Little Sunshine’s Playhouse & Preschool is reinventing child care and early learning with beautiful, upscale facilities, a creative, fun curriculum, innovative systems for parent connectivity and communication, state-of-the art technology & security, and more.  We’re looking for diligent, energetic and quality-minded individuals to implement our proven system and develop their own Little Sunshine’s Playhouse & Preschool locations in their home markets.

Franchise Name: Little Sunshine’s Playhouse & Preschool

Franchisor Corporation: Little Sunshine’s Enterprises, Inc.

Website: Little Sunshine’s Playhouse & Preschool

Interviews:  Little Sunshine’s Playhouse, Rochette Dahler, Little Sunshine’s Playhouse Franchise Overview 

HQ location: Springfield, MO

Year Founded: 2002

Year Franchised: 2005

Number of units, company: 5

Number of units, franchised: 3

Initial investment: $330,700 to $437,500

Home-based Business? (Y/N): N

Priority Markets for Expansion: Affluent suburbs in and around Denver, Dallas, St. Louis, Houston, Austin, Phoenix, and Kansas City

For franchise information: Contact Rochette Dahler at Little Sunshine’s Playhouse Franchise Information Request, call 417-887-4242 or email  lspcorporate@littlesunshine.com.

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(TopNewFranchises.com) In Part Two of our interview with Rochette Dahler, the founder and CEO of the Little Sunshine’s Playhouse franchise system explains the Little Sunshine’s Playhouse franchise opportunity, the benefits it provides and what it takes to be awarded a Little Sunshine’s Playhouse franchise.

In Part One of the Interview with Rochette Dahler, Ms. Dahler explained her innovative childcare concept on the consumer level, and described the benefits it provides to parents and children.

Top New Franchises: In Part One of this interview, Rochette, you shared an overview of Little Sunshine’s Playhouse and the need it fills for parents and children. Give us an overview of Little Sunshine’s Playhouse, the franchise opportunity.

Rochette Dahler: I opened the first Little Sunshine’s Playhouse and Preschool more than ten years ago, in 2002. My vision for Little Sunshine’s Playhouse was idealistic and pretty brash: I didn’t just want to provide adequate or even very good childcare… I wanted to completely reinvent childcare in America… to bring it to a level far beyond what others were even attempting.

I was (and continue to be) extremely passionate about early childhood development. I started Little Sunshine’s Playhouse by questioning all the limitations typical daycare providers seemed to accept as OK.

I asked: Why shouldn’t children feel like they are walking into a magical playhouse each morning?

Why shouldn’t children and parents be greeted with Red Carpet Service™ that facilitates fast, easy, and fun morning drop offs?

Why shouldn’t children be served healthy, nutritious meals, made with fresh ingredients from menus designed by meal planners and nutritionists?

Why shouldn’t parents be able to check in on their children on their laptop or smart phone, and watch their child at work or play via a secure video feed, any time during the day?

Why shouldn’t childcare facilities have state-of-the-art secured entry systems, with numeric pass-codes issued to staff, parents and guardians?

We started Little Sunshine’s Playhouse by challenging the accepted norms in the industry. If parents want the best care possible for their children, that’s exactly what we should provide.

Top New Franchises: Sounds ambitious. How did it work out?

Rochette Dahler: Well… [laughs] it wasn’t easy. We made mistakes. We learned many difficult lessons. We earned advanced degrees from The College of Hard Knocks. But through it all we stayed stubbornly faithful to our initial vision, and over the course of the next decade we tweaked, refined and streamlined our procedures and operations in a way that can only come from years of trial and error.

But our initial vision of providing an unmatched childcare experience has been validated and rewarded in each of the markets we’ve entered. The enthusiastic responses from parents and grandparents at each of our preschools in four (soon to be five) states validates our initial vision of challenging limitations and constantly innovating in order to meet and exceed even the highest expectations.

Top New Franchises: So the Little Sunshine’s Playhouse franchise program is designed to give franchise owners the benefit of those years of trial and error?

Rochette Dahler: Precisely! The role of a franchisor, in our view, is to take a successful model, one that’s been refined and tested in multiple markets, and from it build a system of procedures and practices that enable qualified franchise owners to duplicate it with the same successful results in their home markets. The consistent quality and results of that systemwide execution is what creates our most cherished shared asset: our brand.

