A creche is a nursery or school like environment where children below the age of 6 years are catered for during the working hours of the day.
Parents take their children including babies to creche within the hours of 7am to 6pm during the working days. The creche generally relieves the pressure of looking after children. Working class parents find the role creche pays in the society very beneficial to the m and to the kids.
In Nigeria, you can make good money from establishing a creche. It is one of the most lucrative businesses around.
Go to Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and other cities in Nigeria, you will see a lot of crèches. Even in rural areas, you are likely to see at least a creche.
How to make money from starting a creche business
Below are some of the steps you need to take in order to make good money from owning a creche business:
Register your business with the authorities
To start a creche business, you will need to register a business or company name. The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) is the government agency in charge of registration of businesses.
You will also need to register with the Ministry of Education in the state you wish to operate. The Ministry of Education has some requirements which you must meet before your application can be approved.
In some states, you may need to adhere strictly to environment regulations. There are agencies in charge of these regulations.
Have a business plan
You need to draw a business plan and set out your business model. Your business plan should show how you intend to make money from the business, how you will tackle competitive pressure and how you will build the brand of the creche business.
If you cannot write a business plan, you can engage a consultant.
Find a suitable location
To get a lot of enrolment in your creche, it is advisable you site your daycare and nursery school in a residential area or a commercial area with a lot of corporate establishments.
Parents will like to drop their kids off at daycare centres near their homes. Some may also like to drop off their children at creches near their place of work.
Your location can mar or make your creche business.
Recruit your members of staff
Most daycare centres are manned by women because they are skilled in the art of parenting than most men. I am not saying that you should not have male members of staff but make sure that there are more females.
An average customer will be more comfortable to enroll his or her kids in a creche with female carers or teachers than male carers.
Do background check for members of staff
To forestall litigation in the future or happenings that may damage the brand of your day care business, it is better you do criminal and medical background check for your members of staff.
Do not engage people who have past criminal convictions. Also, be very careful when engaging those who have diseases that can be easily transmitted to the kids.
Get the equipment needed
The equipment you have in your creche can encourage parents to enroll their kids in your school. You need to rent a good place, the daycare centre should have good aeration, tables and chairs, nursery toys, IP cameras which will enable parents to see their kids from any remote location online real time and a food bay.
Marketing
Marketing is one of the most important aspects of any business. If you have the most equipped daycare school and nobody knows about it, you will not get enrolment and you will not make money.
You can use digital marketing and the traditional marketing concepts to let people know about what your business offers.
Have a blog on your website and write search engine optimized articles about your niche which is creche business.
Encourage your customers to refer new customers to you.
Starting a creche can make you smile to the bank.