Discovery Point Blog

November 21, 2019
daycare centers for sale

4 Questions to Ask About Daycare Centers for Sale

Steady growth, healthy margins, and favorable demographic trends have made daycare centers a hot commodity among small business owners and investors. Some entrepreneurs are joining the industry by starting their own child care centers. But others are going the tried and tested route of buying a daycare franchise or searching for existing daycare centers for sale.

When searching for daycare centers to buy, finding the right center requires asking the right questions. Unsure which questions to ask? We suggest starting with the four below.

What to Ask About Daycare Centers for Sale

What type of daycare center do you want to purchase?

If you’re looking to purchase a daycare business, there are three types of daycare centers for sale that you might want to target:

  • A daycare franchise gives you the chance to purchase an existing franchise unit or develop a new franchise unit from scratch. Unlike an independent business, purchasing a franchise will provide you with the support and systems of a proven daycare brand.
  • Some buyers prefer to focus on daycare centers for sale that are home to active child care businesses. Rather than develop a new daycare business, you can take over a profitable business or find one that’s struggling and institute improvements. 
  • If you want to develop a daycare business from scratch, but don’t want to construct a new facility from scratch, you can focus on vacant daycare centers for sale. Alternatively, you may be able to find a non-daycare facility that can be renovated to suit your needs.

What will you need from your daycare center’s location?

When evaluating daycare centers for sale, location can be a make or break factor. It won’t matter that you have a fantastic facility, spectacular staff, and a cutting-edge curriculum if your center has a hard-to-find or difficult-to-access location.

Some of the features that go into a great daycare center location include the site’s zoning, its visibility, and its proximity to local families and schools. At the same time, you want to make sure that the site is located in an appropriate area, within a safe, attractive, and child-friendly part of town.

At Discovery Point, this is why we partner franchisees with real estate specialists during the site selection phase. Our experts help franchisees find suitable daycare centers for sale or sites that are well-suited to the Discovery Point model.

What will you need in terms of equipment and resources?

If you’re developing a daycare center from scratch, you have the freedom to build and outfit your facility as you see fit. But if you’re buying a franchise, purchasing an established business, or acquiring an existing facility, you may find some of these decisions have already been made for you.

One of the advantages to the Discovery Point model is how easily you can equip your facility. We provide franchisees with all of the equipment and systems needed, with each component meeting rigorous quality standards. By providing these resources, we simplify things for our franchisees while ensuring the high standards that distinguish our brand. Perhaps, best of all, with Discovery Point, all of the equipment and systems are included in the franchising fee and do not require an additional investment.

But if you’re acquiring an existing business or an existing daycare facility, you’ll want to review two things.

First, what equipment will you take on as part of the purchase? And which components meet the standards you need for your business?

Second, is the facility itself suitable? Is it compatible with the equipment and furniture you’ll need? And does it allow for all of the specialized spaces that you wish to include in your center?

What are the local licensing requirements?

Anytime that you’re purchasing or starting a daycare center, it’s vital that you understand how local licensing works. Daycare centers frequently face strict regulations and require care to remain compliant. What’s more, licensing non-compliance can prove costly, since many parents will avoid a daycare center after even a single violation.

This is yet another advantage of purchasing a daycare franchise as your franchisor can help guide you through the licensing process. What’s more, many franchisors will have rigorous brand standards to help ensure operational compliance from each location.

Learn about daycare centers for sale through Discovery Point by calling us today at 770-623-1140.