ran a business before, do not know how to create a budget.

Before we get into the nitty gritty, if you are new here then make sure you hit that subscribe button. If you aren’t new here I’m going to assume that you’ve already subscribed, which I hope you have. And don’t forget to like the video as soon as you get to a point where you have some value from it.

I’m confident you will get some value, so get prepared by hovering over that like button.

I go over the things you should be including in your budget on the course which I’ll go over at then end.

Here I will give you key things you need to do when creating your budget.

Starting with the most important thing.

Which is understanding your numbers.

It is essential to understand your numbers before starting your childcare business. 

You must determine how you will generate revenue to ensure profitability. 

So you need to start thinking about how much you can charge, how much others charge and the costs involved with running your nursery.

This is just to get a broad understanding of the numbers involved with opening your nursery.

Start-up costs

One of the first things you need to do when understanding and figuring out your numbers is to work out your start- up costs.

I might do a video, showing how much it costs me to start-up and how soon, if this is something you guys would want then let me know in the comments section. If I get a few of you requesting it I will do that as one of my next video.

But, starting a nursery business can be an exciting and fulfilling venture. However, it’s important to understand the costs involved in setting up the business to ensure profitability. The start-up costs can vary depending on the location and size of the business.

For example, if you’re starting from home, the costs will be lower compared to setting up a nursery in its own dedicated building.  It’s essential to identify your start-up expenses and estimate how much they will cost to get a full financial picture of your business.

For a childcare business, the start-up costs will typically include:

• setting up the classroom,
• buying equipment,
• acquiring permits,
• paying legal fees,
• marketing and advertising costs.
• Plus more.

If you’re planning to set up a nursery from scratch, you may need to invest in structural changes like building a fence around the backyard or installing safety features. All these expenses must be accounted for in the start-up budget to ensure that you have sufficient funds to launch the business.

It’s important to note that underestimating the start-up costs can put a strain on your business and hinder its success. Therefore, it’s crucial to use your start-up cost calculations to get startup funding to cover the expenses. Understanding the start-up costs involved in setting up a childcare business is a critical step towards ensuring the long-term profitability of the business.

I have done a video regarding the costs involved with opening a nursery so check it out to help you to get an estimate of the costs you are likely to expect.

Once you’ve worked out your start-up costs and know how you will afford this, you can then start on your budgeting plan.

Budgeting Plan

A budget plan is an essential tool to ensure the profitability of a childcare business. It has three main parts that require careful consideration and planning: revenue, expenses, and profit.

The first part, revenue, involves understanding the pricing strategy for your childcare business. You need to determine the optimal price to charge per child and how many children you need to enroll to meet your revenue goals. This step requires careful research and analysis of the market and your competitors.

The second part, expenses, is crucial for creating a realistic budget plan. It comprises three subparts: location compliance, start-up budget, marketing and advertising plus lots more. Location compliance entails any structural changes that need to be made to comply with Ofsted and local council regulations. Setting up a nursery involves various expenses such as legal fees, furniture, equipment, services and software, and permits. Marketing and advertising are essential for promoting your business to attract new clients.

The final part, profit, is a crucial consideration in the budget plan. Profit should be evident after accounting for your revenue and expenses. If your projected profit is insufficient or negative, it is crucial to re-evaluate your budget plan to identify any areas where costs can be reduced or revenue can be increased.

It is important to note that before creating a budget plan, you should have a clear understanding of your company’s goals and objectives. A firm understanding of your business model and market conditions is also essential for creating a realistic budget plan. Following these steps can help you create a budget plan that can be used as a tool to manage your finances and ensure the profitability of your childcare business.

Microsoft Excel

One bit of advice when doing all this is to become familiar with excel.

Excel spreadsheet is a great tool for tracking your expenses and revenue, as it provides an organised and efficient way of managing your finances. Whether you’re a small business owner, freelancer or student, Excel can help you stay on top of your finances.

It is suggested that you use an Excel spreadsheet over paper to track your expenses and revenue. As errors can be easily corrected.

