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START YOUR OWN PROFITABLE NURSERY

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START YOUR OWN PROFITABLE NURSERY
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By Margaret Ingham.

Four years ago, at the age of forty seven, I was sadly left a widow, and there remained a heavy mortgage for me to pay off on the large three bedroom house which my husband had left.

Never having had any working experience whatsoever, I was at a loss to know how to make ends meet, until someone suggested starting a child care service in my home for children of working mothers.

After looking into the financial possibilities of such a venture, I decided to accept my friends advice and made the
necessary preparations.

I first had the double garage, attached to the house, converted into a large combination classroom and indoor playroom, paid for from a small second mortgage.

I also had the good sized back garden completely fenced for use as an outdoor play area.

Then by shopping around at furniture sales and private sales (but to be honest, mainly in jumble and bring-and-buy sales -places I had never set foot in before!), I was able to accumulate the necessary equipment such as cots, tables, chairs,
toys and play ground type equipment, all at very low cost.

In fact, a lot of the stuff was later donated by grateful mothers whose own children had outgrown their usage.

When everything was nearly ready, just to test the possible response, (with some trepidation, admittedly), placed an
advertisement in the local newspaper under the heading of “Child Care” and was totally amazed by the number of replies from such a small advert!

I accepted children from two years to six years of age, at £40 per week for full time care, five days a week.

I also provided a mid morning and mid afternoon snack, and a hot lunch at mid day.

The cots were arranged around the walls of two of the three spare bedrooms, and each child was required to take a rest at
certain intervals during the day.

Business was slow at first, but as word got around of the type of understanding care which I was giving, the numbers increased until I really had to hire an experienced Nursery Nurse; finding one was easier than I thought, as the magazine “The Lady” is almost full of trained young ladies looking for such a position.

Within a year the day nursery was operating at full capacity, with twenty children to be cared for every day.

After paying the Nursery Nurse around £150 per week, along with other operational expenses, I am still left with a net income of close to a £1000 a month.

Within three years, I was able to pay off the mortgage, and I was able to purchase all new equipment for the nursery school.

Before starting a day nursery project of your own, you should check with your local authority for any special rules which may apply in the particular area where it would be in operation.

HOW TO START AND OPERATE A ROOM-MATE FINDING SERVICE

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HOW TO START AND OPERATE A ROOM-MATE FINDING SERVICE
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The average income for owners of this kind of business is around £200,000 a year!

Best of all, here’s a business that you can start with an absolute minimum investment.

Practically anyone who lives in a city anywhere in the country can expect to do just about as well, and with a bit of
imagination, mixed with some business sense, you should be able to do even better!

Income and market potentials for a service such as this are truly fantastic!

Rent increases that have far outpaced wage increases have brought about a tremendous need for a method to alleviate the cost of housing.

Also, many apartment complexes are being converted into expensive condominiums.

These two factors have created a problem of gigantic proportions for millions of people who are concerned about keeping a roof over their heads.

You can make big money solving that problem with your own Room Mate Finding Service.

We’re going to tell you how.

Many of the nation’s leading economists are predicting this kind of living arrangement to be the “money saving answer” for apartment dwellers for the rest of this century.

Others are predicting the room mate finding service to become as popular as the employment agency in the near future.

This is an ideal absentee owner business.

Most of those operating have a woman doing the managing sometimes as just the manager, and sometimes as the
owner-manager.

This apparently has something to do with the nature of the business, and how most people seem to naturally trust a woman to find the right room mate for them.

As to the fee structure, I suggest something similar to the successful employment agencies.

Charge everyone a £25 registration fee to start the ball rolling towards finding them a suitable room mate. You take a Polaroid snapshot of each registrant, have them fill out an appropriate application card which will indicate the kind of room mate they’d be happy with, and start searching through your files for people with similar likes and dislikes.

To get started, you’ll want a bank reference; a legal reference, a telephone; a business name, letterhead, paper, envelopes, and business cards – and office supplies such as 3 x 5 index cards; typewriter, file cabinet and a printed questionnaire application form.

You’ll also need a responsibility disclaimer, which can be combined with the applicant’s agreement to pay contract.

Once you’ve found a room mate for your prospective client, you should have it spelled out in your agreement that each of the “matched room mates” will pay you 15% of the first month’s rent.

You could charge a bit extra for particular requirements, and perhaps somewhat less for older persons, or for persons with handicaps.

The approval or disapproval is left up to the parties involved.

You simply look through your registration card file, pull out five or six apparently suitable room mates, call each of them on the phone and arrange separate meetings for them with your client.

Your client reports back to you, and tells you of his or her decision, and you call the person chosen and finalise the deal.

Good advertising will play an important part in getting this business off the ground.

Make up a good circular or “flyer” detailing your room mate finding services, and listing your phone number.

Get these flyers on as many bulletin boards in your area as possible.

Get them in grocery stores, barber shops, community colleges, beauty salons, bowling alleys; the list of places to “billboard” your flyers is endless.

