NAEYC-Accredited Preschool, Affluent Washington County Oregon

$2.9M

Revenue

$870K

SDE

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Full Editorial Writeup

This is a single-location, NAEYC-accredited early childhood education center in Washington County, Oregon, one of the state's most affluent trade areas with an average household income of roughly $147K. The school serves children from infancy through Pre-K and layers in summer and school-break camp programming for older children, giving it a broad enrollment funnel across age bands. It runs on a long operating history, a trusted brand, and organic word-of-mouth referrals, with 30 full-time staff and an experienced director who runs day-to-day operations largely independently.

The financials are the headline: roughly $2.88M in revenue against $870K in EBITDA, a margin north of 30 percent that is strong for a facility-based childcare operation. The listing projects 2026 revenue near $3.0M and EBITDA near $900K, implying management already sees continued organic growth toward licensed capacity. The center operates from a leased facility with multiple playgrounds and a garden, on a lease running through May 2031.

What makes this notable is the combination of a durable, essential service, a premium demographic, and a director-run model that limits key-person risk from the current owner. The seller is exiting as part of a broader simplification of investment holdings, not because the business is struggling, and the stated upside levers (enrollment toward capacity, expense optimization, sharper marketing) are the boring, executable kind rather than speculative expansion bets.

Why we like it

Earnings quality is excellent for the category: $870K EBITDA on $2.88M revenue is a ~30 percent margin, and childcare tuition is collected in advance with low bad-debt risk. Revenue is recurring by nature since families re-enroll year over year and infant-through-PreK spans multiple years per child.
The moat is real and hard to replicate quickly: NAEYC accreditation, a long operating history, and a trusted brand built on word-of-mouth in an affluent, referral-driven community. New entrants face licensing, staffing, and reputation hurdles that take years to clear, and parents rarely switch a school their child is thriving in.
Market tailwinds favor premium childcare in high-income trade areas where dual-earner households treat quality early education as non-negotiable spending. A $147K average household income base supports pricing power and insulates enrollment from the discretionary cuts that hit lower-income markets first.
The operator advantage is the director-run structure: the business already performs under an experienced, largely independent director with limited corporate infrastructure. A buyer inherits functioning day-to-day management and can focus on the stated levers of capacity fill, expense discipline, and marketing rather than firefighting operations.

How to improve it

Attack enrollment toward licensed capacity, the single biggest lever here. Map current enrollment against licensed slots by classroom and age band, then build a waitlist-to-conversion process so any open seat is filled within weeks rather than left to organic drift.
Institute annual tuition increases benchmarked to the affluent market. In a $147K HHI trade area with NAEYC accreditation, modest price increases flow almost entirely to EBITDA, and demand is unlikely to soften given the premium positioning and word-of-mouth loyalty.
Run the operating-expense optimization the listing flags. Audit staffing ratios against licensing minimums and enrollment, renegotiate vendor and supply contracts, and review the labor schedule so payroll tracks actual attendance patterns rather than fixed staffing.
Build a real marketing engine to replace pure word-of-mouth. Stand up local SEO, a booked-tour funnel, and referral incentives for current families, so demand generation is systematic and not dependent on reputation alone.
Formalize director retention before closing. Because the model depends on one largely independent director, lock in an employment agreement with retention incentives to protect the key person and preserve the very independence that makes this a passive-friendly asset.
Expand high-margin ancillary revenue through the existing summer and break camp programming. Extend camp weeks, add enrichment classes (music, language, STEM), and offer extended-hours care that captures more tuition from the same families and fills the facility during traditional gaps.
Lock down the facility and lease early. With the lease running to May 2031, negotiate a renewal or extension option now, since the entire business is tied to a single leased site and lease uncertainty is the largest structural risk to enterprise value.

Diligence notes

Verify enrollment and revenue by cohort, not just top-line. Pull monthly enrollment counts by classroom and age band for the trailing 24 months to confirm the stable base and the claimed upside toward capacity, and confirm the $3.0M / $900K 2026 projections are grounded in actual waitlist and re-enrollment data.
Confirm licensing, NAEYC accreditation status, and any open compliance items. Review state childcare licensing history for violations, staffing-ratio citations, or incident reports, since a single serious compliance or safety event can permanently damage a reputation-driven school.
Scrutinize the lease terms in detail. The 05/01/2031 expiration, renewal options, rent escalators, and any relocation or use restrictions directly determine whether the going concern survives past the term, and this is a business-only sale with no real estate to fall back on.
Stress-test the director dependency and full staff. Confirm the director's tenure, compensation, and willingness to stay, and review staff turnover, wage levels versus market, and the pipeline for qualified teachers given that childcare labor is chronically tight.
Reconcile EBITDA to actual owner books and normalize add-backs. Since cash flow and asking price are undisclosed, request full financials to confirm the $870K EBITDA is clean, includes market-rate director compensation, and is not inflated by underfunded staffing or deferred facility maintenance.

Source

Originally listed on BizBuySell. View original listing →