klc106 Posted September 19, 2014 Posted September 19, 2014 Hi all Does anyone know whether it is possible to buy a house, and run a preschool from it, rather than renting a church hall type building. Also would you be able to live in the house. For example, have downstairs as a preschool and live upstairs. Would it be a business mortgage you would have to get? Sorry for all the questions, look forward to some advice. Thanks Quote
Fredbear Posted September 19, 2014 Posted September 19, 2014 I'm sure it is certainly possible. Finding a suitable property maybe your biggest hurdle. Lots of nurseries are adapted from old buildings. Ring your LA for advice:) Quote
zigzag Posted September 19, 2014 Posted September 19, 2014 A nursery that I used to work in was in a big Victorian house. The family lived in accommodation upstairs and the ground floor was the nursery. 1 Quote
Helen Posted September 19, 2014 Posted September 19, 2014 That's how my nursery was set up, and I ran it for ten years. However, when we purchased the house, I didn't really know if I was going to set up a nursery or not, so this wasn't part of the mortgage discussions at the time. When I applied for planning permission, I informed my mortgage company and they were fine with it- no changes to the mortgage. In terms of business rates, I had to pay those on the three downstairs rooms that formed the nursery, but my house was downgraded in the housing band (because we effectively had less house to live in!), thereby making the council tax cheaper :1b 1 Quote
Guest Nuby Posted September 19, 2014 Posted September 19, 2014 a childminder does the same, the can have assistants too so really it would be no different.....your Ofsted registration would be childcare on domestic premises......are planning one? Quote
klc106 Posted September 19, 2014 Author Posted September 19, 2014 Thanks all. I already run a preschool from a village hall but we are in a very small village with not a lot of passing trade so not many children! We only have 12 on roll. So we are looking into this option with the hope of moving to somewhere more suitable Quote
hopeytg Posted September 19, 2014 Posted September 19, 2014 You will also need to consider possible planning regulations, ie parking etc. But plenty of people do it, ring your local planning depth and ask for advice. Good luck. 1 Quote
Threems Posted January 4, 2015 Posted January 4, 2015 (edited) Dear All, Happy New year!!! I am in the process of opening my preschool this January 2015, but have not had anyone register to start with. Everything else is in place except this. We started advertising in October 2014. Can anyone advice if it is worth opening at this time despite this? I appreciate your responses and advice. Thanks Edited January 4, 2015 by Threems Quote
sunnyday Posted January 5, 2015 Posted January 5, 2015 Hi Threems and a warm welcome to the forum :1b Not sure about your query - where have you advertised? Have you been in contact with your LA? Quote
Threems Posted January 24, 2015 Posted January 24, 2015 Sorry for not responding earlier. We have distributed fliers in the area and is on the LA list, also on the yellow pages list. My query is should I go ahead and open despite not having any child to register. A friend said she started with 2 children. Just unsure of what to do! Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. Quote
lashes2508 Posted January 24, 2015 Posted January 24, 2015 Visit local toddler groups and distribute leaflets to any baby child orientated groups , word of mouth and big banner outside premises, this drew a lot of attention from passing trade for recently opened childminding house Quote
Threems Posted January 25, 2015 Posted January 25, 2015 Thank you very much for your input. I did that last week. Quote
klc106 Posted January 25, 2015 Author Posted January 25, 2015 We opened our preschool in 2011 with only 2 children, we had 6 by Christmas. The following September we had 12 on roll. The following year it was 14 and this year we have 12. We are in a very small village so I believe this is why we are still so low on numbers. We are trying to think of good advertising ideas at the minute as we only have 5 on the list for September! Quote
MarshaD Posted February 1, 2015 Posted February 1, 2015 (edited) Dear All, Happy New year!!! I am in the process of opening my preschool this January 2015, but have not had anyone register to start with. Everything else is in place except this. We started advertising in October 2014. Can anyone advice if it is worth opening at this time despite this? I appreciate your responses and advice. Thanks Hi. I opened in September with five, another five joined in October and we've had twelve start in January all different sessions and days. I'm at 42% occupancy. We had many days where just one child was in or none if someone was ill! My mantra is build it and they will come. You just have to go for it. We had two open days and I invited the local MP to the first. It was v poorly attended but the MP gave me a write up on his FB page and I did get a piece in the local Guardian. I also advertise with two local parents magazines, but I find the website and FB to be good drivers. Also Netmums. I do Daycare nurseries (?) but from them is mostly people looking for jobs so won't renew! Now we're at a stage where word of mouth is starting to kick in. It takes a while for people to know you're there I still meet people who don't know anything about us! Good luck with it all Threems keep us posted. Edited February 1, 2015 by MarshaD Quote
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