PRE-SCHOOL
IS THE FIRST STEP
Since I began writing this column, you have read my simple
thoughts on entrepreneurship and how to keep a business
going. I have decided to share with you, every now and then,
experiences and thoughts about setting up businesses from
people who have done so and continued to make it work.
Because I am very passionate about education, I dropped
by the house of Teacher Monica Pablo-Co who runs the the
pre-school First Step along A. Mabini St., Mandaluyong City,
where my nephew and niece used to attend.
Sometime in the mid-to-late 1990s, pre-schools mushroomed
all over the city – and the country. Their growth
spurred the Department of Education into studying ways how
to regularize this phenomenon; the pre-schools then were
becoming known as an ‘easy money’ business.
Pre-schools were and still are charging for 2 ½ to
3-hour daily sessions tuition fees that are equivalent to
or more than the rate of formal institutions.
But let’s go back to First Step. Teacher Monica and
her partner Teacher Jenny Molina-Hernandez first thought
of setting up the school when, after four years of juggling
teaching in another pre-school in Makati, recent marriages
and expectant babies, they realized that they were not up
to the commute time nor the time spent away from their families.
They also realized that they love to teach toddlers. Ultimately,
they saw that the best possible decision they could make
was to set up their own pre-school.
Given their previous experience, they agreed on
what they want to offer, skills to focus on, and their objectives.
This translated to formulating a program purposely focusing
on reading. Taking into consideration that the school is
to be located in a neighborhood where a llot of Chinese
people rreside, they also made sure that they offered Mandarin
classes. When these were all set, they proceeded to check
the tuition fee prices offered by the pre-schools around
the general area. With all this information on hand,
they decided that they will keep their fees to the absolute
minimum possible (which in my opinion is still not cheap
but then I’ll go for quality at reasonable prices
anytime) because they did not want to price themselves out
of the market.
The curriculum was set and the tuition fee determined.
Then came in the question of how they were going
to market the school. This is the other side of the coin
where you do not only look at what you like to do but consider
the viability of the idea/project as a business.
Yes, business! Teacher Monica and Teacher Jenny remain passionate
about the school as well as the art of teaching, especially
when they see the progress of their former and present students.
However, reality sets in every time the bills come and payroll
is due. It is simply impossible not to think of whether
you have sufficient funds and remain to be in the black
or need to infuse more capital.
This is precisely why marketing is a very important
factor in this business. With pre-schools everywhere,
Teacher Monica and Teacher Jenny needed to continue attracting
new students without having to resort to offering a variety
of programs outside of their own expertise. They opted to
go for the streamers and the flyers which many people discouraged
them from doing because these were supposedly ineffective.
But in the five years since the school was established,
they learned that their enrollment is mostly due to these
marketing tools.
It is likely because the colors used were lively and the
information about their objectives and methods are straightforward
and clear. It helps too that when parents come to inspect
the place, what welcomes them is a garden space huge enough
for the kids to run around in, use the swings, play with
the sand box and simply enjoy their childhood.
Needless to say, the program has revolved with
respect to materials, lessons, and instruments. However,
what remains is the desire for the children to grow up with
the reading and social skills that will help them when they
move to the “big schools”.
Learning never stops – not in business, not in the
real world – and we will have more lessons next month.
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