In the beginning of opening a center it is really insane, you really need to know what you are doing.
I do not know if I will ever be able to handle quite that much work.
To open a center you need to have a location, and you must have that location completely ready and operational when you open your doors. Being ready entails a lot more than just having all of the correct age appropriate furniture and toys, you need a mission statement and a center philosophy, not to mention a complete staff of qualified individuals to help you operate the center, kitchen staff, janitorial personel, the teaching staff, and all other vital team members, and they must all meet minimum Department of Early Learning standards for readiness in their job description, meaning everything from food handler's cards and TB tests, to finger prints and background checks, all personel must meet these minimum requirements in order to begin working. You will also need a curriculum in place as well as assessment systems, these are used to help you evaluate your program effectiveness as well as the center staff and the students individual and group development.
There are also things to consider such as funding in the initial start up phase, will you have a center where all of your staff work essentially free or at a reduced rate for the first month while you wait for payments? Most people won't go for that. So you are left either paying everyone out of your life savings (unlikely), or taking out a loan or loans to cover all of those initial start up costs...which are considerable, everything from licensing to paper napkins and crayons. The money must come from somewhere, and the majority must apply for loans to cover those costs.
That is more or less the jist of it as I see it, there are of course a few things I did not go over in this reflection, such as advertising and enrolling classes, but I feel this addresses a large chunk of the work that must be put into opening a center.
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