Do You Need To Develop A Market Study & Business Plan For A New School?

Hi, How's your summer going so far? Here in Vancouver we're enjoying temperatures in the low-80's with clear blue skies and low humidity. I spend my time between our house here in the farm country south of Vancouver and our cottage in the US peninsula of Point Roberts. I'm pleased to share that HEG is signing off on another Market Study and Business Plan for a new for-profit K-9 IB School in Malaysia. Next is a Feasibility Study and Business Plan for a new Tribal School in Alabama. A critical element before starting a private school or university is to gauge the market demand for the envisioned school and quantify the investment capital needed within a detailed formation and five-year operational budget. This process determines whether there is demand for the specific school program and tuition fee at that specific location, what it costs to open that school, and whether it's a sustainable operation (and if the founder's pockets are deep enough). I've witnessed at least 10 schools close over the last 12 months; some established, some new. What their closures indicate to me is two fold: People are not buying what they're selling. In other words, parents and students are not attracted to the educational program being offered at that school; and The Directors and Board of the school are not operating the school within a financially sustainable business model. If you're thinking of starting a new school, or have an established school, you owe it to yourself to ensure that you can statistically quantify what your market wants, what fees it is capable of paying, and ensuring that the revenue 'coming in' matches or is less than the expenses 'going out.' I know this sounds pretty simple, but why did all those schools close while others didn't? It's just simple supply and demand and responsible governance! Is your group thinking of starting a new school? Today I'm going to share with you the process to develop a market-feasibility study and business plan, which ensures that you're better prepared to open your school. Please read on to find out more. To your success,   Doug Halladay President Halladay Education Group P.S. Don't forget to go to our secure Online Store to invest in our Strategic Planning or Start-A-School Toolkits.

Developing A Market-Feasibility Study & Business Plan

At HEG, we're strong believers in due diligence when starting a school. We believe that the rationale behind developing a school should be based on quantifiable data rather than emotions. There are a number of qualitative and quantitative survey tools you can use to determine the level of demand for your school (e.g., focus groups, phone surveys, online surveys, mail surveys). The purpose of the Market-Feasibility Study is to provide statistically-based data to help answer the following questions: What is the level of demand for your school? Who is the target market? What is the likelihood of parents enrolling their children at your school? How many students will enroll? What will prevent families from enrolling? What level of tuition would they pay? Will they need financial aid? What is the impact of pricing on enrollment? What is the response to the educational programs What will generate confidence in a brand new private school? This process allows HEG to evaluate your project's capacity for success, markets for enrollment, and ensure clarity in the development of your business plan and start-up preparation. We view the market-feasibility study like building the foundation of a house; you need to establish all the building blocks before you commit your putting resources and capital into building the school. Once you've hard data for projected enrollment demand, we then develop the business plan, which includes proformas for the start-up budget and five-year operational budget. The plan illustrates the opportunity, program requirements, demand, time lines and benchmarks, facility needs, leadership structure, start-up costs, operational budget, and investment structure. An effective Market-Feasibility Study and Business Plan will determine the best location, capital requirements for start-up and operating budget, feasibility of the proposed school model in that regional market, facility/site requirements, and convey the proposition to your financing group. The rationale behind the Study and Plan is to first consolidate the scope and scale of your formation project through an extensive business case analysis and identify the elements and costs associated with developing your school and tasks associated with opening it. Our four-step development model focuses on the following stages: Market-Feasibility Study & Business Plan Development Plan Implementation of University Formation Plan Operation, Management, & Ongoing Support Our process with meeting the Client onsite to establish the key elements of your school, including: vision and mission, timelines, tuition, facilities, staffing, corporate structure and goals, values, and educational program. We then conduct the market study. After the study has been conducted, demographic and community information has been gathered and data analyzed, we then deliver a Feasibility Report addressing the key questions above and then a Business Plan to determine start-up costs and five-year operational budget based projected enrollment. The business plan focuses on: School model Pricing Strategy for Tuition Positioning And Competition Admissions And Enrollment Human Resources Formation Overview Location, Facilities, and FF&E Detailed Proforma Financial Statements and Budgets (Payroll, Capital Contributions, Financial Statement, IRR, Income Tax Loss Carry-Forward, Development Costs, Revenue, Procurement, Depreciation and Amortization, Administration Costs, Physical Plan and Maintenance Costs, Land Acquisition and Mortgage) HEG and our experienced team are well suited and experienced to help assess and lead the development of your school. By utilizing our quality controls, it ensures proper planning, development, and operation of your institution, delivery of a world-class curriculum, and assurance that your school will be sustainable. When you think about all those schools that closed in the last year, my guess is that they didn't do their homework. Many of the clients that we complete the study and business plan for never open their schools. We think it's better to spend a little money now than waste a lot of money later. On the other hand, we provide the blue print for you to build a solid foundation for a sustainable school. NEXT STEP If this article strikes a note with you, and you feel that your group needs to help developing a market/feasibility study and business plan, then you should seriously consider our services. If you'd like to learn more about how we can help your organization, please email  HEG or call  our direct line at +1-604-868-0002 to find out more.

