Running head: BUSINESS PLAN AND FEE POLICY 1

Business Plan and Fee Policy

Eden Whitehead

Brigham Young University-Idaho

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Program Description

The Waldorf Preschool Academy (WPA) welcomes you to explore our unique stage for

early education. Serving children ages three through five, WPA will seek to prepare young

learners for their school years through a creative, hands-on approach to academic discovery

(Waldorf Education, 2015). Our state-of-the-art facility will be located adjacent to the Waldorf

Elementary Academy but will maintain its own separate treed yard with garden plot that students

will be encouraged to explore regularly. Indoors, we will have an open concept room complete

with performing stage, art studio, and other engaging centers.

WPA classes will run Monday and Wednesday from 9am to 12pm for our three-year-old

group, Tuesday and Thursday from 9am to 12pm for our four-year-old group, and Monday

through Thursday from 2pm to 5pm for our five-year-old group. These classes will run according

to the public-school district’s schedule and will not operate during the summer break, holiday

breaks, or other public-school breaks. Class sizes will not exceed 12 children, and each class will

have both a lead and support teacher on hand for the duration of each program. Please note that

our lead teachers will always have a bachelor’s degree in Child Development, or a related field,

and two years previous experience in child care. Our support teachers will always have at least

three years previous child care experience.

Needs Assessments

Needs assessments will be conducted in three specific ways: an exploration of the census

records for the area, an emailed survey to local businesses/colleges, and interviewing directors of

community resource programs in the area.

1. Census Records: The most recent census records for the area will be obtained from the

local city hall, or online through a governmental webpage. These will be reviewed to see
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the demographics of the area including general socio-economic status, number of

toddlers/preschoolers in the area, and areas with a high concentration of families. This

will be used to determine where to establish the program, and the type of fees/tuition we

can expect people in this area to be willing to pay.

2. Emailed Survey: An emailed survey will be sent out to businesses and employment

centers where parents will most likely be employed. These anonymous surveys will ask

questions like how many children that person has in child care, how much they pay for

child care, and what more they are looking for in a child care provider that they are

currently not receiving. This will help establish how to present and market the program to

parents.

3. Interviews: Family and community resource centers in the area will be located, and

program directors will be solicited for interviews. These types of non-profit organizations

usually have a great feel for the needs of individual families in the area, and the

community as a whole. This will help gauge an understanding of the area and how we

can incorporate ourselves into part of the existing community.

Marketing

Marketing will be performed in a variety of ways. The first form of advertising we will

take will be tv and radio ads on the local news stations. With this will be an invitation for their

news anchors to do a spotlight tour of our center to air on television. A second form of

advertising will be to hand out fliers at community and family resource centers. Parents frequent

these places and will feel better about accepting a flier from a source they already trust. A third

form of advertising will be billboards and bench signs around town that are easily visible from

the road and sidewalks.

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Personal Resources

The personal resources I will be contributing to the school will be as follows:

• A Bachelor of Science degree in Child Development that will help with staff education

and curriculum development

• Internship experience in child care and working with parents and families at Madison

Cares Rexburg that will provide background and guidance on how to develop the

program

• Training and certification to recognize and report child sexual abuse through the

Darkness to Light program to assist in protecting all the children in the program

• Infant and child first aid certification through EMS Safety to respond to any emergency

in the program that may arise

• Small collection of children’s books and art supplies to place in the classroom

Risks and Challenges

Risks incorporated with this venture will vary from business, to legal, to personal in

nature. Business risks could include failing to follow our budget, or incurring unexpected costs

that cause the business to declare bankruptcy. To prevent this from happening, we will plan into

our budget to have an excess of funds so that when unexpected costs arise, we will have a

reserve fund with which to pay for them. We will also hold ourselves accountable to following

the budget by documenting and reporting all of our spending to a board comprised of the

program director, program advisors, staff, any creditors, and the PTA.

Legal risks could include being sued for malpractice or improper licensing and

accreditation. To avoid these risks, we will employ a lawyer to ensure that we have all the
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necessary and accurate licensing and accreditation that we need to legally run a business. We

will also hire trained and experienced staff, and provide further training upon hiring, to ensure

that malpractice does not occur.

Personal risks or challenges could include emotional strain and physical stress. To

mitigate these risks, I will ensure that I set limits about how long I am allowed to work each day,

and how many days per week. This will consist of not working past 6 pm weekdays and never

working more than 4 hours on the weekend. I will also ensure proper self-care is scheduled into

my regular business routine. This will consist of routine massage therapy appointments and daily

exercise. By following these measures for business, legal, and personal risks, many challenges

can and will be avoided.

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3 Month Start Up Budget

Fee Policy

Dear parents,

Please see the chart below for information regarding the yearly registration fee, monthly

tuition cost, and late fee charges per child for each of our classes. Yearly registration fees are due

by the 1st of December for the year prior to the year your child will be starting in the program.

Failure to pay the yearly registration fee will forfeit your child’s place in their class. Monthly
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Tuition will be due by the 1st of each month for that month of tuition. Failure to pay the monthly

registration fee on time will result in a late fee applied per day until the tuition and late fees have

been paid in full. If a family fails to pay the fee/late fee by the end of that month, they will be

expelled from the program. Questions regarding fees, tuition, or information about scholarships

can be addressed to our office assistant Ms. Smith at (555) 555-5555.

Class Yearly Registration Monthly Tuition Cost Late Fee Charged Per
Fee Each Day Late on
Monthly Tuition
Threes 300$ 200$ 5$
Fours 300$ 200$ 5$
Fives 300$ 450$ 12$