Five (5) Pillars For Successful Childcare Business

Upon a cursory google search on the topic, ”“how to be successful in business”, I came across thousands of search results. Eye-catching headlines like “The Best Formula to Success,” “Formulas to Success,” “6 Steps to Success,” “Secret Formula to Success,” “The Ultimate Success Formula,” “Definition of Success,” “The New Formula to Success,” “How to Achieve What You Want in Business,” and others could be found among them. Despite the wealth of information available on this subject, I became more convinced that following the good examples of others is essential for business success.

I believe that to succeed, a person needs a mentor or role model to look up to. Have someone to “copy” or “clone,” as I would say. The role model must be someone who has already achieved your desired results or has a record of accomplishment of success in helping others reach their goals. Whether you are an employee or an entrepreneur, this applies to you. A lot of today’s successful business people, including Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and others, sought out mentors early in their careers. There is no exception in the Childcare industry.

You should not view hiring a coach to assist you in growing your program as a cost but rather as an investment that will pay off in the long run.

Let us use the case of the kids in your care to illustrate the point. Children copy and learn the actions and sayings of the adults around them. The children are listening to the teachers in your program as their role models to become better human beings and excellent leaders for tomorrow. This highlights the significance of having excellent programs in your centers to lay a solid foundation for children’s development and future success as adults. Why not emulate them and run a profitable Childcare business? My question to you, dear Childcare/Daycare business owner, is: Who is your role model in the Childcare industry? Who is your example? Who are the influential business leaders you are modeling yourself after? Do you perceive your future in them?

Why would someone serious about expanding and developing their Childcare program do the opposite if the successful Childcare business owners are willing to share the secrets to their success? In this month’s newsletter, I want to share five (5) lessons I have picked up from Childcare industry titans that, if you apply them rigorously, could lead to business success for you.

Most successful Childcare business coaches I have talked to and studied from cited these as the most crucial actions they took to achieve success. I urge you to embrace them and include them in your business management model. I call them the 5 pillars of successful Childcare/Daycare businesses. Nothing worthwhile comes easily, and as Michael Rooney famously said, “you will pass failure on the way to success,” being consistent, persistent, and resilient will help you achieve your objectives. So let us begin:

1)    Have a clear vision of what you want to accomplish

Prior to anything else, you must have a clear vision of the program and lifestyle you want. Then, identify who can assist you in achieving it. Embrace likeminded and resourceful people. Get a coach or a mentor because working with one has at least a lot of advantages. The Guidance, collaboration, encouragement, support, costly mistakes avoidance, personal and business growth, increase confidence, improved skills, shared experience, etc. from a coach or a mentor are priceless.

 2)    Establish objectives for your center(s), monitor them frequently, and make any necessary adjustments.

Similar to the adage “you can end up anywhere if you don’t know where you are going.” By accepting anything as success, you will pass up wonderful opportunities that could have been yours had your goals been clearly defined.

Your destination’s address is your goal. What address would you enter in your GPS if we assumed you were traveling by car to your intended destination to ensure you got there?

3)    Build saving habits early in your business or career.

Regardless of your income level, you should continue to save because doing so will open up many wonderful opportunities. Cash is king, as we all know. Develop your saving instinct and make saving your top priority.

4)    Embrace personal development

This is a big one! Success comes after personal development. Listen to audio, and read books that strengthen your mindset and support your dreams. Here is one book I recommend Child Care Millionaire: Secrets to Building a Profitable 7 or 8 Figure Child Care Business by Brian Duprey

5)    Join forces with a competent CPA who is familiar with your sector.

On the last point, I concur. It really is true. Why? As a CPA in the Childcare sector, I am aware that many Childcare/Daycare owners avoid doing the one thing that will increase their chances of success, especially when their business is just getting started. You need to be aware of, run, and monitor your numbers. Furthermore, this needs to be accurate.

It is important! To make timely and good financial decisions, you must know your numbers. In a similar vein, you cannot manage what you don’t track and understand. Waiting until the end of the year to find out how your operations performed is very inefficient. Additionally, you cannot perform all of the tasks at your center and expect to maximize the use of your limited time and abilities. If you knew how much these habits—waiting until the end of the year to find out your profits and losses and not delegating strategic tasks like the accounting/bookkeeping—are costing you and your center, you would adopt a more proactive approach.

I encourage you to reexamine your childcare model to determine whether you are adhering to or implementing any of the five pillars listed above. Find any gaps and get to work filling them. Starting out right is preferable, and the sooner the better.

Email us at [email protected] or visit us at www.daycareaccountants.com  for additional help or questions.

 To Your Success,

Irma Oke, CPA