Do You Have An Effective Board-Head Relationship?

Hello,

Vancouver is finely having its long anticipated summer weather, with temperatures in the mid-80's F and climbing. This means that our cherry trees in our back yard are bearing their delicious fruit. Last night while we were enjoying our dinner on the patio, a family of racoons wandered into our yard and proceeded to climb the cherry tree and enoy themselves as well. Ahh, summer in the country.

As you may know, HEG divides its work between helping clients start new schools and supporting established private schools to improve their operations and leadership (Of course, our services extend into other education-sector related services as well). Working with hundreds of clients globally, there is a common element that we assist with; ensuring that there's an effective working relationship between the board and the school's senior leader. Research indicates that effective schools have strong leadership with a clear vision and a plan to achieve it, which is jointly achieved through a partnership between trustees and the Head of School.

Does your organization have a clear constructive working relationship with the board and the CEO? Today I want to share with you the essentials of strong and healthy Board-Head relationship. Please read on to find out more.

To your success,

Doug Halladay

President

Halladay Education Group

P.S. Don't forget to go to our secure Online Store to invest in our Strategic Planning or Start-A-School Toolkits.

=======================================================

When we work with school boards, be it new or established, we see many of the same issues. An inability to work effectively with the organization's CEO.

Based on HEG's research into the common practices of effective schools; there is an overlaying common element; a strong and healthy Board-Head relationship.

It is important to understand the role that the Board and Head have in achieving the school's mission and goals. For example, the Board's role is to develop the strategic, long-range plan for the school; "directing/developing" goals and policy, and monitoring their implementation. The Head's role is to lead the "operations" side to implement the goals/policies, with the Head and staff being held accountable for meeting Board expectations, which are clearly outlined and monitored within the goals/policies.

Committees

In most circumstances, Board members develop goals and policies for the school with the assistance of the Head and staff, and do not get down in the trenches (the operational side). However, in some limited cases, a Board member may have knowledge and a passion for a specific skill that may benefit the school (a skill that the school staff do not have, or the school cannot finance); skills that the school may want to tap into and to provide staff access to. But Board members need to make sure that they don't overstep and over commit themselves, and cross over from the strategic side (Board) to the operations side (management).

At a Board level, a goal should be achievable, measurable, relevant, and timely, with it being implemented by the Head and the staff. But since a Board member may have an "advisory role", there is a need to make sure that there's no confusion over the "chain-of-command". It is important to ensure that the Board's authoritative position and its obligation to its constituency be maintained, even when it is in the position to give advice, that by definition may or may not be heeded (e.g., do staff members put themselves in jeopardy if they do not heed it?).

