Startup cost calculator

Runway is the number that closes programs

Enrollment does not arrive on opening day. Families tour, decide, give notice somewhere else and start a month later, and infant rooms fill slowest of all because the families planning for them are still pregnant.

Meanwhile payroll starts before the children do — you cannot open with an empty staff roster, and several states require qualified staff in place before the license is issued. Budget the months honestly: four is common, and a program that budgeted one is a program looking for emergency money in month two.

Where build-out money goes

Bathrooms and sinks, almost always. Child-height fixtures, a diaper changing station with the required hand-washing sink beside it, and a kitchen that satisfies the health inspector are the items that turn a cheap space into an expensive one.

Then exits, alarms, fencing and surfacing. Playground surfacing to the required depth under equipment is routinely underestimated, and it is not optional.

The honest ways to open for less

Open smaller. A program that licenses two rooms and adds the third once the first two fill needs a fraction of the runway, and the license can usually be amended later. Carry the total into the daycare business plan template, where it sits beside the operating losses you have to fund.

Start at home. A licensed family program has a far lower entry cost and is how a large share of center owners learned the business — it is also the only route that lets you test demand before you commit to a lease.

Buy used, except where you cannot. Shelving, tables and storage second-hand; cots, cribs and anything with a safety standard new, with the certification paperwork.