Startup cost calculator
New programmes rarely fail on the build-out. They fail four months in, when payroll has run every fortnight and the rooms are half full. This prices the runway as well as the spend.
The runway months are the honest part. Enrolment rarely fills in the first quarter, and payroll starts before tuition does.
Cash you need before the doors open
$130,500
one-time spend plus 4 months of carry
- One-time spend
- $52,500
- Monthly burn before enrolment
- $19,500
- Carry for the runway
- $78,000
- Build-out share of one-time
- 67%
- Cash if you halve the runway
- $91,500
Runway is the number that closes programmes
Enrolment 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 licence is issued. Budget the months honestly: four is common, and a programme that budgeted one is a programme looking for emergency money in month two.
Licensing requirement
Licence before lease, where you can
Signing a lease on a building your licensor will not approve is the single most expensive mistake in this list. Confirm zoning, occupancy and the agency's view of the site before the ink dries — and if you cannot, negotiate a licensing contingency into the lease.
Where build-out money goes
Bathrooms and sinks, almost always. Child-height fixtures, a nappy 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 programme that licenses two rooms and adds the third once the first two fill needs a fraction of the runway, and the licence can usually be amended later.
Start at home. A licensed family programme has a far lower entry cost and is how a large share of centre 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.
Sources
- Child Care Licensing — Childcare.govfetched 2026-09-04
- California CDSS — Child Care Center Licensing Informationfetched 2026-09-04