How To Start & Run A Private School Business Successfully In Nigeria: Requirements, Business Plan Ideas & More

How To Start & Run A Private School Business Successfully In Nigeria: Requirements, Business Plan Ideas & More

Sound education is one of the most important things every child needs to ensure a good and productive society. In Nigeria, many government owned institutions most especially the primary and secondary sectors are known to have poor educational standards. Pupils and students who have graduated from these schools many times have little or nothing to show for it.

The failing government educational system is what has propelled individuals to venture into the private educational sector. Many parents in Nigeria send their children to private schools rather than public schools as the reputation of public schools in Nigeria is far from what it used to be.

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Overtime a lot of private schools have sprung up all across Nigeria. These private schools come in different categories to cater to the various financial capacities of Nigerian parents, while still ensuring children get good education.

In Nigeria today, a large number of primary and secondary school children attend private schools as parents believe their wards would get better education in private schools.

Starting a private school in Nigeria is one of the businesses many people venture into. Nowadays, enrolling your child into a private school does not automatically guarantee he/she gets quality education anymore.

This is because a lot of people venture into setting up private schools with the sole purpose of making money; not necessarily because they have a passion for impacting the young generation with good education.

For this reason we have many private schools today with very low structural and educational standards which should not be so.

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How Much Does It Cost To Start A Private School In Nigeria?

The amount of money required to start up a private school in Nigeria purely depends on what you have in mind for your school. What would you want it to be like? You have to consider certain factors before knowing exactly what it would cost to set up a school.

Although just to be safe many people who venture into this business start small at a relatively lower cost probably with a creche and nursery or just a few primary classes and gradually expand from there. Others who have the capacity would prefer to go all out and secure complete structures before any kind of school activities can begin.

However the case may be, you will first of all need a location. Location in this sense refers to where you want the school to be situated. If you intend to build a school, you have to find out the cost of land in the location you want to build in.

How much is it going to take to secure a land and start building structures? Would the building of the school facilities be done at once or is it going to be gradually built.

Some people may decide to buy already existing buildings. If you fall in that category you may want to find out how much buying a building or renting one in your desired location is going to cost.

In top cities like Lagos, Abuja, Port-Harcourt and the likes, land and structures cost quite a fortune. Amounts needed in this case could run into several millions at the very least twenty or thirty million naira will have to be sunk into this business just to secure proper structures.

In other locations in Nigeria where the cost of living is not as high, setting up a private school will definitely cost less. But the cost is most likely still going to run into millions of naira, if you want a school with complete structures which will compete with schools in that location.

This cost is just for securing the necessary structures for a school alone. Several other expenses are going to be made before a school can officially kick off.

Things like teaching and learning resources have to be acquired; money will be spent on marketing and employment of a workforce.

How To Run A Private School Successfully In Nigeria

Many private schools set up in Nigeria end up being unable to properly function beyond a certain number of years. Therefore it is important to understand what it really entails to successfully run a private school.

Money Management

Private schools have no input from government they are solely responsible for generating their own income. Every business no matter how small requires money to function properly.

School owners have to come up with skillful ways in which income can be continuously generated.

Income generated for the school should be carefully saved and spent only on necessary things. Money meant for the school should never be used for personal purposes. With time it could lead to the collapse of the business.

Also the salaries of the workforce have to be paid and in a timely fashion. As a business owner the salaries of your staff should be of utmost importance. It is in this area that a lot of school owners fail as they put themselves and their expenses first before their work force.

Quality Education

People bring their children to private schools because they want them to enjoy quality education. You owe it to parents as a school owner to provide qualified teachers to deliver good education. To run a school successfully your workers should have the capacity and qualification to properly handle students.

Teachers who share your passion and excitement for children and education should be what constitute your work force and not the opposite. Such teachers make running a school much easier and productive.

When students get quality education, it shows and this in turn brings satisfaction to parents because it is evident that they are getting value for their money. When a good standard of education is maintained, the number of students tends to increase. But if the standard is poor the reverse is the case as the school loses students instead.

Evolve With The Times

When running a school with regards to the standards of education, you have to evolve. Education is changing everyday new methods and structures are being invented and adopted by various schools.

Go the extra mile to find out updated education methods to further improve your school. You could also research your competition and see what kind of new resources are being used in their schools, improve on them and incorporate into your schools educational system if possible.

