Huge liabilities for obvious reasons working with children, though typically insurance can be purchased to cover. Hiring and responsible oversight become that much more important. No personal experience, but I know a colleague who was involved in the industry a while ago

No personal experience, but I know the space is basically comprised of franchise groups (e.g., Primrose, Goddard, etc.) + more traditional chains (e.g., Bright Horizons), which account for ~10% of locations, and the rest are non-profit organizations (e.g., churches) and independents (e.g., Ms. Jones down the street). Roll-up strategies have not been successful as neither churches nor (actual) "Mom & Pop"s are legitimate acquisition targets and the advantages to scale are minimal given: (1) lack of back-office costs at independents, (2) parent distrust toward corporate childcare, and (3) lower profit requirements at independents/non-profits who are often happy to break even. That being said, franchisors have found success guiding interested entrepreneur-franchisees who want the support (e.g., with curriculum) and corporate chains like Bright Horizons have secured a few lucrative corporate contracts to provide in-building daycare for working-parent employees. Hope this helps.