A Bartlett, TN daycare gets a loan by pricing the purchase first and matching it to a product: equipment financing for a passenger van, a term loan for classrooms or a second center, and working capital for the payroll a new room carries before it fills. Enrollment and financial records wait until a funding partner opens its review.
Steps for a Bartlett, TN daycare loan, a worked van and classroom example, an enrollment ramp for working capital, buying an existing Shelby County, TN center, and the records a partner can review.
How to get a loan for a daycare center: classrooms, vans and space
The steps are the same whether the money is for one classroom, a van or a second center:
- Name the purchase: movable classroom furniture in leased space, a passenger van, cribs and furniture, or a second center.
- Get prices in writing: a supplier quote for movable classroom furnishings, a dealer quote for the van and a vendor quote for furniture.
- Match each purchase to a product, so the van and furniture sit apart from fixed room work, which is excluded.
- Work out the payroll gap a new room creates before it fills (the next section shows the math).
- Gather the enrollment and financial records listed at the end of this article.
- Phone the office or fill in the request form, and leave the terms to the partner that picks up the file.
For the third step, equipment financing fits vans and furniture, because each has a title or serial number, while a term loan fits movable classroom furnishings or a second center; fixed room work is excluded.
Illustration only, invented figures: a center prices a 15-passenger van at $58,000 and movable furnishings for two new classrooms in its leased space at $42,000; fixed room work is excluded.
| Purchase | Amount | Product | Term | Rate per year (invented) | Monthly payment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Passenger van | $58,000 | Equipment financing | 60 months | 9.75% | $1,225.21 |
| Movable furnishings for two classrooms | $42,000 | Term loan | 48 months | 11% | $1,085.51 |
Together the two payments are $2,310.72 a month in this example. The van loan runs 12 months longer than the classroom loan, so its last year carries the van payment alone.
Payroll decides whether payments like these fit. Child day care establishments in Shelby County, TN reported $78.6 million of 2023 payroll for 3,354 employees in the March pay period (CBP, NAICS 624410), about $23,439 per employee for the year by our arithmetic, part-time staff counted.
Working capital while enrollment fills
A new classroom adds its teachers on the day it opens, but children enroll over weeks or months. Working capital covers that gap, so the center does not lean on the account that meets payroll for the rooms already full.
Illustration only, invented figures: the two new rooms add $9,800 a month in teacher pay and supplies and hold 12 children at $1,100 a month each. Enrollment grows by three children a month until the rooms are full.
| Month | Children enrolled | Tuition | Month result | Running total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month 1 | 3 | $3,300 | short $6,500 | short $6,500 |
| Month 2 | 6 | $6,600 | short $3,200 | short $9,700 |
| Month 3 | 9 | $9,900 | ahead $100 | short $9,600 |
| Month 4 | 12 | $13,200 | ahead $3,400 | short $6,200 |
| Month 5 | 12 | $13,200 | ahead $3,400 | short $2,800 |
| Month 6 | 12 | $13,200 | ahead $3,400 | ahead $600 |
The deepest point is $9,700 at the end of month 2, and the running total turns positive in month 6. Working capital sized at $9,700 covers the whole ramp in this example; a request sized to month 1 alone, $6,500, would come up $3,200 short.
Buying an existing daycare in Shelby County, TN
Buying a center that already operates trades the enrollment ramp for a purchase price. The price buys furniture and equipment, the families and staff already in place, and the center's name. A buyer can ask the seller which items and records transfer with the center before the sale closes.
The employer count leans toward staffed centers: County Business Patterns listed 229 child day care establishments with paid employees in Shelby County, TN for 2023, and 167 of them had five or more employees (NAICS 624410; our arithmetic from the size classes). That puts payroll records and staff tenure next to the enrollment list in a purchase review.
Illustration only, invented figures: the buyer pays $380,000, with $76,000 supplied as owner cash. A $304,000 term loan at an invented 10.25% over 10 years is $4,059.59 a month. If the center in this example produces $6,900 a month before debt payments, that payment uses 58.8% of it and leaves $2,840.41 for the owner's draw and repairs.
The Tennessee business acquisition guide covers purchase records in more detail. A buyer weighing this against opening a second center from scratch can run the classroom and payroll math from the first two sections instead.
Enrollment records and financials a lender reviews
A funding partner sets its own list, but a daycare file can include:
- Enrollment by age group and the waiting list count, without children's names
- The tuition schedule and any payments the center receives through an agency or employer program
- Staff count by role and the payroll register for the last quarter
- This year's profit and loss so far, with the last filed business tax return
- Bank statements for the operating account
- The lease, plus the van quote and movable-furnishing quotes
Keeping these in one folder shortens the back-and-forth once a partner starts its review. The daycare center funding page has more Shelby County, TN figures for the trade, and the articles page lists the posts on clinics, contractors and franchise units.
By Eaglestone Funding Group · Updated