How To Write A Business Plan For A Private School

Simply put a business plan is a well organized formal document which contains details of everything with regards to the kind of business you want to venture into.

Its tells the name of the business, objectives, reasons for starting up the business, what you hope to achieve within a particular period, the strategies put in place to achieve the goal for which the business was created and such.

It generally tells vital things about a business and the structures in place to guarantee its success; it can be likened to a guide book. The business plan for a private school will have content like;

Executive Summary

This is a compressed statement of what your business is all about and what services are being rendered. It is a summarized write up which highlights what is contained in the business plan. It should be straight forward and concise.

Business Profile: This contains the name of the business in this case the name of the private school, the owners and managers, when the school was started or plans to start and structures it possesses.

Products/Services

This outlines the valuable and unique services which are being offered by the school. It could be quality workforce and unique education methods.

Market Analysis

Here you identify who your target audience is. It will also examine the other companies in the same line of business as yours. It should contain the unique things which have made or will make your school standout despite the competition.

Strategies For Marketing

This simply states all the methods and advertisement strategies which have been put in place to create awareness about your school and what the school has to offer.

Financial Report

Gives the amount of money you require for your business and a draft of how the money will be spent.

A detailed financial document, showing the future estimated income which the school hopes to achieve within a stipulated period of time should also be included.

You will do well but hiring an expert to write this for you.

Lagos State Guidelines On The Establishment Of Private Schools

The Lagos State guidelines for the establishment of private schools demand that school structures: be in the form of an L or a U shape to ensure good ventilation and that enough space is provided for extra-curricular activities.

The class rooms should be at least 15 in number and should include the administrative office, library, laboratory, sick bay. Toilet facilities for both pupils and teachers should be provided. Students should have eight toilets at the very least while teachers should have about two.

The school structures should be painted with bright and lively colors and properly decorated to look inviting. Outdoors/indoors playing and gaming equipment should be provided. Safety equipment like fire extinguishers is a compulsory requirement.

For teaching purposes adequate resources and materials like boards, board writing materials, teaching materials must be made available.

Classroom furniture should be of good qualities and designed for the age and comfort of pupils and teachers alike. The school furniture should be child friendly to avoid any kind of injuries.

The school should be properly registered with the ministry of education to avoid situations like two separate schools, having the same names. Before approval is given, inspection of the school would be carried out by the ministry. Advice and instructions of these inspectors should be adhered to so that, legal approval can be given and registration documents can be secured. Without this document your school remains unregistered and therefore not formally recognized by the government.

Requirements For Opening A Nursery School In Nigeria

The requirements for starting a nursery school in Nigeria is basically the same for starting a private school in Nigeria.

A good location for this nursery school must be gotten. You could either chose to rent an already built property or buy a land where you can commence the building of Nursery classrooms. Building cost of the structures will be dependent on what you want the structures to be like. But as much as possible, efforts should be made so these classrooms are of good standards.

Various nursery classroom equipments must be made available for the pupils and teachers. Fun teaching materials, toys, picture electrical appliances like televisions and video players should be present to aid fun learning for pupils

Teachers who have good educational qualifications and are well suited to handle nursery children should be employed. They should have a love and tolerance for children as these kinds of teachers are adored by pupils.

Step By Step Guide For Starting A Private School In Nigeria

• Have a clear and definite business plan drawn up and map out the budget.
• Secure a land at a good location or a building if you would rather buy or rent one.
• Commence the erection of quality class room and office structures. It does not have to be extravagant but should also not be of low or poor standards.
• Provide the classrooms and administrative offices with necessary things like chairs, tables, writing boards, office stationery, registers, receipts, writing and teaching materials etc.
•  Have a plan on what the uniforms for various school activities should look like get school badges, uniform designs and styles. You could contract someone to sow and supply them when needed.
• Aim to be legally registered under the appropriate educational government body and acquire proper documentation to that effect.
• Come up with effective marketing plans and strategies
• Conduct interviews and employ qualified academic and administrative staff.

Starting a private school in Nigeria as stated above is not an easy task but whatever is worthwhile requires commitment and hard work.

However before venturing into this line of business be sure you are not going into it for the profit alone, but also with the aim of providing quality education.

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