Child Care Business Tips
Cascadia business consultants provide business related articles to Child Care Resource & Referral Agency newsletters in Washington. Below is a recent article.
Business Planning
The beginning of the year is a good time to review the previous year's results, set goals and make plans for the coming year. Successful business owners have a clear vision of where they are going and have a clear, written plan for how to achieve that vision. Here are the steps to take and some questions to ask in your planning process:
„What do you do? - Write down clearly and concisely what you offer to parents and children. Are there other needs they have that you can meet? Are some of the services you offer not needed or too expensive for you to provide? This is a good time to assess your policies and procedures.
„Why do you do it? - What is your vision for your business? What is the image of your business you want parents and the community to have in their mind? Write this down and make sure you and your staff understand it and work to maintain it.
„What do you want to achieve? - Write down your specific one-year and five-year goals for your business. These could include goals for net profit, number of new children or improving your financial record keeping. Be bold. Challenge yourself, your employees, and your business.
„How are you going to get there? - This is where your plan will succeed or fail. For each goal, write down a detailed action plan listing specific tasks, the people responsible for doing those tasks, the dates they will be completed and the costs involved. Be sure to delegate tasks so that you don't feel overwhelmed. Are there tasks that parents or your family can help you with?
„How will you measure your progress? - The most important step in this process is to review the action plan at least once a month, if not daily or weekly. Post copies of your goals and action plan so that you will see them every day. If you've delegated tasks, check in with those people regularly to make sure they are on track.
Planning takes extra time, on top of all the other tasks you need to do. However, the end result of this process will help you and your child care business be more successful.
|
