Not many child care businesses reach that elusive threshold, one million dollars of annual revenue. It took me over 5 years to hit it, and since then my centers have generated well over 24 million dollars of revenue. The first million was by far the hardest!
I have never met anyone who hit the one million mark by accident. No one in this industry hits the one million mark and wonders how it happened. It always starts with a dream, then a goal, a deadline, and then a whole lot of hard work.
What is your revenue goal for 2019? Have you sat down and written it out yet? What is your 3-year plan for growth? Where will you be 10 years from now?
I have coached hundreds of child care center owners around the globe, and the common theme I have noticed is center owners that are expanding and making large profits are ones that have detailed written goals and work hard to achieve them.
Writing a goal down vastly increases the likelihood of accomplishing it, yet many do not do this because they do not want to feel like a failure if the goal is not achieved. Stop being afraid of failure and write down your goals! Write your goals out on index cards and post them on your bathroom mirror, on your computer monitor, across from your toilet. Every time you see your written goals, read them out loud to yourself. The more you see them and hear them, the more your brain begins to believe they are possible.
Here is my 4-step plan to successful goal setting:
- Figure out what you want. How much money do you want to make, what are your health goals, relationship goals, business goals, personal goals etc.
- Write your goals down. Take a piece of paper and just start writing things you wish to achieve. Do not be afraid to write down large, scary goals.
- Be specific and have a timeline. “I will weigh 125 pounds 4 months from now” is far more specific than “I want to lose 20 pounds”.
- Have a plan for each goal. Under each goal write a plan for achieving the goal.
- I will go to the gym three times a week for 30 minutes each.
- I will eat no more than 1200 calories a day.
- I will not eat junk food more than one time per week.
- I will limit myself to one diet soda per day.
If you take the time to do this, you will be amongst the 3% of the population that actually writes down a goal. Having your goal in front of you will allow you to put your plans into motion to achieve what you desire.
Don’t be discouraged if you don’t reach every goal, or if roadblocks along the way derail or delay you from achieving your goals. Everyone who has ever set a goal has failed at least a few times! I have failed a lot. Not to worry, though! Success is built on failure! You are going to fall once in a while, just make sure that you fall forward so when you get up you are closer to your goal. You are only a failure if you do not get up after you have been knocked down.
In my book, Child Care Millionaire, I use my over 20 years experience of opening 9 schools to lay out 101 strategies, which I refer to as Nuggets. The book has 7 chapters including:
- Goal setting, mindset & personal development;
- Making health a priority;
- The financial picture;
- Operations;
- Management;
- Employees; and
- Expansion
I’ve also included profiles of 18 different child care center owners that all have over $1 million in annual revenue to inspire you to success. If you follow the Nuggets I lay out in the book, you can build a profitable 7 or 8-figure child care business.
Brian Duprey is a Certified Child Care Coach at The Child Care Success Company . He is the Author of Child Care Millionaire; Secrets to Building a Profitable 7 or 8 Figure Child are Business, available at Amazon.com. (bit.ly/bd-ccm)
