a Drop in Creche Service

evamum88

Hey Guys,
I'm fairly new to this site so please go easy on me lol.

I've been thinking of opening a drop in creche service in Dublin suburbs. There is none in the area I'm hoping to open it in. It would be pretty central near a big shopping centre and a few gyms which dont have a creche facility. I'm just wondering would there be enough demand for one? Would people use it? And how much would you be willing to pay? I was thinking a fiver an hour?

I myself have two young kids and I for one think if there was one around I would definately use it. I don't live near any friends or relatives that can just mind my kids while i do my shopping or go to the gym. It would be like a godsend for me.

What do you guys think?

Need to find out the demand before I jump in head first :eek:

lounakin

That could be a great idea! I'd definitely use it! I'm about to become a parent and the rigidity of crèches scare me... but if there was a place like this near the centre (make it near the centre pleeeeaaaase!) I wouldn't worry as i would drop in my child while waiting for another place to give us a spot. Or say you've applied to a crèche but are not satisfied and have to leave... I also know two women who work only a few hours a week and they differ every week, this type of crèche would suit them too.

evamum88

lounakin wrote: »

That could be a great idea! I'd definitely use it! I'm about to become a parent and the rigidity of crèches scare me... but if there was a place like this near the centre (make it near the centre pleeeeaaaase!) I wouldn't worry as i would drop in my child while waiting for another place to give us a spot. Or say you've applied to a crèche but are not satisfied and have to leave... I also know two women who work only a few hours a week and they differ every week, this type of crèche would suit them too.

Wow that's great to hear! A few of my friends who also have young kids said they would use it too. I think it's a genius idea..... I have a 3 yr old and a 10 month old and bringing them shopping with me is an absolute NIGHTMARE...even things like post office,banks,credit union etc etc would love to just drop them off for an hour instead of having to fold prams million times a day. Also I'd love to go to the gym, but I can't because there is no where for me to leave the bambinos.... The joys of being a single parent! Another thing I can't do that I'd love to is a course, even a few evening classes - again I can't...

lounakin

Yes!! I wasn't even thinking of that... probably because I don't yet know the joy of shopping with a baby! But I also really want to get back into sports so that's definitely a good idea.
You should make it 24 hours! ha ha ha ha! Just kidding of course

Recessionbust

evamum88 wrote: »

Hey Guys,
I'm fairly new to this site so please go easy on me lol.

I've been thinking of opening a drop in creche service in Dublin suburbs. There is none in the area I'm hoping to open it in. It would be pretty central near a big shopping centre and a few gyms which dont have a creche facility. I'm just wondering would there be enough demand for one? Would people use it? And how much would you be willing to pay? I was thinking a fiver an hour?

I myself have two young kids and I for one think if there was one around I would definately use it. I don't live near any friends or relatives that can just mind my kids while i do my shopping or go to the gym. It would be like a godsend for me.

What do you guys think?

Need to find out the demand before I jump in head first :eek:

Firstly the best of luck with pursuing this venture. Secondly may I suggest that you speak with a few mother an toddler groups in the area. Get Insurance quote etc, You probably already have done this also speak with magicmum.ie and get there feedback. Hope it goes well for you

evamum88

ooooh......... if the business is going well maybe I'll expand and do an overnight weekend service! haha...

And believe me you have no idea how hard it is with little kids...while I'm folding the pram and getting the baby into it the 3 yr old runs across the road! And when you have lots of things to do and loads of places to go to its very stressful. Also xmas shopping is very stressful when shopping centres are so busy, kids just scream in their buggys they don't like it at all... you get everything done so much quicker without dragging the kids along.

evamum88

Recessionbust wrote: »

Firstly the best of luck with pursuing this venture. Secondly may I suggest that you speak with a few mother an toddler groups in the area. Get Insurance quote etc, You probably already have done this also speak with magicmum.ie and get there feedback. Hope it goes well for you

Thanks Recessionbust! I havn't checked out the insurance yet but I would say it would be pretty high....I'll have to get some proper research done...:D

Recessionbust

evamum88 wrote: »

Recessionbust wrote: »

Firstly the best of luck with pursuing this venture. Secondly may I suggest that you speak with a few mother an toddler groups in the area. Get Insurance quote etc, You probably already have done this also speak with magicmum.ie and get there feedback. Hope it goes well for you

Thanks Recessionbust! I havn't checked out the insurance yet but I would say it would be pretty high....I'll have to get some proper research done...:D

No problem also recession busting mums on facebook are very supportive.

How Strange

It's a great idea in principle however you'd have to provide a certain amount of staff to cover x amount of babies, wobblers, toddlers so you're in compliance with hse regulations which are pretty rigid.