Fundamental Rules

Good Board-Head delegation can be characterized by three simple rules:

1. The Board will express its instructions and expectations only as a group, not as individuals or committees; 
2. The Board will express its instructions and expectations only to the Head, never to persons who work for the Head. However, advice to staff from Board members can be workable with sound ground rules. Since the Board can only instruct the Head when it does so as a group, nothing an individual Board members says can and should have instructional authority. Thus, Board member "advice" is fine, but "commands" are not. So advice can be considered by staff on its merits alone; and
3. The function and agenda for a Board committee should be developed jointly with the Head.

Summary

It is important to ensure that the line between "instructing" (which a full Board does) and "advising" (which Board member can do) does not get blurred and confusing for the Head and staff. The unintended result is that the staff ends up working not for the Board or Head per se, but for various sources of "advice", which they can never be completely sure is really only advice. Staff members are not inclined to tell Board members that their advice is unhelpful.

In other words, the Board should "direct" and "develop" policies and goals and the Head/staff control the "processes", and the Board members wear his/her "instructional hat" at the Board meetings only, not at the committee level. Thus the Head/staff is held accountable for meeting Board expectations (clearly outlined in the goals/policies of the Board's strategic plan), not the individual Board members.

It is important to make sure that staff is free to review the advice and make the appropriate choices (processes) needed to accomplish the goals. Hence, a Board member's place on a committee is two fold:

1. Providing feedback to the Board for the development of goals/ policies (governing) at the Board meeting level; and
2. Advising, with the Head/staff making the final decisions on the processes to achieve the goals/policies, being careful of the balance between the two.

NEXT STEP

Doug, if this article strikes a note at your organization, and you feel that your board could be better prepared for the coming school year, then you should seriously consider these valuables services:

1. Board Workshop and Evaluation; and
2. Coaching for the Board Chair and Head of School.

If you'd like to learn more about how we can help your organization, please email HEG or call  at +1-604-868-0002 to find out more about our services.

Board Governance Workshops And Evaluations

Are you watching the world cup? What the heck is with the horns they keep blowing? It sounds like a swarm of killer bees buzzing in the background.

I'm going to be near Mobile, Alabama next week (June 20-25) working with clients to complete a feasibility study (mail survey) and business plan for a proposed K-12 private tribal school. If you'd like to meet to discuss your project during my free time, please email me to see if we can arrange a meeting.

Last Newsletter I mentioned that the board of St. Margaret's School in Edinburgh was closing the school after 120 years of operation due to declining enrollment and financial losses. Not surprisingly, there's another story on the BBC web site where outraged parents are trying to save the school. Not surprisingly the Board had not even mentioned to the parents the economic issues they'd faced, but rather tried in their own desparate strategies in isolation, and then let parents know there were no solution and the school would close.

Now outraged parents are striking a committee to review ALL options: lay-offs, increased tuition, selling assets, fundraising, etc. I worked witha school where the board wanted to close a program with no consulation with  parents. I felt strongly that they needed to inform parents of the situation and have them help to solve the problem with an ad hoc committee. The board chose not to do this; the parents were outraged, and then at a 'town hall' meeting the board chose to have the parents help review and solve the situation. Of coure now there's bad blood and a public perception that all is not well at the school. Rather than engaging their community in finding the solution at the start, they created a crisis. Bad board leadership.

Will Rogers said "Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." Is your board on the right track?

Today I want to share with you the essentials of effective private school board leadership. For-profit or non-profit schools need solid board leadership. Please read on to find out more.

