Abstract
This paper will discuss the importance of Price, Product, Promotion, and Place when marketing a specific product or service. I have chosen a Child Day Care Center as my service of choice.

Marketing Variables There is a large consumer base for the day care industry. More than 20% of the children in the United States live in single parent households. (Smallbusinessnotes.com, 2009) In the last decade, more young mothers have a desire to work outside of the home. With this in mind, I feel that a day care center will be an excellent business venture. Pretty much everywhere you go; there is a need for this type of business. Research has proven that the most important years in a child’s development are the ages of one to six. (Smallbusinessnotes.com, 2009) The habits that children form during this critical time period will affect their ability to learn and adjust as they grow older. Parents of today are demanding pre-school education for their children that is offered by modern day care centers.
Product
A children’s day care center provides supervision and recreation for children of pre-school age. Day care centers are usually operated during daytime hours while the parents are at work. A good day care center will act as much more than just a babysitting service. They will provide education, recreational activities, and hot meals. Because the economy is constantly changing, I must always consider the wants and needs of consumers when developing my business. (Ebert & Griffin, 2009) This is one of the reasons why I plan on offering additional services in my day care business.
Price
The income potential for a successful day-care center is can be quite promising. Most centers usually charge from thirty-five dollars to sixty-five dollars per child for a five day week. If the child is served breakfast, an additional five to ten dollars can be earned. Some day care centers offer after-care. This would afford me the option of serving an evening meal which can result in additional fee. I will try to be as reasonable as possible with my prices. If my prices are too high, my potential customers will take their business elsewhere. (Ebert & Griffin, 2009) When setting my prices, there are many factors that I must take into consideration. Start-up costs can be expensive; seeing as there are many items that I will need to budget for. To name a few would be; advertising, licensing fees, educational materials, food items and utensils, cribs, toys, outdoor play spaces and many more. And let us not forget about insurance costs.
Promotion
To promote my day care center, I have to offer services that other centers may not offer. Advertising is one of the most important promotional tools. (Ebert & Griffin, 2009) I will use the internet, billboards, television, and mailers to promote my business. I will have live classroom webcams that will allow parents to view the classroom via the internet at any time during the day. Parents usually choose cost and convenience over quality. (Medicinenet.com, 2009) Therefore, I will offer extended hours during the regular work week. I will also provide free finger printing of each child to keep in a file for safety purposes. At my grand opening, I will provide free refreshments for everyone; parents and children.
Place
The location of my business is referred as the place of distribution of my product. (Ebert & Griffin, 2009) The ideal location for my center would be on a main street. Hopefully, I will be able to purchase a vacant convenience or grocery store to renovate. This will be a plus because this will leave me with adequate space for parking. I will also need to verify through public records that there are no sex offenders in my location of choice, seeing that offenders are not to reside within one thousand feet of a children’s day care center. Each of these marketing variables serve equal importance when it comes to starting and operating a business. If I am able to promote my product at a good price and in a good place, my business is sure to be successful and profitable.

References
Ebert, Ronald J., & Griffin, Ricky W. (2009). Business Essentials (7th ed. pp.152 &153)
New Jersey: Prentice Hall
Smallbusinessnotes.com (2009) Retrieved October 23, 2009 from http://www.smallbusinessnotes.com/businesses/eh/daycare.html
Medicinenet.com (2009) Retrieved October 23, 2009 from http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=52183