Another idea is to set up “take one” boxes in as many retail places of business as you can.

Don’t overlook the value of placing your flyers on car windscreens – particularly around apartment complexes, and in
the parking lots of the colleges in your area.

You might even pay the downtown parking lot attendants to slip one under the windscreen wiper of each car he parks on a Monday.

If you do a good job with the make up of your flyer, and use your imagination in getting them into the hands of your
prospective clients, you’ll have no trouble moving your new business into the black quickly.

Even so, you’ll need to run regular ads in your area newspaper.

The best headings to run your ads is under the Personal Columns.

Your ads might read:

Need A Room Mate? We’ll find the ideal room mate for you! Everything handled on a strictly confidential basis. For
details, call Jan, Mary or Carol on 123456.

Within only a couple of months, you should be well enough established, and with an income large enough to afford an office location.

When you establish your office, do some publicising of your business with press releases to all the media in your area, and plan some fanfare that will bring attention to your services.

Tacking up on your office walls the enthusiastic testimonials of people you’ve matched with room mates is a very good idea.

Later on, you might want to input all your client information on computer, and take video pictures of each client for showing to prospective room mates.

In the final analysis, once you have your business underway, your further success will be limited only by your imagination.

BED AND BREAKFAST – THE EASIEST HOME BASED BUSINESS

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BED AND BREAKFAST – THE EASIEST HOME BASED BUSINESS
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There’s an exciting “down-home” kind of business springing up among homeowners all across the country.

It’s called Bed and Breakfast.

To foreign visitors, it’s the comfort and hospitality of staying overnight “with people of the land” and enjoying a hearty
breakfast – without the traditional gaudiness and plastic feelings visitors get from most hotels.

To locals, it is a welcome alternative to the same old hotel/motel circuit.

Now, all it takes is a spare bedroom, a good cook and an outgoing personality.

Prices per night range from a low of £15 to £50 or more.

If you have an extra bedroom, a large home, or extra space in your farm house, you have the necessary beginnings to start making extra income as a Bed and Breakfast Inn.

One of the beautiful aspects of this idea is that so long as you’re hosting “overnight visitors” on a small scale, no
licences will be required.

It’s always best, however, to check with your local authorities just to be sure.

Naturally, your “visitors” will expect a clean, neat and comfortable home.

So assuming that your home meets these prerequisites, and you have a spare bedroom, simply “doll it up” a bit.

Make sure it’s painted brightly, there’s an outside window, lots of room, closet space and perhaps a small writing desk, and a large comfortable bed, or twin beds.

Most foreign visitors will expect and appreciate a “quick tour” of the interesting sights in your area.

Which brings us to the basic appeal of a Bed and Breakfast Inn. Travellers seem to be looking for, and appreciate, a quiet “home style” place to stay.

Generally, they enjoy visiting people with the people off the motorway and want to get away from the sterilised atmosphere and sameness of hotels and motels.

Most people will either write to you ahead of time, inquiring about the possibilities of staying at your home while in your
town or city. This means a bit of advertising on your part, or listing your availability with a B&B Broker.

Some people will check the local telephone listings, and the newspaper advertisements when they arrive in a strange town.

And some people will just be driving across the country, come to a town or city they think is interesting, and start driving through the residential areas looking for Bed and Breakfast Inns.

Thus, you should have a small sign posted either in your front yard or on the front of your house.

This sign needn’t be much more than about two feet wide by about ten inches deep.

It need only state: BED AND BREAKFAST – Inquire Within or Call 123456.

For newspaper advertising, a similar listing in the personal column of your local paper, particularly on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays will be all you’ll need.

But when it comes to the Yellow Pages of your telephone and business directories, go with a small display ad that describes in greater detail the comforts and pleasures of your services.

Be sure to list your services with all the travel agencies in your area.

A brochure or short synopsis of what you offer will most assuredly give the travel agents an idea for steering visitors
your way.

At the same time, listing your services in a number of national travel magazines, particularly those that cater to women, will bring customers in for you.

Listing your service with a broker usually won’t cost you anything up front, but they will expect a certain percentage,
usually about 25% of the total bill.

This same arrangement applies with travel agents.

Now, suppose you’re organised and ready to receive your first customers.

You greet them as host or hostess and offer to assist them in getting situated in the room or rooms you have for them.

If they’d like to take a drive around your area and see the points of interest, you do that.

And then in the morning, serve them a big, delicious breakfast.

You’ll probably find that most foreign visitors will want to stay several days.

With most people of this country who are just travelling through your area, it’ll be a one-night stopover.

Whatever, if they want to sleep comfortably through the night, eat breakfast and be on their way, so be it.

If they want to sit around after breakfast and plan an itinerary for a complete visit of your area, your assistance and help will be greatly appreciated – remember those recommendations!

That’s it!

The complete how and why of this tremendously profitable business that’s becoming more and more popular. Start
making extra income as a Bed and Breakfast Inn.