So while we value and welcome franchisee ideas and input, and while we welcome franchisees with childcare and business experience to share, the most important quality we are looking for in prospective franchise owners is an implementation focus. To be successful, franchise owners need to wholeheartedly share our vision and philosophy, and be committed to the faithful and enthusiastic implementation of our proven system. If they feel that they can pick and choose, or if they have a tendency to reinvent the wheel or tinker with proven procedures, the relationship will not work out for either of us.

Top New Franchises: What training and support do Little Sunshine’s Playhouse franchise owners receive prior to opening their centers?

Rochette Dahler: Our pre-opening training and support services are extensive. Franchise owners and their Program Directors receive thorough and intensive training both at our facility in Springfield, MO and on-site at their new centers. Our curriculum covers all aspects of developing and running a Little Sunshine’s Playhouse & Preschool including human resources, operation and management, marketing and public relations, educational procedures and regulations, and much more.

Additionally, we assist our franchise owners in site selection, and, in many cases we help secure the financing. We assist franchisees in their financing and have recently become SBA-approved to help facilitate government-guaranteed franchisee loans.

We also do competitor research, compile comprehensive purchase list for every item needed to open the school…and then we purchase those items for the franchisee and set them up inside the school, so that a franchisee can walk into their school on day one with a turn-key setup business.

In this early phase we also work closely with franchisees on press releases and other pre-marketing efforts. We send numerous, experienced professionals to help set up the school, train onsite, help plan and execute an aggressive Grand Opening promotional blitz and even host the ribbon cutting ceremony.

Every school and every franchise owner is part of our family, and we regard the success of every center as our highest priority. Little Sunshine’s Playhouse franchise owners enjoy an abundance of initial support, assistance and commitment from us as their franchisor.

As I mentioned earlier, we are adamant that franchise owners understand that their job is implementation of the Little Sunshine’s Playhouse system, and we are fully committed to go above and beyond to allow them to completely focus on implementation and meeting the needs of the children and their parents.

Top New Franchises: How does Little Sunshine’s Playhouse enable its franchise owners to focus on implementation in order to meet the needs of children and parents?

Rochette Dahler: Franchise owners build their businesses by being out front and visible, greeting parents, providing tours, interacting with the children and staff, and building strong and visible ties in the community. The last place we want them to be is in a back-office, crunching numbers, processing invoices or administering payroll.

So we unburden our franchise owners from many of the back-office and administrative tasks so they can focus on building the relationships that will build their business. We process their payroll, payroll taxes, bill pay, monthly quarterly reports, profit & loss analysis, and handle all revenue collections for our franchisees.

We provide a system where the employees of franchise owners can access electronic pay stubs, trainings, benefit tracking, and online teacher appreciation boards for special recognition of their staff. We track every phone call, tour and enrollment received at the schools and compile data in ways that show us and our franchises where individual schools can improve and achieve greater results.

We collect weekly classroom rosters from every school and provide feedback and strategy for best practice as a reflection of that roster, and offer relevant solutions to problems that we may find.

These time-consuming tasks are removed from a franchisee’s plate so that they can focus on school operations and marketing. Good leaders of schools should not sit in the office all day. We want franchisees spending their time training and building their team, building their brand in the local market, and then, of course, opening their next school.

Top New Franchises: How else does Little Sunshine’s Playhouse support franchise owners on an ongoing basis?

Rochette Dahler: At Little Sunshine’s Playhouse, we understand that excellence is not a destination, but a continuous journey. We strive to guide, direct, coach, motivate and support our franchise owners to continually improve and optimize the performance of their centers and maximize the return they see from their personal and financial investments.

It is important to us that franchisees feel our support on a daily basis. Support and training are delivered in a variety of ways including: weekly video conference, monthly professional curriculum and suggestions for items to add to classrooms to support it, menu planning and grocery delivery order forms to simplify meals, unlimited phone and email support, intranet with a variety of resources for franchisees, bulletin board, chat room, Google analytics, operations manuals and forms, in person training both at corporate office and onsite at the school, quality assurance reviews, newsletters, annual group trips, group industry convention attendance, annual training convention for franchisees, telephone training for all new staff, new staff training videos, and it does not stop there….