Furthermore, Excel has several features that can help you with your budget plan. For instance, you can use the “shrink to fit” feature to adjust column width or row height based on the contents in your cells. This feature comes in handy when you have a lot of data to display in a limited space. To use this feature, you need to select the column or row you want to adjust and double-click the right side of the column or the bottom of the row.

If you want support creating your budget plan, download the business plan template available below. This can be useful if you’re planning to take a loan or want to have a long-term view of your finances. However, it’s essential to evaluate your financial stability before taking a loan.

In any case, using Excel to manage your finances can help you stay organised and achieve your financial goals.

All of this should then feed into your business plan which will get you on your way to opening your nursery.

If you would like a free business plan template geared towards opening a nursery then click the link in the description.  It will take you to a guide which shows you how to create your business plan.

Simply scroll to the middle of the page where you can download your free business plan template.

Other things you need to consider when doing your business plan is to:

Decide on the type of business structure: Before starting your nursery, you need to decide on the type of business structure you want to operate. You may choose to operate as a sole trader, a partnership, a limited liability company, or a non-profit organisation.

Choose a company name: You need to choose a unique name for your childcare business. Make sure to check the availability of the name and register it with Companies House.

Register your business: You need to register your business with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for tax purposes. You will also need to register with Ofsted.

Obtain insurance: You need to obtain insurance to protect your business, staff, and children in your care. The type of insurance you need may include public liability insurance, employer’s liability insurance, and professional indemnity insurance.

Hire staff: If you plan to hire staff for your nursery, you need to follow the legal requirements for employment, such as verifying their right to work in the UK and providing them with a contract.

Ensure compliance with regulations: You need to ensure compliance with various regulations, such as health and safety, fire safety, and food safety regulations.

Obtain necessary licenses and permits: You may need to obtain various licenses and permits, such as a premises license, planning permission, and a food business registration.

Starting a nursery can be a rewarding and fulfilling business venture, but it requires careful planning and compliance with legal requirements to ensure its success.

If you need support in any of this, then as I said earlier I offer a step-by-step guide showing every little thing you need to do to open your own nursery.

It starts off with doing this, working out your finances and putting together your business plan.  It then takes you on a journey of which I can join you on.

Setting and supporting you on tasks that you need to do.

It is the most complete guide showing you how to open your own nursery in the UK.

You get access to some important documents that you will need to open.

As well as examples of completed documents.  I also include tips to help you to save money opening, tips that I have learned after helping numerous people open.

So, if you want to open your own nursery, with confidence and without spending as much as you probably would going at this alone, then click the link in the description to enrol on the course ‘open a nursery in just 6 months without a massive budget’.

The way I see it, you have three options when opening your own nursery.

Do nothing: this is probably what most of you will do.  You will leave this video and just think about it, just think about opening your nursery just thinking about what could be. But never actually achieve your dream of owning your own childcare business.

There may be others that will actually act on this and decide to do it on their own.  Which I applaud. But you don’t have to do it alone.  I did this, because when I started there wasn’t really any other options. Except franchising which is sooo expensive and takes away all your control in the business.  So when I started I went at it by without support, and although I was able to open my Childcare Business, it took me years to be successful, and there were lots of tears, struggles and failures.  One year I lost over £100k, all of which was avoidable.  You will likely have similar situations if you choose to do it alone.

Which is why the best solution would be to Do it with guidance, a mentor and a community behind you? 

This is the wisest choice! I KNOW I wish I had this option.  There was no course like this that could have supported me when I started.  If there was I would have been able to get so much further and faster than I did!

And this is why I created this course.

To help people like myself and like you.

Who don’t already have the support of someone who’s already done it or similar.

I feel honoured to be able to support so many people to actually achieve their dreams and open up their own nursery.

And I would be honoured to be able to support you to.

So simply click the link the in the description to enrol.

Plus get an extra 10% off the course price by using code Youtube1.

God bless, and I look forward to supporting you.