SELLER: Smaller Scholars

Stability

Mark Anderson

Dot Ahuja has led the Smaller Scholars Montessori Preschool and Elementary in Houston, Texas for more than 20 years, from its startup as a 10-child preschool to a three-school campus with an enrollment of 369 children.

In November Ahuja made one of her life's "most difficult decisions" when she and her husband sold the school.

"I had devoted my entire life to it," but the time had come to focus on her own family and get ready for a productive retirement, she says.

Six months after the sale Ahuja believes the decision has proved to be good for the school and staff that she loves - as well as her family.

She points to a few key contributors to that success.

The buyer, Toronto-based Mini-Skool Early Learning Centers, had never acquired a Montessori program, which raised red flags for Ahuja. "Going in that was the number one issue. I wanted this to continue as a true Montessori program."

But Mini-Skool's CEO came to meet the Ahujas and assured them that Mini-Skool had no intention of interfering with an approach that had produced a very good business. Dot Ahuja met the heads of several other Mini-Skool programs in the Southwest, and they all assured her that the company had given them latitude and support to continue their diverse approaches.

The new owners retained the directors of the Smaller Scholar's three programs, each of whom had been on staff for more than 10 years, and it took Ahuja's advice and hired one of the directors as the new head of school.

They also kept the rest of the staff in place, and recruited Ahuja to help with the transition for a seven-month period that ends May 31.

The results to this point are a staff that's "enthusiastic and comfortable," Ahuja says, and an enrollment level that has remained steady.

Part of that success is due to the confidence the Ahujas had in their broker, Bailey Routzong & Associates of Dallas. "I've known Ed [Routzong] for a number of years," through connections in the child-care industry, and Ahuja credits the firm with finding a good buyer in Mini-Skool - after an earlier candidate proved incompatible.

But don't leave too much responsibility to a broker, she warns. "As a seller, you have to realize that finally it's up to you to know your needs and watch out for them. Difficult things inevitably come up in this process and you've got to think them through for yourself."

Ahuja and her husband didn't entirely sever themselves from Smaller Scholars with the sale. They decided to retain the grounds and buildings, signing a long lease with Mini-Skool, which will give them a solid income stream and an 8-acre campus that should continue to grow in value.

Start to finish - from Bailey-Routzong's first query call till closing - the sale process took about a year-and-a-half, Ahuja says. "It's very time-consuming."