We run our own Little Sunshine’s Playhouse centers, so we are involved with every aspect of running effective centers on a day-to-day basis. We face the same obstacles and overcome the same challenges as our franchise owners. So we strive to share the benefit of our knowledge and experience in every way we can. Our mission is not only to succeed, but to succeed together.

Top New Franchises: What are the greatest rewards of owning a Little Sunshine’s Playhouse franchise?

Rochette Dahler: Prospective franchise owners must understand that owning a business, any business, is hard work and requires commitment, energy and perseverance. But, for the right person, the potential rewards are immense.

Our goal is to reinvent childcare by selecting and supporting quality franchise owners and empowering them to provide an unmatched level of service to parents and their children. To accomplish that goal, we know that we need to apply a disciplined business approach and a sound financial model that enables them not only to thrive in their local markets, but allows them to continue to expand into neighboring markets. We must all be businesspeople first, so that we can continue to expand and revolutionize childcare across America.

That being said, I believe the greatest rewards of owning a Little Sunshine’s Playhouse and Preschool are non-financial. Our children are our most precious asset, and they literally represent the future of our nation and the world. By positively affecting their early development, we positively impact our communities, our families and the world at large. How many people can honestly say that they not only were financially successful, but that they made a positive impact on countless lives as well?

Next to my family, this company has provided the biggest blessings in my life… and little of that has anything to do with money. It makes a difference when you operate a business that is cutting edge, that is reaching into the lives of so many families with long lasting positive impacts, and the community relationships and franchisee relationships that pull you through any hard times you may encounter in life. Little Sunshine’s Playhouse brought me to a place in life that I’m truly proud of.

I wake up energized each morning, eager to see how much farther we can advance our ambitious and important mission. Each morning, I know that I will overcome any obstacle in my path or challenge that awaits for two reasons. The first reason is that I have a great team of committed professionals behind me who will not let me fail. The second reason is that our mission and our work is just too important to let anything keep us from doing our best.

That feeling is perhaps the greatest reward that franchise owners receive by being part of the Little Sunshine’s Playhouse franchise family: to be doing important work with a great team behind you.

Read Part Two: The Little Sunshine’s Playhouse Franchise Opportunity [Coming Soon]

For more information, visit: Little Sunshine’s Playhouse franchise and contact information [Coming Soon]

The post Little Sunshine’s Playhouse Franchise Overview appeared first on Top New Franchises.

Innovative, upscale childcare & preschool franchise

In Part One of our interview with Rochette Dahler, founder and CEO of the Little Sunshine’s Playhouse franchise system, Ms. Dahler explains her innovative childcare concept on the consumer level, and describes the benefits it provides to parents and children.

Part Two will focus on the Little Sunshine’s Playhouse franchise opportunity, the benefits it provides and what it takes to be awarded a Little Sunshine’s Playhouse franchise.

Top New Franchises: Rochette, how do you describe the Little Sunshine’s Playhouse concept?

Rochette Dahler: The Little Sunshine’s Playhouse concept is the innovative, educational childcare solution that many parents have been searching for.

Our Little Sunshine’s Playhouse facilities are enchanting and fun, and our curriculum is fresh and engaging. We have effectively harnessed the latest technology to heighten parental involvement and satisfaction levels, and to ensure the safety and security of our children.

While our most obvious role is to provide high quality childcare to children from 6 weeks to 6 years of age, we see ourselves as primarily being in the relationship business. We value our customers, students, and our staff members, and maintain a home-like atmosphere and family-oriented philosophy in all we do.

Top New Franchises: Who are the customers for Little Sunshine’s Playhouse? Are you catering only to upper income professionals?

Rochette Dahler: Most of our clients are well-educated, upper-income professionals, but we’re also attracting a growing number of middle-income and two-earner families. The common thread between all of our parents is that they value early childhood education and are willing to invest in their children’s early care. Today’s parents are willing to drive farther, invest more, and rally behind a school that they and their child feel connected to.

We understand the sacrifices parents make to provide the best for their children, and the emotion involved in entrusting their child’s care to a childcare provider. We take that trust seriously, so we strive not only to have our operations down to perfection, but also to maintain the home-like environment and personal connections that take educational early care to the next level.

