Sustainability / Legal

PESTLE is a review of what’s happening in the world around you, external factors that you are not able to change but that may affect your business.

A SWOT analysis is a technique for assessing four aspects of your business. It builds on an organisation’s strengths, reverses its weaknesses, maximises its response to opportunities and helps to overcome threats to the business. It is the source of information for short, medium, and long-term planning and identifies the core competencies of the organisation.

SWOT can be used to analyse all aspects of your childcare business

For example:

• Finances
• Business sustainability
• Staff team performance
• Staff well being
• Governance and Leadership
• Staff recruitment
• Marketing and branding

Customer research

• How many hours of childcare do they want per day?
• How much do they expect to pay for childcare?
• Are they aware of the Early Years Funding?
• How many families in the local area require childcare?
• What do they think of the service you currently offer?
• What do they think of services that other childcare providers offer?
• Identify key features such as income, lifestyle, working patterns
• Do parents need out-of-school and holiday care?
• Identify future trends, for example, birth rate, new housing schemes, and local business development.
• Are parents aware of Tax-Free Childcare and Universal Credit for Childcare?
• Would parents need any support with finances or other issues in order to be able to access childcare?

Competitor research

• How many childcare providers in the local area (within one to three miles )
• What services, facilities and hours do they offer?
• What are the fees and pricing strategies?
• Where do they advertise?
• How do they market their provision?
• What is their reputation?
• What makes them different from you?
• Are there any new settings opening in the near future?
• Are there any settings closing in the near future?
• Would there be an opportunity to combine services?