HALLADAY EDUCATION GROUP

HALLADAY EDUCATION GROUP
4316 Arthur Drive, Delta, BC, Canada V4K 2W8
P: 604.868.0002 | E: info@halladayeducationgroup.com


Thursday, December 3, 2009

Feasibility Study and Business Plan to Start a Private School

Hello:

I’m slowly getting into the holiday spirit here in Vancouver. You won’t believe it but we just had our first day of frost on Monday! After setting records in November for rainfall and days without sunshine, December has started with a bang, with three consecutive days of sun. Of course the rain has translated into record amounts of snow on the local ski hills (in preparation for our Winter Olympics in February). However, to avoid the traffic, we’ll be in Belize snorkelling. Oh, and did I mention our Vancouver Canucks hockey team won last night? Back on the band wagon. ;^)

I also wanted to let you know that I’ll be in Los Angeles next week (Dec 8-10) for meetings with clients. If you’d like to make arrangements to meet with me in the evenings, please send me an email to info@halladayeducationgroup.com

Many of you ask what HEG specializes in. In short, we focus on the development of new and established private and public schools. We’re a consortium of internationally recognized educators and business professionals with first-hand experience in starting, operating, leading, and improving schools internationally, with clients based in the USA, Canada, and internationally. We’ve helped public and private schools, major corporations, and institutions maximize their established institution’s performance or support the development of new for- or non-profit private schools; be it one school or part of a planned land development project in new city. Our services include:
Our experienced team of consultants have hundreds of years of combined experience dedicated to providing customized solutions to start, operate, and lead private schools in the USA, Central America, Middle East, Central and Southeast Asia, Canada, and other international locations. Our team has started more +20 K-12 schools as well as advised on the development of over 100 other school development projects.

To find out more about our school development services, please click here.

Today I want to share some thoughts in the eNewsletter on how to begin the process of starting your own school. Our firm receives many inquiries from parents, investors, and land development corporations about how to start their own private school (K-12 or college). The starting point we recommend is the completion of a Feasibility Study and Business Plan. It becomes your Blue Print to define what has to be done before you move forward, and how much is needed to be invested to do it successfully.

We always advise clients to avoid the “field of dreams” syndrome; building a school and hoping students show up. We think it’s wiser to make the investment at the beginning, determining what the market demand is and statistically project enrollment against demographics, and then develop the start-up and operational business plan and budget based on hard numbers. This approach provides a crystal clear picture of what your vision will cost and what your donors or investors need to contribute to ensure success.

Please read on to find out more about how you can develop a feasibility study and business plan.

To your success,

Doug Halladay

President
Halladay Education Group Inc.

>> TWITTER ->> Receive our updates by clicking here.

P.S. Don’t forget to go to our secure Online Store for our Strategic Planning or School Start-Up Toolkits.

IN THIS ISSUE

1. In The News

2. Focus On Our Key Services

3. Feasibility Study and Business Plan

4. Products At Our Online Store

1. IN THE NEWS

>> IN A CLASS OF HIS OWN
Forbes: That's why most private schools are governed by nonprofit "trusts". As a result, investors were wary of putting money into any K12-focussed entrepreneur..


>> INDEPENDENT SCHOOL TO OFFER ITS OWN DIPLOMA
SFS Group: Harrow School, an independent school located in north-west London, has announced it is to become the first to offer it own diploma to students...

>> CONFESSIONS OF A TWILIGHT ADDICT
Jennifer Morrison says that, despite its reputation, there's a lot for language arts teachers to like in the Twilight series. ...

2. FOCUS ON OUR KEY SERVICES

(A) STARTING A SCHOOL
Starting a school can be challenging and you never have a 2nd chance to make a 1st impression. That’s why you need a firm with experience starting schools in USA, Canada, and Internationally.

(B) STRATEGIC PLANNING
We can lead the development of your school’s Strategic Plan, which will build consensus, motivate donors, and define critical priorities for your Board and Administration for school improvement.

(C) BOARD GOVERNANCE WORKSHOPS
Do you want your school to have the best board possible? Our full-day governance workshop (in combination with our informative online self-assessment survey) will fine-tune your board’s performance and focus priorities.

