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Selling a Child Care Center in Central Ohio

Child care centers sell on enrollment, staff and a clean licensing record. Buyers check all three before they talk about price.

Columbus Business Brokers Desk walks through what a buyer looks for in a Central Ohio center with $1M or more in yearly sales.

Rather talk it through? (614) 555-0148

What a buyer checks first

  1. Enrollment against licensed capacity, by age group
  2. Waitlist length and how it is tracked
  3. Teacher turnover and how long the director has been there
  4. Recent state inspection reports
  5. Share of families on publicly funded care
  6. Lease length, or whether the building is for sale too

Enrollment Is the Whole Story

A center's revenue is enrollment times tuition, and its costs are mostly staff and rent. Buyers start with how full you are, room by room.

Infant and toddler rooms usually need more teachers per child than preschool rooms, so a center full of four year olds can earn more than one full of babies. Show enrollment by age group and how it has moved over the last few years.

A waitlist you can document is worth real money. Keep it in writing, with dates.

What Do Buyers Want to See From the State?

Ohio licenses child care programs and inspects them. Buyers and their lenders will read your recent inspection reports and ask about any serious findings.

A license generally doesn't move to a new owner automatically. The buyer usually has to apply for its own, so plan time for that before closing. Your broker and the buyer's attorney will map out the order of steps.

A clean inspection file is worth more to a buyer than a fresh coat of paint.

Your Director Is Part of What They Buy

Parents choose a center for its people. If your director has been there for years and stays after the sale, the buyer's risk drops sharply.

Teacher turnover is the other number buyers ask about. High turnover means hiring costs and unhappy parents. Low turnover suggests a well run center that can keep running.

Public Funding and Tuition Mix

Many Ohio centers serve families on publicly funded child care. That income can be steady, but rates and rules are set by the state, so buyers weigh it differently from private tuition.

Show both sources separately in your books. A buyer will model each one on its own, and mixing them makes your numbers harder to trust.

The Building Can Make or Break the Deal

Centers need space that meets licensing rules, and that space is hard to find. If you lease, buyers want years left on the lease and a landlord willing to assign it.

If you own the building, you can sell it with the business or keep it and lease it to the buyer. Both work. Each one changes the deal's price and financing.

Our guide on how to sell a business in Columbus lays out the overall steps, and the unemployment account transfer matters for any center with a large staff.

For a private estimate, use the value form or call (614) 555-0148.

Call the desk: (614) 555-0148