Child care or daycare is a service involving care for other people’s children. In this post, you will learn how to start daycare business in Nigeria.
Nowadays most parents do not have enough time to look after their kids, especially working parents who spend the whole day at work.
Few parents use a nanny or seek help from a member of their family to look after their children at home while some prefer taking their children to a daycare business centre.
Starting a child care business involves a lot of patience and energy because it is not so easy for handling children.
The reason been that, children are energetic so you need to have enough energy to handle them appropriately.
They act uncontrollably sometimes, and they need love and care.
Therefore, you must be able to treat children with love. Be more caring, be concern over their welfare and upbringing.
If you are thinking of starting a daycare business in Nigeria, these are the seven basic things that will help you establish a successful daycare business in Nigeria.
Follow the guides below to start daycare business in Nigeria.
1. Have passion
To start a day care business, you need to have the passion to care for children. The reason is that not everybody can accommodate children.
Having the passion to care for children is not only looking after the children, but you also need to monitor them, which involves paying close attention to their movement.
Some children cannot express their needs, how or what they feel. So it is your duty as a daycare specialist to understand them.
Although, owning a daycare business in Nigeria can be very difficult to maintain, and it won’t make you a millionaire over night. But you will have a feeling of fulfilment knowing that you are doing what you love.
You will also have a sense of accomplishment because you are providing a place for the children to feel safe and happy.
2. Formulate a Plan
Just like every other business need a plan to keep going, daycare business is not an exception. There must be a plan for your day care business.
Planning involves carrying out a market research to know if your business will strive at the place you want it to be established and to know the level of competition.
Formulating a plan helps you do the following;
- Decide and make an estimation of the amount of capital needed to start.
- Choose the location to set up your business
- Locate customers and how to convince them about your business
- Reshape your business from an old model into a new model as time goes on.
- Set a fix price which will be suitable for your business.
- Know the amount to invest in equipment such as toys, books, first aid supplies and so on.
- Make an estimation of ongoing costs such as staff, energy bills, food, cleaning supplies, fixing and replacing broken equipment.
By following a proper laid out plan your business will grow and transform into a successful establishment.
3. Register your Child Care Center
You need to register your Child care center as a business with the Corporate Affairs Commission (C.A.C) to get a license to operate a child care center.
The regulatory requirements for establishing a child care center include getting a permit from the Ministry of Women Affairs.
They are responsible for the authorization of a Child Care center. Which usually takes a year for proper inspection and given the necessary certification.
4. Be in Standard with Government Requirements
For your business to be a success you need to be in line with government requirements (rules and regulations) for establishing a daycare business in Nigeria.
Your business is expected to be up-to-date with government requirements on staffing (if you would use staff to assist you in caring for the children), child group size, fire safety, insurance, education, medical care (health and safety requirements), trainings and certification on first aid.
You can also register with a nearby health centre. You also need to have a certificate that qualifies you to operate a child care business.
5. Business Premises
A conducive and comfortable building structure should be made available.
When seeking a building put into consideration, the number of children you will admit into your child care center.
This will help you determine the amount of space to allocate (if you want to build) or the size of the building to gain either through rent or lease.
Any building you want for your Child care business always remember the safety of the area (security standard) and accessibility.
6. Toys and other Agenda
Children love toys therefore there should be more than enough toy for every child.
Play time should be part of the agenda of the day when the children come together to play a game or sport.
The toys and every fun activity been provided for the children must be safe and free from any form of harm or danger. Other agenda such as nap times, nutritious meals time, reading time should be set up for the kids.
7. Advertise your Business
Start from your vicinity to advertise your business. Let people living within your area know that you own a day care center.
Distribute fliers or handbills to people nearby. You can also advertise on social media such as WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram.
Open an account with this social media platform post photos of your day care center such as pictures of the environment, equipments, toys and so on. This attract more people to your day care.
With these guide you know what to do if you want to start a daycare business in Nigeria.