************************************************************************************************* Most school boards are driven by the calendar of events, their Head of School, crisis, or their own personal agenda. Few boards have taken the time to prioritize what their overall needs are and develop a plan of action to achieve it in a coordinated manner. That means your board needs to determine annual goals (or even better a five-year strategic plan), set up your board committees to monitor implementation, and delegate the goal's achievement by operationalizing goals via your Head of School and staff. Many schools spend their time reacting to unexpected changes instead of anticipating and preparing for them. This is called crisis management. Schools caught off guard spend a great deal of time and resources "playing catch up." They use up energy and funds coping with immediate problems with little energy left to anticipate and prepare for the future. It should not have to be that way. Here's a quick snapshot of habits of effective boards... Duties Duty of Care: Use your best judgment Duty of Loyalty: Putting your personal and professional interests aside for the good of the school Duty of Obedience: Being true to the organization's mission Responsibilities Enhance your school's public standing Ensure legal and ethical integrity/accountability Recruit and orient new board members and assess board performance Determine the mission Select the Head Support and assess the Head Ensure adequate resources Manage resources effectively Determine, monitor, and improve programs and services Govern More...Manage Less Develop a strategic plan and follow it Link current agenda to strategic agenda Monitor the success of the school's initiatives Develop clear expectations and plan of action for Trustees Direct CEO to prepare strategically Structure meetings to policy and strategy Assess the performance of the board annually Focus on policy objectives, organizational strategy, and relationship between budgets and priorities Does Your Board Experience Any Of These... Trustee behavior that's unproductive and misaligned with mission Board agenda controlled by crisis rather than vision Lack of a plan or goals that results in no board agenda, committee goals, or operational plan Board committees that exist only because they've always been there, not because they're needed No link between budget, programs, or strategic plan Blurring of boundaries and channels between roles of the Board and Administration Board commitment is greater than trustees would like it to be and become too taxing and stressful Inability to attract or keep trustees Poor turn-out at board meetings and AGM's Board Governance Workshop The alternative is HEG's finely tuned  board governance workshop that provides a viable alternative to reactive governance. Our systematic process provides definite objectives and a road map that can be implemented  immediately. We provide a one-day board governance workshop for your school's trustees. Our thoughtful and fun workshop provides feedback to analyze and develop a clear set of strategies to guide your school's leadership with  ongoing development of your school and governance. The Board Governance Workshop and Online Survey refocuses Trustees on the Critical Elements of Effective Board Performance. This includes a comprehensive 360° online "Board Performance Self-Assessment Survey" based on years of research to assess your board's performance and a follow-up one-day workshop to identify and resolve critical governance issues identified in the survey, review best practices, and fine tune your board. This includes: Presentation of governance best practices for. Participation in hands-on case scenarios that highlight effective board practices. Building a profile of your board's performance  based on confidential responses to the online survey and identifying areas that need immediate improvement. Facilitation of a one-day workshop that assists the board in developing strategies and action plans to improve your governance of leadership of your school.  As part of the process, the Board members candidly discuss and reach consensus on issues surrounding performance of your board and lay the groundwork for long-term improvement. You receive a "Summative Board Performance Report" providing a comprehensive overview of the board's survey results, issues, and a plan of action for improvement. NEXT STEP Doug, if you'd like to find out more about our firm's board workshops and learn more about how we can help provide the solution, please email HEG or call  at +1-604-868-0002. Book now before the end of June with a prepayment and we'll provide you'll receive a 10% discount.

 

To your success,

Doug Halladay

President

Halladay Education Group

P.S. Don't forget to go to our secure Online Store to invest in our Strategic Planning or Start-A-School Toolkits.

Board Governance Workshops And Evaluations

Are you watching the world cup? What the heck is with the horns they keep blowing? It sounds like a swarm of killer bees buzzing in the background.

I'm going to be near Mobile, Alabama next week (June 20-25) working with clients to complete a feasibility study (mail survey) and business plan for a proposed K-12 private tribal school. If you'd like to meet to discuss your project during my free time, please email me to see if we can arrange a meeting.

Last Newsletter I mentioned that the board of St. Margaret's School in Edinburgh was closing the school after 120 years of operation due to declining enrollment and financial losses. Not surprisingly, there's another story on the BBC web site where outraged parents are trying to save the school. Not surprisingly the Board had not even mentioned to the parents the economic issues they'd faced, but rather tried in their own desparate strategies in isolation, and then let parents know there were no solution and the school would close.

