$40,000 & Some Advice

Okay I have been watching this forum for a few months now. Any advice is welcomed because I'm open to suggestions. I'm an assistant director who have made the decision to open my own daycare center. I have my storage full of things I purchased from garage sales, bought from Amazon, and things donated from churches. It's gonna cost me $20,000 including a lease, a van, appliances, and the rest of supplies needed to open. I have the money to start, but I don't have enough for the year for 4 full & 3 part-time staff. My question is should I take the leap of faith and open without enough "capital?" Others have told me that it's a good idea to have at last 6 months to a year of working capital for payroll and to borrow the rest from the bank. Then others have said I can survive without it What do you think? I will have $20,000 left, but I want to make sure I can meet payroll. TBH I'm kinda torn! Please help!

[DaveA]

How big a center are you wanting to open? Can you do a "rolling start"? Open with 1-2 rooms and expand as enrollment grows? That might be the best way to get started buy not leave your you know what hanging out all the way.

Good idea I haven't thought about that! It's 5 classrooms and big enough for 40 kids.

[kendallina]

Yes- a rolling start! When I opened a center (for a company, not my own center). It was going to be a 96-child center and we started with 11 children...lol. It was just me (director) and two teachers to start and I hired as I enrolled.

[ljohnson81]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Okay I have been watching this forum for a few months now. Any advice is welcomed because I'm open to suggestions. I'm an assistant director who have made the decision to open my own daycare center. I have my storage full of things I purchased from garage sales, bought from Amazon, and things donated from churches. It's gonna cost me $20,000 including a lease, a van, appliances, and the rest of supplies needed to open. I have the money to start, but I don't have enough for the year for 4 full & 3 part-time staff. My question is should I take the leap of faith and open without enough "capital?" Others have told me that it's a good idea to have at last 6 months to a year of working capital for payroll and to borrow the rest from the bank. Then others have said I can survive without it What do you think? I will have $20,000 left, but I want to make sure I can meet payroll. TBH I'm kinda torn! Please help!

I'm watching this thread because my situation is very similar!

[Mom2Two]

ITA hire as you enroll.

Originally Posted by kendallina

Yes- a rolling start! When I opened a center (for a company, not my own center). It was going to be a 96-child center and we started with 11 children...lol. It was just me (director) and two teachers to start and I hired as I enrolled.

I think it's still a good idea to advertise I'm hiring though. That way I can have background checks done in case I began enrolling very quickly. How long did it take you to meet enrollment?

?????

[LysesKids]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

?????

If you are asking about how long it takes to get full? It varies based on numerous factors... we don't hang out here all day either; we all work even if it's advertising, setting up websites etc. This isn't an instant gratification type answer place. Most of us are home providers too, not center based, so most of us can't answer because we honestly don't know

Originally Posted by LysesKids

If you are asking about how long it takes to get full? It varies based on numerous factors... we don't hang out here all day either; we all work even if it's advertising, setting up websites etc. This isn't an instant gratification type answer place. Most of us are home providers too, not center based, so most of us can't answer because we honestly don't know

I don't understand how your answer has anything to do with my questions. Of course everyone is not going to have the same answer that's why I asked because I wanted to read different opinions. I wanted an idea of different situations for enrollment. I didn't ask whether anyone works that's not my concern. I'm only concerned about the questions I asked. If you or anyone choose not to answer then thats fine. I'm only looking for different perspectives not "instant gratification." I thought asking questions was one of the purposes of this forum.

[LysesKids]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I don't understand how your answer has anything to do with my questions. Of course everyone is not going to have the same answer that's why I asked because I wanted to read different opinions. I wanted an idea of different situations for enrollment. I didn't ask whether anyone works that's not my concern. I'm only concerned about the questions I asked. If you or anyone choose not to answer then thats fine. I'm only looking for different perspectives not "instant gratification." I thought asking questions was one of the purposes of this forum.

Asking questions is great... the ??? statement made me think you were wondering why no answers, so I said something that's all.