Setting up a new Nursery, Pre School, Kindergarten or Day Care Centre can be a risky business with success not always guaranteed. If you're interested in setting up in business in the Nursery World here is some advice to help you avoid the common mistakes.

So you've finally decided to go it alone and set up your own Nursery. Well congratulations on making this big decision and good luck in your new venture. Here are some tips to help you along the way:

1. Do your research

Market research for any new start business is vital and this certainly applies to people considering setting up in the Nursery World. It may have been your life long ambition to set up and run your own Nursery but is it really a viable option?

In fact is there even a demand for a Nursery, Pre School, Kindergarten or Day Care Centre in the location you're planning on opening one? You can check the census to find out local birth rates and the number of children of nursery age in the area.

The internet, local councils, libraries and speaking to people in the area you're planning on opening your new nursery can all give you valuable information into what is required.

Finally on the matter of research it's important to remember that many new start businesses and new nurseries fail because there is simply no demand for them. Check out your competition and never forget that without enough children actually attending your nursery may well be doomed before you even begin.

2. Get your finances right

So if your dream is to open and run a nursery, pre school, kindergarten or day care centre and you've done your market research to establish a need in the area then getting your finances right from the start is also vital.

Make sure your business plan is realistic and takes into account that it takes time to establish a good reputation for a new nursery.

And on the subject of finances getting professional advice for your new venture will also come in handy. Accountants and financial advisors can help you with your borrowings and making sure you manage your money effectively.

You might also want to consider using an Insurance Broker for your Nursery Business Insurance. An Insurance Broker who specialises in Nursery Insurance like NCi Nursery will be able to help you with risk management advice and make sure you only pay for the Nursery Insurance cover your need. Save Money on your Nursery Insurance premiums and get the protection and peace you and your new nursery needs.

3. Nursery Business Plans

Your Business Plan really goes hand in hand with market research and finances. Do your research so you know how many children your new Nursery is going to have as this will have a direct effect on how many staff you need, what size premises you need and how much you can charge parents. And ultimately how much money you need to borrow.

When it comes to writing Business Plans many people over forecast what the first year is likely to bring. You have to be realistic in that if this is your first venture into owning and running your own nursery it will take time for people to become aware of what you have to offer. Work hard in the first 12 months and you could well have a full nursery at the end of year one. Don't assume you're going to be full from day one though and make sure this is reflected in your Business Plan.

And how are you actually going to get children into your Nursery? Include in your business plan a simple marketing strategy like a SWOT analysis to show people how serious you are about your new venture.

A SWOT analysis looks at your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Your strengths might be your location or your vast experience of the Nursery World. Your opportunities might be that having checked the census you know there will be a real demand for Nursery places in your location.

Your weaknesses might include that you’re a new start business whilst your threats are likely to include other nurseries, pre schools, kindergartens and day care centres.

Ultimately your goal with be to turn your weaknesses and threats into strengths and opportunities and on that note let's look at one of your main threats – your competitors.

4. Your Competitors

Unless your extremely lucky you're likely to have other nurseries, pre schools, kindergartens and day care centre in the area all wanting the provide a service to the same children and parents as you. So what can you do to make your Nursery stand out from crowd? And what shouldn't you do?

Here are just a few tips:

Make sure you:

a. Focus on the benefits not the features of your Nursery and tell parents and anyone with an interest in your new Nursery how they would benefit from using you. If you have a new purpose built Nursery then explain exactly what this means – your children will be safe and secure and will benefit from the latest learning tools.

b. Have a unique selling point (USP). As a new start nursery standing out from your competitors will be vital. Your USP might be your location, it might be the quality and qualifications of your staff or it might be that your have extremely competitive rates or low staff to child ratios. Whatever it is – tell everyone and make sure you constantly tell them.

And when it comes to your competitors:

c. Don't tell people how bad your competitors are. Instead just focus on the positives of using your new Nursery and let the people decide.

d. Don't forget that you can learn from them. If they do something well then do it as well – but do it better.

e. Remember that to stand out from your competitors you can join trade associations, become involved with the local community, chamber of commerce or make sure the service providers you use are experts in their fields.

One such nursery expert can be your Insurance Broker. They can provide you with risk management advice and make sure your new nursery, your staff and your children are protected and have peace of mind. A fact of life is that accidents can and do sometimes happen. Make sure you get Nursery Insurance that is tailored to your new nurseries needs. Business Insurance for nurseries (even new nurseries) doesn't have to be complicated so get advice and guidance from a nursery insurance broker like NCi Nursery and make sure your new nursery, pre school, kindergarten or day care centre starts as you mean to go on.

To make sure the opening and long term prospects for your new nursery go to plan you may also want to consider the following:

5. Rules and regulations – with nurseries being regulated by OFSTED and with any breach of rules likely to be frowned upon by them and your potential customers make sure you know your stuff in relation to child ratios, staffing qualifications and the new fire risk assessments that came into force recently.

6. Buy an established nursery – although your dream maybe to set up a brand new nursery you may want to consider the easier option of buying an existing and well established nursery and putting your own stamp on that. Not only will this mean that you will most likely have existing children to attend but staff issues and all the regulations may already be in place. Whilst it may cost more up front the long term benefits could be huge and it may certainly help with your first year stress levels.

7. Marketing – the final tip is one that people businesses (not just nurseries) sometimes take for granted and don't dedicate enough time or money to. Marketing and getting bums on seats is really going to make or break your new nursery. Simple things you can do include telling everyone about your new nursery (word of mouth and recommendations are likely to bring in more new children than anything else).

There are numerous other ways in which you can use marketing to gain exposure and fill places. Some of these include:

• Have an open day and invite local children, parents and the media. The press love stories relating to children so get them on board and become their expert in the nursery industry. This may give you exposure in the press without having to spend money on advertising and long term they may come back to again for other news stories. Put a twist on such days and make the media's job easier by making it a newsworthy story. Public relations can be a great way to get exposure for your new nursery – and it can be free!

• Consider attending local networking events and speak to people. The local chamber of commerce or just a group of people who meet on a regular basis can help you spread the word. Get some brightly coloured business cards printed up and hand these out to people you speak to. Even if they don't have children of their own they may know people who do and are looking for a nursery.

NCi Nursery hope these few tips will help you in setting up your new nursery and that you avoid the mistakes many new nurseries make when setting up in the nursery world.