How to set up a Creche/Day Care School in Nigeria

A day care or crèche is a place where babies, toddlers and young children are kept during the daytime while their parents are busy with work. It’s a sort of playground/classroom setting where these younglings hang out, play, rest and are taking care of by trained handlers so that later in the day after work the parents can come pick them up.

The Opportunity

There is a high demand for Creche and day care schools in our urban centers in Nigeria. Why do I say that? How many working class mothers do we have in many of our cities? How many of them have nannies to look after their kids? Fact is toddlers can be a big distraction in the workplace and many mums know this hence why they choose to enroll their darlings in Creches and day care centers. This is the reason many primary schools set up nursery arms to serve as day care centers.

Who is the business for?

If you love children and you’re very good at looking after them then you may want to consider going into this business. However the challenge is always keeping your kids in safe hands and making sure that nothing bad happens to any of them. If you’ve handled children in Sunday school or have taught in a nursery school or have looked after children before then give it a try.

Marketing

This is a business you can start from your home informally approaching nursing or working mothers in your neighbourhood, at church or any other gathering letting them know what you do. If you wish to rent it makes sense to pick a room in a strategic location which is easy to access by your target group. You can later start printing fliers when you have attracted a small number of clients. Even if you can find 4 or more people initially it’s worth it, make do with that and as you become more consistent and better at what you do, you’ll gain more customers.

Requirements

To set up something like this you’ll need the following;

Mini Flat – N800,000 per annum

12 Small Chairs – N24,000

3 Small tables – N24,000

Toys – N40,000

TV set – N40,000

VCD player – N15,000

Book shelf – N60,000

Kiddies books and stationery – N30,000

Others – N500,000

Total: N1,533,000

How profitable is the Creche Business in Nigeria?

Like all businesses that depends on many factors but considering that parents pay N30,000 per term for nursery schooling you could charge each parent say N5,000 per month. Let’s assume you have 12 enrollments multiplied by 5 that’s N60,000 for the first month.

Breakdown first year (this is an estimate)

50 enrollments X N60,000 = N3 million

Running expenses (rent, salary, electricity etc) = N2.4 million

Profit before tax = N600,000

Return on Investment = 40%
Pay Back Period = 2 to 3 years

This is a business you can run for years without approaching banks for loans as it can expand on it’s own. It’s a cash cow.

Good luck.

If you need a well written business plan but don’t have the time or expertise you can contact a specialist business plan writer to do a detailed analysis of a business opportunity or market survey. Simply call: 0803 206 4106