Education, apt business for womenpreneurs

Preschools and childcare centres have emerged as the sure shot business for women entrepreneurs to begin from the vicinity of their residential location. In a candid conversation with us, Raman Bajaj, Managing Director, Educomp Child Care Pvt Ltd shares his journey so far and the opportunity his brand is offering to womenpreneurs.

How are preschools and childcare centres more profitable than a K12 or supplementary sector for women entrepreneurs?

One of the benefits of running a preschool and early childcare centre is that it requires a significantly lower seed capital (investment) as compared to (say) starting a formal K12 school. Preschools also have a higher operating leverage as it provides multiple revenue streams from the same fixed cost base for example several preschools offer daycare service as well, as the two go hand in hand. Thus running a preschool gives women entrepreneurs an opportunity to pursue their passion and also earn high returns on their investment. Overall, it’s a very lucrative business opportunity for women entrepreneurs.

Which is your preferential location for preschool operations- residential areas or commercial?

Preschool education is a very neighborhood concept, as children in this age cannot travel long distances. Thus, there is an opportunity to set up a preschool and early childcare center in every neighborhood where there is a sizable consumer base in the 2-3 kms vicinity. The preferred location to set up a Little Millennium preschool and childcare center is in a residential location with 2,000+ square feet of built up area, preferably on the ground floor, with an outdoor play area. Residential areas are preferred as they are closer to the customer and provide a safer and hassle-free environment (away from traffic, pollution and other external disturbance) for children.

You’ve experienced very rapid growth since you opened. Is the company profitable? What have been your biggest growing pains?

Little Millennium has grown rapidly over the years and now has over 280 preschools operational across 65 cities in India.  As we grow, we realize the importance of continuous innovation in our products and services, and in our processes and systems, in order to provide superior value to our customers.

Do you allow women entrepreneurs to operate playschool, day care centre and activity area from same location?

Yes, at Little Millennium, we encourage as well as assist our women business partners to operate multiple businesses (eg. preschool, day care and activity centre businesses) together, to increase the operating leverage in their business and thereby increase the returns on their investment. During summer holidays our business partners run Summer Camps and workshops for children to further revenues while providing high value to customers through these camps and workshops.

Do you provide trained staff to the franchisees? Share the eligibility criterion for the women franchisees of your brand.

We support our franchisees with ongoing teacher training at regular intervals throughout the year, including an extensive training covering all aspects of curriculum delivery at the start of the preschool. The most important criteria for becoming a franchise partner is love for children and a passion for running a high quality preschool business. We also look at investment capability of the business partner, a suitable property that is either leased or owned as we plan to continue to grow our centres all across the country

How is teachers training and auditing important for a play school and what do you do to cope up with it?

Training is an important part of preschool education as early years are the most important years for the growth and development of children. We provide continuous teacher trainings on implementation and delivery of our Seven Petal curriculum, on new-age pedagogy, on effective usage of teaching aids in classrooms, on conducting parenting workshops etc. Our well-researched training methods help our teachers to realise their true potential. Our team conducts regular audits to ensure that quality standards are being met. The audits are documented, discussed, shared and taken action upon by the qualified team of trainers at Little Millennium. The aim of our audits is to ‘guide’ the preschool towards achieving the common vision and goals.

Five must haves for women franchisees of your brand to become a successful entrepreneur.

The key criteria for women franchisees to become successful preschool entrepreneurs are:

·         Love for children and budding learners

·         Passion for growth and running a preschool venture

·         Business acumen with a long term vision in mind

·         2,000 – 2,500 sq. ft. of built-up area, preferably on the ground floor in a residential locality

·         Investment capability of Rs 10 – 15 lakh

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