For-profit childcare center chains are one of the outcomes of the recent growth of the for-profit education industry. One such chain of for-profit childcare centers, Childtime Children's Centers, Inc., has come out on top as one of the leading national providers in the United States.

Childtime's program is designed to foster a general sense of self-esteem, self-confidence, and competence in self-help skills and language abilities in children. Childtime sees these skills as necessary for effective social interaction as young children develop. Furthermore, Childtime's program emphasizes the process of learning and discove

Childtime does not have many partnerships or strategic alliances that are published or highly touted. This could be an area for further investigation. As a result of its weak financial condition, Childtime is not in a position to acquire other companies (it recently acquired the TutorTime childcare center chain). However, a strategic alliance could help it to quickly enter new segments of the market, such as e-learning and media content programming, such as Nickolodean or the Cartoon channel.

Childtime is facing many challenges, both internally and externally. Over the last 3 years, Childtime has had decreasing enrollment and decreasing profits. Certain regional markets fell below enrollment expectations, resulting from an unfavorable sales mix; higher revenues from unprofitable infant programs and lower revenues from profitable pre-school programs. Gross profit decreased to $13.2 million in fiscal 2002 from $16.6 million in fiscal 2001, a decrease of 20.3%. Childtime experienced a net loss of $4.0 million, or -2.8% of revenues, in fiscal 2002 as compared to a net loss of $.6 million, or -0.4% of revenues, in fiscal 2001.

Companies offer childcare services sponsored by corporations or other institutions, such as government departments, typically located in close proximity to parents' work location. Sponsorship can take several forms, including financial support and guaranteed enrollment levels. Competitors: Bright Horizons Family Solutions, Knowledge Beginnings

I believe that in the future, childcare centers will be seen and managed as distribution channels for additional services to create incremental revenue opportunities. Childtime should be asking, "What strategic alliances should we pursue?" One suggestion would be to co-market a cable program on the Disney Channel or the Family Channel that features a young girl or boy and her or his experiences at a Childtime center.

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Approximate Word count = 2014
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)