Feasibility Study and Business Plan For a New School

If you plan on opening a new school, be it K-12 or post secondary, you need to ensure that you've done your homework before launching your school. There's so much at stake. As the title of the eNewsletter states, you never get a second chance to make a first impression when going public with your new school. Have you done your homework to ensure that your school model will be sustainable in your market? Is there a large enough market willing to pay for the program and services you're offering? Is the tuition fee you're charging reflective of operational costs and short-falls in your initial years of operation? And if you're a for-profit, will there be a reasonable pay-back period to your investors and realistic profits? Once you launch your school, there's no turning back. And in school marketing, word-of-mouth is still the number one marketing tool, so you don't want to stumble right out of the gates. If you're planning to start a new school, or even expand your established school, you need to complete the necessary research and due diligence to formalize your educational-operational-governance-finance model and determine whether there is demand in your market for the educational program you're envisioning. From there you need to quantify the costs associated with starting and operating your school to break-even point, and the value it will return to your founders and investors. If You Build It They Will Come I don't know if you remember the Kevin Costner movie, "Field of Dreams." Kevin had a vision that "If you build it, they will come", and envisions building a baseball diamond where his farm field was and the prophecy that people will come to play and watch baseball there. The point is that you don't want to be caught in the trap of building your school and hoping that the students and parents will show up. The risk is too high, and frankly, irresponsible to your stakeholders and investors. However, it happens. We've observed a number of private schools close because the founders didn't take the time to determine if there was demand for their educational model, or through a detailed Business Plan, determine whether their operational-financial model was feasible over the long-term. They just thought if they built it they would come! Objectives Of A Market-Feasibility Study And Business Plan   Our market~feasibility study and business planning approach formalizes your school's educational / operational / business / financial model, determines the feasibility for success in your designated market, start-up capital requirements, five-year operational budget, internal rate of return (profit), facility-site requirements, and conveyance of the proposition to your investment and/or founding group. The rationale behind the Study and Business Plan is to consolidate the scope of your formation project through an extensive business case analysis to formalize the educational, operational, and business framework, quantify HR needs, facility/land requirements, enrollment demand, start-up and capital requirements, break-even point, pay-down to investors, internal rate of return, and net income. Upon conclusion of the Study, HEG can assess the project's feasibility and optimal model for development, and pre-operation milestones as per the four-step model in the diagram below. The rationale behind the Study is to formalize the scope of the formation project through an extensive on-site business case analysis, market review, and identification of the critical elements and costs associated with developing your school. Upon conclusion of the Study, you will have a blueprint to guide you through the school formation process.This allows you to move forward fully informed and prepared. HEG's market~feasibility study and business planning process determines the optimal market for your school and financial projections within the Business Plan, focusing on: Formalization of the school model: Market demand; Educational program(s); Accreditation requirements and licensing; Potential combinations of grades for each stage of development; Human resource considerations; Infrastructure requirements; Funding requirements; Management team, governance model, and organizational chart. Determine target market(s), enrollment projections, and marketing and admissions plan; Review the business case for the establishment of a school in the Client's designated market; Financial costs/assumptions for start-up budget and five-year financial plan; Corporate and investment/funding structure; Project management timelines and milestones; Proposed facility and land requirements and suitable location(s) for the school; Address issues/strategies to ensure a successful start-up and operation of the school: Develop a Business Plan, providing an Executive Report, recommendations, and costing profile with an overview of demand for the proposed school, capital requirements, profits, investment pay-down, and the 'blueprint' to move forward. Recent Projects HEG is recognized as the leader in the development of market~feasibility studies and business plans. We've experience with projects over $150 million in new cities in Asia to smaller non-profit schools. We've worked with for-profit and non-profit clients in North America, Asia, Europe, Middle East, and Africa. Provided below is a quick snap-shot of recent projects:  Market Study & Business Plan For A New Private International PreK-9 IB School in Malaysia Business Plan For An International K-12 IB School in Singapore Market Study For A British Columbia Certified Offshore Grade 10-12 School in Beijing, China Feasibility Study & Business Plan For A New Independent Grades 9-12 Prep School in Toronto, Ontario Market Study & Business Plan For A New Private International Branch School in Oman Feasibility Study & Business Plan For A Private Grades PreK-12 Anglican School in Vancouver, BC Business Plan For A New University Preparatory Day-Boarding Multi-Sport Elite High School In Toronto, Ontario Business Plan For A New K-12 B.C.-Certified Sports Academy In Vancouver, BC Business Plan For A K-12 Canadian International IB School in Saudi Arabia Feasibility Study & Business Plan For A New University Preparatory High School In Hawaii. Market Study & Business Plan For A New Private International High School In California Market Study & Business Plan For A New Private International High School In Dallas, Texas Business Plan For An All-Boys Grade 9-12 Independent Orthodox High School In Florida Feasibility Study & Business Plan For New Co-Ed K-12 Tribal Private School In Alabama,   Feasibility Study & Development Of K-12 Private School System For The New Planned City  In The UAE Market Study & Business Plan For A New For-Profit International Private K-12 IB School In Angola Feasibility Study & Business Plan For A New Private International K-12 IB School Formation Project in Panama Next Step If you would like to build a solid foundation to develop your sustainable school, and would like to find out more about HEG's market~feasibility study and business plan services, please contact Doug Halladay directly by sending an email to info@halladayeducationgroup.com or calling HEG at 1-604-868-0002. To your success,  Douglas 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.They're affordable and practical.