Week 1 Analysis: Vision & Scope

This assignment is for my Montessori Enrichment for Homeschoolers

Center that I am currently planning to open with my wife Jen. This assignment is to lay the groundwork for some of the deeper questions that are going to come up in this process. It is to flesh out some of the basic ideas and make us think about what it is we really want to accomplish with the business. By answering these few basic questions we are forced to examine angles of the business that might not occur to us while developing our plan.

What?

• We will be offering the service of “Home School Enrichment”. This gives home schooled children a place to socialize a few times a week while receiving additional education from other teachers. The center will also put on children’s theater productions.
• The Center will be the only Home School Enrichment program in Oahu that offers age ranges from 2-9 and the only stage that is strictly children’s shows.
• Owner’s Role: As the owners Jen and Addicus will be heavily involved in day to day operations. Jen will be the program manager and the lead teacher for the 2-5 age range. Addicus will be heading up the entire theater production.

Where?

• Business will be local to Ewa Beach in Hawaii.
• Customers: Our customers are local to Oahu. It is not a service we can offer online yet. The customers may be military because a lot of military families in the area home school and the site are near 3 military bases.
• Business Operations: We will have everything in the one building. The floor plan allows for an office, two classroom areas, outdoor play areas, and a black box stage area.

Who?

• Customers: The customers are parents that have chosen to home school there kids and understand the need for some type of augmentation to their curriculum
• Strategic Alliances: I am partnering with my wife for the business aspect. We have a few friends and family coming onboard to fill out the teacher requirements and to help get the building ready for business.
• Advisers: We have a friend in California who has opened a pre-school form the ground up that is giving us a lot of advice, another friend that is currently running a home school enrichment program on another island in Hawaii, and a financial advisor.

When?

• Start-up: We plan to open in the mid-2015.
• Facilities: The Facility is the key. We plan to be in by April 2015 so we have some time to renovate and prepare for the opening.
• Systems: A web site and checking system for the students.

Why?

• Owner: Jen is currently running a home school enrichment program out of our home that reached capacity in just two months. There is a obvious need for the program. The children’s Theater is something we have always wanted to do and seemed like a good pairing with the school.
• Customers: Yes. The school is something new and with the amount of home schooled children in the area and the turnover of military families it is a concept that is already getting a lot of attention.
• Investors/Bankers: Investors will be interested because it is a unique business idea and something that will improve the community.

How?

• Financing: I plan to use crowd sourcing, apply for grants, and small business loans.
• Culture: We are a small business form a small town. We want to grow a community with our customers, suppliers and neighbors.
• Personal Beliefs: I believe that small businesses are a great way to enhance the community and build friendships. Because of that we will attract the type of people we want to do business with and grow a civic minded center.