Now outraged parents are striking a committee to review ALL options: lay-offs, increased tuition, selling assets, fundraising, etc. I worked witha school where the board wanted to close a program with no consulation with  parents. I felt strongly that they needed to inform parents of the situation and have them help to solve the problem with an ad hoc committee. The board chose not to do this; the parents were outraged, and then at a 'town hall' meeting the board chose to have the parents help review and solve the situation. Of coure now there's bad blood and a public perception that all is not well at the school. Rather than engaging their community in finding the solution at the start, they created a crisis. Bad board leadership.

Will Rogers said "Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." Is your board on the right track?

Today I want to share with you the essentials of effective private school board leadership. For-profit or non-profit schools need solid board leadership. Please read on to find out more.

Doug , Most school boards are driven by the calendar of events, their Head of School, crisis, or their own personal agenda. Few boards have taken the time to prioritize what their overall needs are and develop a plan of action to achieve it in a coordinated manner. That means your board needs to determine annual goals (or even better a five-year strategic plan), set up your board committees to monitor implementation, and delegate the goal's achievement by operationalizing goals via your Head of School and staff. Many schools spend their time reacting to unexpected changes instead of anticipating and preparing for them. This is called crisis management. Schools caught off guard spend a great deal of time and resources "playing catch up." They use up energy and funds coping with immediate problems with little energy left to anticipate and prepare for the future. It should not have to be that way. Here's a quick snapshot of habits of effective boards... Duties Duty of Care: Use your best judgment Duty of Loyalty: Putting your personal and professional interests aside for the good of the school Duty of Obedience: Being true to the organization's mission Responsibilities Enhance your school's public standing Ensure legal and ethical integrity/accountability Recruit and orient new board members and assess board performance Determine the mission Select the Head Support and assess the Head Ensure adequate resources Manage resources effectively Determine, monitor, and improve programs and services Govern More...Manage Less Develop a strategic plan and follow it Link current agenda to strategic agenda Monitor the success of the school's initiatives Develop clear expectations and plan of action for Trustees Direct CEO to prepare strategically Structure meetings to policy and strategy Assess the performance of the board annually Focus on policy objectives, organizational strategy, and relationship between budgets and priorities Does Your Board Experience Any Of These... Trustee behavior that's unproductive and misaligned with mission Board agenda controlled by crisis rather than vision Lack of a plan or goals that results in no board agenda, committee goals, or operational plan Board committees that exist only because they've always been there, not because they're needed No link between budget, programs, or strategic plan Blurring of boundaries and channels between roles of the Board and Administration Board commitment is greater than trustees would like it to be and become too taxing and stressful Inability to attract or keep trustees Poor turn-out at board meetings and AGM's Board Governance Workshop The alternative is HEG's finely tuned  board governance workshop that provides a viable alternative to reactive governance. Our systematic process provides definite objectives and a road map that can be implemented  immediately. We provide a one-day board governance workshop for your school's trustees. Our thoughtful and fun workshop provides feedback to analyze and develop a clear set of strategies to guide your school's leadership with  ongoing development of your school and governance. The Board Governance Workshop and Online Survey refocuses Trustees on the Critical Elements of Effective Board Performance. This includes a comprehensive 360° online "Board Performance Self-Assessment Survey" based on years of research to assess your board's performance and a follow-up one-day workshop to identify and resolve critical governance issues identified in the survey, review best practices, and fine tune your board. This includes: Presentation of governance best practices for. Participation in hands-on case scenarios that highlight effective board practices. Building a profile of your board's performance  based on confidential responses to the online survey and identifying areas that need immediate improvement. Facilitation of a one-day workshop that assists the board in developing strategies and action plans to improve your governance of leadership of your school.  As part of the process, the Board members candidly discuss and reach consensus on issues surrounding performance of your board and lay the groundwork for long-term improvement. You receive a "Summative Board Performance Report" providing a comprehensive overview of the board's survey results, issues, and a plan of action for improvement. NEXT STEP Doug, if you'd like to find out more about our firm's board workshops and learn more about how we can help provide the solution, please email HEG or call  at +1-604-868-0002. Book now before the end of June with a prepayment and we'll provide you'll receive a 10% discount.

