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What’s in the toolkit?
Use the toolkit (in the form of an eBook) to help you identify what changes are relevant to your business, then adjust and improve.
It contains the following chapters:
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01
Strengthen the foundations
The more resilient your business is to outside forces, the easier it will be to manage and grow your business to where you want it to be.
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02
Business planning
Planning will help you navigate looming obstacles and identify any roadblocks you must avoid or manage.
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03
Raising funding and finance
You may need to raise additional funds to solve a temporary cash flow crisis, invest in new facilities, build capacity or future proof your business.
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04
Steps to improve profit
It can be difficult to find a way to increase profit when there are set ratios of staff to children, pricing is sensitive, and there’s only so much space at your location to grow.
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05
Marketing strategies
You can do lots to discover what’s happening in your chosen market. Search for your main competitors, what they say and offer, their comparative prices and services, events, and activities.
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06
Develop expansion strategies
If you’ve exhausted the growth opportunities in your local area, or your existing market feels flat, purchasing or merging with other businesses can increase market share and economies of scale.
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07
Solving the staff shortage
High staff turnover can be disruptive, soaking up your time. How you treat your employees influences who wants to work for you, and how long for.
Useful tools
To complement our childcare toolkit we’ve created some useful tools including a business plan template, cashflow template and a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) template for you to complete.
Startup hub
Have you got a great idea for a new business? We're here to help with everything you need to get started. Plus, we'll introduce you to managing your finances and show you how market research could help you grow.
Build your business
We’ve developed Business Builder to support businesses and entrepreneurs at all stages, whether you’re just starting out or are an established business looking to make a change.
Sustainability
Wherever you are on your climate journey, we have solutions and resources to help. We offer advice for funding your climate goals, on how to reduce your energy costs and much more.