We don’t believe that having a child in preschool means that parents and grandparents must feel disconnected from their child during the day, or that they must miss out on important events and milestones in their children’s lives. For this reason, we have adopted the latest technology to maintain a digital link between parent and child through such innovative programs as LuvNotes^TM & Kiddie Cams^TM.

Top New Franchises: Before we get into LuvNotes^TM & Kiddie Cams^TM, tell me about the Little Sunshine’s Playhouse buildings themselves. They are strikingly beautiful, both inside and out. Are you intentionally trying to break away from the sterile and school/institutional feel of most childcare centers?

Rochette Dahler: Absolutely! Parents have fewer children than in past generations, and have their children later in life. Their children are the most important part of their lives, and they want the very best for them. Yet most childcare centers look sterile and institutional at best, with loud primary colors. Our parents remark that they feel good bringing their children to Little Sunshine’s Playhouse, because it combines the wonder and fun of a fairytale environment with the warmth and safety of home.

Our building exteriors and interiors are our best marketing, as they clearly set us apart from the competition in every market we’ve entered. But they’re more than that. Little Sunshine’s Playhouse facilities communicate our passion for excellence and innovation, and reflect the respect we have for our students, their parents, our franchise owners and their staff.

We believe that our children deserve the best environment in which to develop, and their parents deserve to feel that they are providing the best. We demand the best from our staff, and believe that they deserve an attractive and efficient work environment. And we believe that the franchise owners who have invested personally and financially in Little Sunshine’s Playhouse deserve to own a business they can be proud to call their own.

In addition to their attractiveness, Little Sunshine’s Playhouse centers are designed to provide an optimal environment for child development, socialization, learning, exercise, health and security. Our professionally-designed facilities feature a theatre stage, a landscaped nature center for healthy, outdoor play, a variety of customized, age-appropriate playground equipment, and many areas for small-group learning and play.

Top New Franchises: Earlier you mentioned LuvNotes^TM & Kiddie Cams^TM being two unique advantages for parents provided by Little Sunshine’s Playhouse. Can you explain?

Rochette Dahler: From the beginning, we wanted the Little Sunshine’s Playhouse concept to exceed not only the needs of our children, but of their parents as well. A major problem with traditional childcare is that it leaves parents feeling disconnected from their children during the day. It also leaves them with a sense of loss when they have missed out on important events or accomplishments.

We have kept our parents feeling connected with their Little Sunshine’s Playhouse students with early adoption of the latest technology and tools. In our first centers, ten years ago, we installed full color, secured video cameras in our classrooms and playgrounds. We call them Kiddie Cams^TM. Using secured, password-protected accounts, our students’ parents and grandparents can sign on to our real-time, live video stream from their computers, iPads, tablets or smart phones any time of day, from anywhere in the world. They can watch their children as they work and play, and feel confident that they are in a safe, productive and fun environment.

Parents love our Kiddie Cams^TM!

Top New Franchises: And what are LuvNotes^TM, and what benefit do they provide?

Rochette Dahler: Little Sunshine LuvNotes^TM is a new feature we just developed to keep parents engaged and feeling connected with their children and the Little Sunshine’s Playhouse community. LuvNotes^TM are an electronic daily communication sent directly to parents via email. Parents receive LuvNotes^TM throughout the week that contain instant updates and daily sharing of photos and videos inside the classroom.

So, instead of the teacher reading on a sheet at the end of their child’s day “Suzy had Spanish class today,” our LuvNotes^TM provides a link that allows parents to watch a video of Suzy speaking Spanish in that day’s class. LuvNotes^TM represent a major evolution in the way parents and teachers will communicate. It makes mom or dad feel like they are still participating in their child’s development, and enables them to congratulate their child on the day’s accomplishments. And what parent wouldn’t be excited to get LuvNotes^TM from their child during the day?

While LuvNotes^TM & Kiddie Cams^TM are benefits that parents love about Little Sunshine’s Playhouse, they are just two examples of our commitment to using the latest technology to enhance the parent-child-teacher relationship. As new technologies and communication media emerge, we will continue to provide new, cutting edge tools to our franchise owners to help them serve their customers and build their businesses.

Top New Franchises: What is the real magic behind the Little Sunshine’s Playhouse concept?

