Robinline Capital Group in Lawrence, Kansas helps child care center owners compare funding: term loans for expansions and purchases, equipment financing for vans and playgrounds, and working capital or lines of credit for payroll timing. This page covers Douglas County, KS child care counts, what partners read and a labeled van example.
At a glance
- Child day care employers, Douglas County, KS
28 (CBP 2023)
- Paid employees at those centers
461 (CBP 2023)
- Child care businesses without paid employees
147 (Nonemployer Statistics 2024)
Daycare Center Commercial Loans in Lawrence, KS: Douglas County, KS Center Counts
County Business Patterns counted 28 child day care employers in Douglas County, KS in 2023, with 461 paid employees and an annual payroll of $9.3 million; 9 of them had fewer than five employees (Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023). Nonemployer Statistics counted 147 child care businesses without paid employees in 2024 (NAICS 62441; Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics 2024); that program is separate and its count is not added to the employer figure.
Child care is labor-heavy: payroll is a large, fixed cost for a center, and it is paid on schedule regardless of when tuition or program payments arrive.
Daycare Business Loans in Lawrence, KS for Adding Classrooms
Adding an infant or toddler room, or moving into a larger building, means build-out work, furniture, cribs and sometimes a kitchen upgrade, followed by months of payroll before the new room fills. A term loan fits the build-out and furnishing as one plan. A partner reads enrollment, the waiting list and the center's current results to judge how fast the new room fills.
Childcare Business Loans for Vans, Playgrounds and Kitchen Equipment
Illustration only, invented figures: a center finances a $52,000 passenger van for field trips and school pickups over 60 months at an assumed 10% annual rate. The payment is about $1,105 a month. Playground structures, commercial kitchen equipment and classroom technology can go on equipment financing the same way.
Daycare Financing for Payroll While Program Payments Are Pending
Centers collect tuition from families and, where they take part, payments from subsidy or food programs. Program payments can arrive on a different schedule from payroll. A working capital loan covers a one-time gap with a known end; a line of credit covers gaps that come back. The partner reads the deposits to see when each source arrives.
Daycare Loans in Lawrence, KS: Licensing Questions Before Any Expansion
Expanding capacity or moving to a new building involves state licensing for the new space and its capacity. The center confirms those requirements with the licensing office before signing a lease or starting construction, since a build-out that cannot be licensed for the planned capacity will not produce the revenue the financing assumed.
Daycare Center Funding Files in Douglas County, KS: Records a Partner May Name
- Enrolled children by age group, plus the families on the waiting list.
- Tuition rates and the share of revenue from program payments.
- Business bank statements and tax returns.
- The lease or property terms, and build-out bids for an expansion.
- Teacher counts by room and payroll by month for the last year.
Enrollment, Ratios and Rates: The Numbers Behind a Douglas County, KS Center's Revenue
A center's revenue comes from three numbers: how many children are enrolled in each room, the tuition rate for each age group, and how many weeks a year families pay. Staffing follows the ratios required for each age group, so infant and toddler rooms cost more per child to staff than preschool rooms. A partner reading an expansion request looks at whether the new room's tuition covers its teachers, its share of rent and the new loan payment, with the room full and with it partly empty.
Illustration only, invented figures: a new toddler room enrolls 10 children at $250 a week, bringing in $2,500 a week before costs. If teachers, supplies and the room's share of rent take $2,000 of that, $500 a week is left toward the loan payment and the center's margin.
School-Age Programs Alongside Full-Day Care in a Center's File
Some centers run before and after school programs alongside full-day care, which can change enrollment and staffing during the year. Showing revenue by program in the books, rather than one total, lets a partner see which rooms carry the center and how stable each income stream is. A center adding a school-age room should show the families already asking for it and the space it would use.
Buying a Day Care Center in Lawrence, KS
Buying an existing center transfers its enrollment, staff, equipment and lease, and requires licensing for the new owner. A partner reads the seller's returns, enrollment history and staff turnover. A term loan fits the purchase. The article on how to buy a daycare business walks through the steps from finding a center to closing.
By Robinline Capital Group · Updated