Anyone set up a toddler/pre-school class?

[Runoutofideas]

Hi,
Now both my dds are in school, I am thinking about setting up a class for toddlers as, funnily enough, there aren't many term time only, part-time interesting jobs for someone who hasn't worked for 7 years!

I was thinking maybe an art and craft type thing as our area seems to have lots of music/dancing/foreign language groups but nothing messy. When my own dd1 was about 2 I took her to a similar group but it was quite a long way out of our area and the lady running it has since retired.

What sort of pitfalls do I need to think about?

On initial thoughts I think my costs will be :

Hire of premises
Cost of consumable supplies
Cost of reusuable toys/equipment such as easels/trays etc
Insurance

Have I missed anything obvious?

I don't think I'd need staff other than myself as the children would be accompanied by their parents. I would try to build in some sort of social time for the parents/carers, say coffee and a biscuit before or after the session and maybe a circle time type action song for the children at the end to give it some structure.

I am a qualified TA and Early Years play leader so understand small children and their requirements.
If anyone can share their experience or give me any advice I'd be really grateful. Thanks.

I think it's a nice idea but as a parent of adults now ( and I was a teacher for years) a few things struck me.

Have you done any costings? You might find that if you only run your classes day times ( when parents can come to help) it limits the number of children, because some parents will be working and would perhaps prefer to drop their children off then pick up.

Will you be able to attract many children who are not already registered for nursery or play school, or pre school- in your area?

Have you any idea of the cost of the venue? You need to work out your potential profit - eg my village hall costs £9 an hour to rent. If you had 10 children paying £3 each for an hour then how much would you actually be earning per hour by the time you had bought materials, paid insurance, bought refreshments, and got there to set up the hall and stayed behind to clear up? You need to be adding on 30mins to the beginning and end of every session IMO.

If you ran the classes without parents staying it would give you more options- more sessions etc but you might need a helper.

I've been running pre-school music classes for many years and for costs go also add:

advertising - flyers, posters, ads in children's magazines etc
travel expenses
website - not essential but even small groups have these now and at a minimum you'll need an email address for enquiries

As a rough guestimate I'd say I lose around a third of my turnover in running costs.

Hall hire is something which inceases every year and depending on where you are living will range upwards from £10 an hour - also check that the hire charge is all inclusive of things like heating.

Insurance, if you're just going for public liability insurance isn't so expensive - mine is around £80 a year for £3million cover.

Other things to consider are CRB check (not essential if parents are staying but advisable) and a first aid certificate, bot of which you probably have given your work experience.

Thanks both. Very usefull. I am currently waiting to hear from some halls regarding cost and availability.
Regarding advertising, I'm hoping that initially I could run up something pretty professional looking from my own pc and put up posters at pre-schools, flyers at todddler groups etc. My step dad could design me a basic website, which I'm sure he wouldn't charge for...
Shelllingpeas - how many children do you have per class and do you have classes straight after each other to maximise the hall usage? eg I was thinking initially of hiring a hall from say 9-12.30 and doing one class from 9.30-10.45 and the other from say 11.00-12.15. The extra 15 mins is the carers' coffee time. Then I could build up from there as it becomes better known and I have more children interested. Is public liability the only insurance I would need if parents are staying onsite? What do I need if they drop the children off? Helpers obviously as I'd have to stay within EYFS ratios, CRB I have anyway through school and first aid but anything else?

*useful

Really think about you target market. In my area lots of preschoolers will be in nursery then. 3 yr old prob not (if like my anti preschooler) he is in afternoon nursery so you target market in the morning is 2-3 yr olds. However, in my area there are lots of morning play groups that the 3 yr old go before nursery! I personally found it hardest when my DS was in preschool - nursery finished at 11.30 and there no after non classes. Would have loved such a class. If you did an afternoon session before school pick up you could target the 4 yrs old and rising 5s- and all together different kettle of fish. You might find that that age group and time gives you a bigger target market. I think you need to get out and about and speak to local mums to find out what it's like in your area. ...

On my Phone -bad typing sorry hope you get the gist !

Also imo such a class would appeal more to mums of daughters. I have 2 DS a crafty class would be a bit of a risk me because of their limited staying power! I think my boys are pretty typical. Worth being aware of ..

Thanks - Yes I see what you mean. I was actually thinking more at the other end of the spectrum - children too young to go to pre-school, as the class I used to take dd1 to was from babies. Maybe there would be an argument for doing different ages at different times. eg 9.30 Under 2s (out in time for nap time) 11.00 2-3's (If still napping likely to be later?) 1.30pm 3-school age? I think I need to gatecrash some toddler groups and do some market research!

Regarding the girl/boy thing, I was hoping to incorporate some more active art, such as painting feet and running around on a big piece of paper, running cars/trucks through paint to make tracks with the tyres - that kind of thing. DO you think that would make it more universal?

I do but I think it it might be difficult to get the mums of bye through the door. I would question whether I would get £3/£4/£5 (whatever the class price is ) of value as I know they might not be too engaged. I could get the paints out to 10mins at home for free iyswim!! Might just be me though. I would be looking for a more active element for my boys when considering a class.

It's not necessarily a problem. I would just be more aware that your target market might be more girls than boys - I'm sure the baby ballet classes still make money without the boy market!!

Also I may not be typical of most mums with boys and my advice may be pants!!!!

Thanks - am grateful for any comments. I guess I'm looking for the kind of parents who would rather spend a couple of pounds than bother getting the paints out and making a mess at home and I think there are probably quite a few of those round here! Yes, maybe it is just more of a girl thing...doesn't necessarily matter though, just don't want to limit the market too much. I would plan to let people have a trial session before signing up to a full half-term, so maybe that would get more people through the doors initially.

Hi

Just a question for shelling really. Not sure what area you're in but are you finding difficulty getting/keeping customers?

Not been on for a couple of days. To answer stickyj - no I haven't had problems keeping class members but new enquiries are less than usual. My classes have around half at capacity and the rest are 3/4 full. But other groups have reduced the number of classes they're running. Local franchise has gone from 50+ classes down to just 14.

OP - I run classes with a 15 minute break between which gives time to clear up etc between groups and also a bit of leeway for running late. I age group into babies (pre-walkers) toddlers (to 2 1/2yrs) and preschool (2 plus). Avoid anything over lunchtime - I finish all classes by 12 noon at the latest. I do one afternoon session a week but find afternoons harder to fill due to naps, school runs etc.

I'm on my phone as laptop has died so will reply to other points when I've read the thread again.

Numbers - depends on the hall size but maximum of 15, smallest venue is 12.

If you do a drop and run and employ helpers you will also need employers liability insurance in addition to public liability. You'd also have to look at NI contributions and PAYE for staff, or research whether you can have your helpers as self-employed. This is a tricky area and you'd be best to get professional advice.