If you have a real whizz bang idea for a new business venture, there an be nothing more frustrating than that constant niggle of funding shortages holding you back. There is a desperate shortage of under fives nursery places out in the countryside for example – if a farm or small holding has spare barns or workshop room that is no longer used for the original business, then maybe this space could be considered viable. firstly of course one needs to talk to the planning office at the council to see if your project has wings to get going. No good planning anything, getting funding, staff etc only to find the area you want to use has restrictions and is a no go problem.
Very often a portable cabin like a mobile home could be possible if it is hoped to only take in a small number of pre school children and only one or two member of trained staff. To secure the funding for any kind of project requires preparation and presentation of full business plans which give clear outline of local needs for this project – how did you ascertain this information, where is your competition coming from; is the area going to expand so your business is going to be stretched or overrun before you are even established. Any application for funding has to include a seriously strong and robust plan giving concise reports of how you anticipate the business starting up, where your own finance is coming from and whether you have the opportunity to apply for grants. For pre school/early years is there any dedicated funding available from the local or national government?
Another vital aspect of this plan is to ensure the staff are fully qualified in their field; are there any Ofsted registration concerns. For a commercial nursery unit that is private without local authority intervention then between £40k and £130k start-up capital may be sufficient but these figures depend on the size of the project and the location. The cost breakdown could run something like this, securing and fitting out of premises between £40k ad £75k; Staff – payable from the word go before fees start rolling in: between £20k and £40k, Equipment and all sorts of resources range from £5k to £15k for furniture, learning packages, kitchens and outdoor play gear. Don’t forget the critical ad oft overlooked insurances which will come in at about £4k, depending on policies chosen.