(D) SCHOOL EVALUATIONS
A school review is critical to knowing if you’re heading in the right direction. As a board member, are you sure your school is doing the best it can? Get the whole picture with our “In-Depth School Performance Review and Action Plan.”

(E) BUYING AND SELLING SCHOOLS
HEG and our certified Brokerage Associates assist buyers/sellers with the purchase and sale of for-profit Private K-12 Schools, Post Secondary Institutions, and Career Colleges in Canada, United States, and Internationally. HEG and our Licensed Brokers are experienced in acquisitions, mergers, and advising established schools.

3. FEASIBILITY STUDY & BUSINESS PLAN

I’m a strong believer in performing due diligence when starting a school. I believe that you should develop a school based on facts rather than gut instincts. Don’t get me wrong, most schools start over a conversation between parents or investors who are either dissatisfied with the present educational options or have an entrepreneurial drive to start a school in their community that is not yet available, or would be a magnet to their land development. That being said, there are a number of qualitative and quantitative survey tools (e.g., phone, mail, online, focus groups) that need to be utilized to determine the level of demand for the school you envision.

The purpose of the Feasibility Study which HEG utilizes is to provide reliable data that will help answer the following questions:
  • What is the level of demand for the school you envision?
  • Who is the target market?
  • What is the likelihood of parents enrolling their children at your school?
  • How many students will enrol (grade, gender, origin, present school-type)?
  • What will prevent families from enrolling?
  • What level of tuition would they pay?
  • Would they need financial aid?
  • What is the impact of pricing on enrollment and features or benefits to reduce price sensitivity?
  • What is the response to the educational programs?
  • What are the critical milestones?
  • Does the founding group have the capacity to start and/or operate the school?
  • What types of facilities are available and/or needed for the school?
  • What are the financial assumptions and costs to start and/or operate the school?
  • What are the obstacles that need to be overcome to achieve success?
  • What will generate confidence in a brand new, premium priced private school?
  • What are the most effective strategies to promote enrollment?
The process allows HEG to evaluate your project’s capacity for success, market for enrollment, and ensure clarity in the development of your business plan and start-up preparation. We view the feasibility study like building the foundation of a house; you need to establish the foundation before you commit to putting resources and capital into building the school. We understand that the study and business plan will be the backbone of discussions with your partners and/or investment group and needs to be comprehensive and compelling.

Once you’ve the hard data for projected enrollment, we then develop your business plan, which includes Proformas for start-up budget and five year operational budget. The plan illustrates the opportunity, program requirements, timelines, facility needs, leadership structure, and investment structure. We focus on:
  • Projected resource/facility needs and costs
  • Timelines for each stage of school formation
  • Competitive market analysis to determine demand and niche segment
  • Economic analysis to determine tuition price point
  • Marketing/admissions strategies and positioning
  • Facilities and location for the school
  • Financial and investment framework
  • Initial start-up and five-year operational budget
  • Construction and Renovation Budget
HEG and our experienced team are well suited and experienced to help assess and lead the development of your school or multiple schools in a major land development or new city. By utilizing our detailed quality controls, it ensures proper planning, development, and operation of your institution, delivery of a world-class curriculum, and assurance that your school will provide sustainable returns.

To find out more about our firm’s school formation services, or learn more about how we can help provide you solutions, please email HEG at info@halladayeducationgroup.com to discuss your needs in more detail. To find out more about our firm’s services and how we can help, please click on to download the following PDF’s that provide an overview of our firm’s detailed School Formation Services, staff bio’s, and school formation projects click here.

4. ONLINE STORE

Here are 2 popular Toolkits to help you to either start your own school or develop your own strategic plan, step-by-step.

(1). STRATEGIC PLANNING TOOLKIT (#1 BEST SELLER)
Learn how to develop your own Strategic Plan with step-by-step instructions contained in our detailed Workbook and Manual, along with $500 worth of bonus CD’s. It’s all here to help you develop your own plan.

(2). START-A-SCHOOL TOOLKIT (#2 BEST SELLER)
Are you still struggling with starting your school? Four experienced school leaders share how they started their own school from the ground up. You’ll also receive our bonus CD on developing your strategic plan.


To your success,

Douglas Halladay
President

Halladay Education Group Inc.

P: 604.868.0002
F: 868.472.8737
Email: info@halladayeducationgroup.com
www.HalladayEducationGroup.com