 

To your success,

Doug Halladay

President

Halladay Education Group

P.S. Don't forget to go to our secure Online Store to invest in our Strategic Planning or Start-A-School Toolkits.

Marketing For A New School

My apologies for not connecting with you sooner, but we've been extremely busy with new projects and developing our new eNewsletter format. As you can see, HEG has a new look for our Inner Circle eNewsletter and we hope that you enjoy it.

 
Our recent private school development projects have our team of associates travelling to all four corners of the globe with projects in: Saudi Arabia, Mongolia, China, Panama, Ontario, Alabama, Texas, Manhattan, and Malaysia.
 
In the past three weeks I've joined our team of HEG Associates to work with clients in Ulaanbaatar, Beijing, Panama City, and Washington, DC. Our projects vary from feasibility studies/business plans for new private K-12 international schools, to strategic plans, Head of School Searches, school formation, and major research projects for a Ministry of Education. In the month of June we'll be working in Mobile, Alabama, and Manhattan. If you're based there and want to arrange a meeting, please email me to set up a date to meet.
 
Today I want to share with you a number marketing initiatives you should consider when preparing to open a new private school. They say you never a get a second chance to make a first impression, so making sure that your marketing and admissions strategies are 'ramped up' is critical to maximizing enrollment for day one of operation. Please read on to find out more.

Marketing Strategies For Your New School

The right time to connect with parents and their kids starts long before the official opening of your school. In order to ensure greatest coverage and impact, a mixture of target marketing activities should be used during all stages of the formation. The list below provides a sampling of potential marketing tools, initiatives, and channels you can use. The best results are likely driven by a continuous utilization of a combination of the marketing tools and channels (as outlined below).

1. Open Campus: Regularly staged events provide a "touch and feel" experience for parents and prospective students at your new campus. If you don't have one, then set up a mock-up of your ideal classroom.
2. Coffee Sessions & Informal Meetings: Regular sessions provide prospective students and parents an opportunity to learn more about the school, curriculum and facilities; events with your Director of Admissions and Head of School.
3. Website: A website has to be informative, structured, interactive, and foremost credible. A website is typically the first point of contact or prospects; search engine optimization is critical; curriculum, fees, and school brochure should be downloadable. Ensure that you create an opt-in tool to capture visitors to your site and then follow up with an auto-responder system and email-based weekly newsletter to keep your prospective parents engaged and aware.
4. Social Media Sites: Web sites, such as Face book and Twitter, have become powerful marketing tools and need to be incorporated into holistic campaigns.
5. Brochures: Similar to the website, a brochure has to be informative, structured, transparent, and appealing, and provide all relevant contact details. This in turn needs to available on your website.
6. Press Releases & Newsletters: Cost sensitive tool ensures constant exposure of school in the media and keeps public informed about news and / or changes. This is also online so there are links back to the school's website to support SEO efforts and viral marketing.
7. Direct Mail & Flyers: Direct mailing promotes the school and is known to have a reasonable success rate. In particular, in the pre-opening phase direct mails can be utilized to increase the awareness of the local community and your open hours.
8. Radio Advertising: Effective image tool to increase the general awareness of the school, which might however not necessarily address the envisioned target group.
9. Billboards: Effective image tool within the defined catchment area of the school.
10. Newspaper Advertising: Useful tool for opening phase and special events held at the school.

To find out more about how we can help provide you solutions, please email HEG at to discuss your needs in more detail.

To your success,

Doug Halladay

President

Halladay Education Group

P.S. Don't forget to go to our secure Online Store to invest in our Strategic Planning or Start-A-School Toolkits.