How do you find independent schools to sell to?

Who are the school decision makers

In an independent school, the bursar or business director decides most spending outside teaching, the head decides priorities and the governors approve larger commitments. Many independent schools are charities, so governors act as trustees and take long contracts seriously.

The person who will use your product matters as much as the one who pays: the IT manager or director of digital learning for technology, the estates manager for buildings and grounds, a deputy head or head of department for teaching resources.

• Bursar or business director: finance, contracts, estates and support staff
• Head: educational priorities and the final say on anything pupils see
• Governors' finance committee: larger or longer commitments
• IT manager or director of digital learning: systems and devices
• Estates or facilities manager: buildings, catering and maintenance

School groups or single schools

School groups buy centrally through a group finance or operations team, then roll out across schools, while a single school decides through its own bursar. Groups take longer to win but bring every school at once; single schools give faster yeses and references.

Prep and senior, day and boarding schools need different things: a boarding school runs catering, pastoral care and houses around the clock. Build your list from official registers, such as the Department for Education's register of schools in England, and from the directories of independent school associations.

When private schools buy

Private schools buy around the budget for the next academic year, which is set well before September; ask each bursar when theirs is agreed and plan contact before it. Installation suits the holidays, so the decision has to land a term earlier.

Avoid the first weeks of term, exam periods and the end of the summer term, when senior staff are stretched. Triggers include a new head or bursar, a building project, findings in an inspection report and cost reviews; the change to VAT on school fees in the UK has pushed many bursars to look hard at spending.

Safeguarding and data checks for school suppliers

Every supplier to a school faces safeguarding and data checks. Schools in England follow statutory safeguarding guidance, Keeping Children Safe in Education, which shapes the checks on anyone working with or near pupils, so staff you send on site may need criminal record checks.

If your product handles pupil information, expect a data protection agreement and questions about where data is held. Online services likely to be accessed by children also fall under the ICO's children's code. Confirm what applies to your product with your adviser.