Rochette Dahler: Little Sunshine’s Playhouse is a magical place that’s designed to make children feel like they’re stepping into the pages of a storybook with every visit.

But the real magic is created by the relationship between parents, teachers, franchise owners and all who have had a hand in developing the Little Sunshine’s Playhouse concept.

It’s a relationship that’s forged from the common goal of providing an uncommon early learning foundation for the children who represent our future.

Helping children be their very best, and rewarding parents for providing the very best, is what Little Sunshine’s Playhouse concept is all about.

And that’s the real magic behind Little Sunshine’s Playhouse.

Read Part Two:  The Little Sunshine’s Playhouse Franchise Opportunity [Coming Soon]

For more information, visit: 

Little Sunshine’s Playhouse franchise and contact information [Coming Soon]

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The chocolate industry is a multibillion dollar phenomenon growing every minute. Tasty Image enables to print high resolution edible images on chocolate. Combine a hunger for custom gifts with a love of chocolate and you’re looking at a great career! Own a Tasty Image store of your very own and enjoy a fun career in a lucrative industry.
Name: Tasty Image

Franchisor Corporation Name: Keng Group, LLC

HQ location:  Jupiter, Florida

Website URL: Tasty Image franchise website

Year Founded: 2003

Year Franchised: 2010

Number of units, company: 3

Number of units, franchised: 3

Initial investment: 89K

Liquid Capital Required:  $150,000

Home-based Business? NO

Priority Markets for Expansion: Internationally as well as non-registration and filing states.

Contact information for franchise program: franchise@tastyimage.com or fax inquiry to +1-516-908-5335

Tasty Image  6390 W. Indiantown Road, Suite 54, Jupiter, Florida, 33458

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 The Original Basket Boutique is the only home-based custom gift basket franchise in the world. With 45+ franchises worldwide serving thousands of clients, the Original Basket Boutique is poised to help its franchisees succeed with a low start-up, low overhead business with extensive tools and support.

Concept Name: The Original Basket Boutique, Gift and Gift Basket Franchise

Franchisor: The Original Basket Boutique

HQ location: Alberta, Canada;  Perth, Australia

Year Founded:  1989

Year Franchised: 1989

Number of units, company: 0

Number of units, franchised: 45

Initial investment: $35,000

Home-based Business? (Y/N): Home based  or commercial location based

Net worth/Financial Requirements: $150,000

Priority Markets for Expansion: Canada, US,  AU and NZ

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Gift Card Monkey is the world’s first gift card trading franchise.  Gift Card Monkey stores provide an opportunity for people of all ages who have received gift cards that they don’t need, or people that have gift cards with partially used balances to exchange their gift cards for cash or other gift cards of their choice.  Gift Card Monkey franchisees purchase unwanted gift cards from customers at a discount and resell gift cards to other customers for a nice profit.

Franchise Name: Gift Card Monkey

Franchisor: Gift Card Monkey Franchising Corp.

HQ location: Miami, FL

Year Founded:  2010

Year Franchised: 2011

Number of units, company: 0

Number of units, franchised: 0

Initial investment: $19,900

Home-based Business? (Y/N): Y

Net worth/Financial Requirements: $19,900

Priority Markets for Expansion: U.S.

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Dental Fix is revolutionizing the dental service industry by delivering immediate on-site handpiece repairs and equipment service and sales, through a dedicated mobile network of highly trained and successful industry professionals.

Franchise: Dental Fix
Franchisor Corporation: Dental Fix
HQ location: Davie, FL
Year Founded:  2009
Year Franchised: 2009
Number of units, company: 0
Number of units, franchised: 58
Initial investment: $60,000-$80,000
Home-based Business? (Y/N): Y
Priority Markets for Expansion: US and International

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Franchise Name: Stuff Etc Quality Consignment Stores

Franchisor Name:  Stuff Etc^® Franchise LLC

HQ location: Coralville, Iowa  

Year Founded:  1985 

Year Franchised: 2009 

Number of units, company: 4 

Number of units, franchised: 1
 
Initial investment: $268,000 – $425,000 

Home-based Business?  No
 
Net worth/Financial Requirements: $400,000

Priority Markets for Expansion: Des Moines, Dubuque, Ankeny, Council Bluffs and Davenport in Iowa. Omaha in Nebraska

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