So regardless of whether its a busy day or a slow day you'd need to have enough staff there to care for the amount of children you'd hope to get. Also, if it's a drop-in then some children/babies might only be there for a couple of hours but you'd need to pay staff for the day in case other babies/children are dropped off later that day.

If you're primarily drop in then you won't know from day to day or week to week what your income is so you'd have fixed costs without fixed income. Perhaps you could be 50/50 regulars/drop-ins or even 70/30.

As I said, I think in principle it's a great idea but I'd ask about the feasibility from a business point of view. If it was a sure thing then the larger chains would already be doing it.

Anniebell

evamum88 wrote: »

Hey Guys,
I'm fairly new to this site so please go easy on me lol.

I've been thinking of opening a drop in creche service in Dublin suburbs. There is none in the area I'm hoping to open it in. It would be pretty central near a big shopping centre and a few gyms which dont have a creche facility. I'm just wondering would there be enough demand for one? Would people use it? And how much would you be willing to pay? I was thinking a fiver an hour?

I myself have two young kids and I for one think if there was one around I would definately use it. I don't live near any friends or relatives that can just mind my kids while i do my shopping or go to the gym. It would be like a godsend for me.

What do you guys think?

Need to find out the demand before I jump in head first :eek:

I think it's a great idea. You should get in touch with the HSE Preschool Services Dept & they'll have all the info you need re ratios/space requirements etc.

Lola92

Are you mainly thinking of this as a drop-in centre for families on a regular basis while doing the weekly shopping or for an hour or two in the mornings sort of thing?

Whilst it is an interesting idea that could potentially be successful I would have to say no, I don't think I would use a drop-in facility. Personally I would not leave my child in an environment that they that they were unfamiliar with and with people that I did not know. Normally in a creche the child gets an opportunity to go through a period of transition where they make several visits to the setting with their parent(s) to get to know the place and the staff and stay there for short periods of time built up over a couple of weeks. The chances are that this could be difficult in a drop-in setting.

Just a few things to consider in any case - to cover yourself in terms of ratio's you would need a minimum of two staff at all times to ensure the children are constantly supervised even throughout lunch breaks, running to the loo etc. as obviously there must be someone watching them constantly. Just going on the rate of minimum wage (8.65 per hour) you would need to have a minimum of four children per hour, every hour just to meet the cost of staff, before the cost of rent, rates, utilities and bills, insurance, equipment, admin costs and so on. Never mind being a profitable venture. Do you see this as being feasible long term?
Have you got experience in a formal childcare setting and are you familiar with the types of policies and procedures that you would need to have in place?
Have you looked into the necessary space required per child and ratio of staff to children in the pre-school regulations?

Just a couple of thinking points that might help you out if you havn't considered them already.

Pugins

Lola92 wrote: »

Personally I would not leave my child in an environment that they that they were unfamiliar with and with people that I did not know. Normally in a creche the child gets an opportunity to go through a period of transition where they make several visits to the setting with their parent(s) to get to know the place and the staff and stay there for short periods of time built up over a couple of weeks. The chances are that this could be difficult in a drop-in setting.

I completely agree with this. No way would I drop my children off for 30min/an hour to a random place where they are not familiar with carers or creche.

As a matter of interest there are Occasional Care Centres here in Melbourne which I think are great. Some council run daycare centres have a certain number of occasional care spots available.( Say 20% of capacity.) you have to go through
an orientation with your child/children so they are used to the staff and centre. After that you can book in when you need the daycare. You can only book max of 2 weeks in advance (this is designed to stop people block blooking spots and to ensure there is space for people who need care less frequently ). You can book anything from 1 hour to a day. It costs $11 an hour. I have used one and find them very useful.

evamum88

There is already a creche like this in the Dundrum centre and seems to be doing pretty well.......I'd assume to rent premises in the Dundrum Shopping centre would be fairly expensive so it must work?? They're charging 7.50 an hour...

Lola92

I think that that the reason the creche in Dundrum may do well is because it is in the actual shopping centre, the parents would perhaps feel more comfortable knowing junior is just a floor or two away at most and in the same building. Personally I still would not use it but that is a choice of mine. I think you might find that parents could be considerably more reluctant if their child was in another location completely.

yoda2001

I agree that a creche in a shopping centre is very useful. The one in the Blanchardstown Centre closed down. It wasn't very busy but that may have been due to the location - it was tucked away and poorly advertised. There were issues with the service in the end. I used to drop my daughter in there for an hour occasionally and she was very well treated. I really miss it. Rent in such a location would probably be high.

The creche in Ikea is also useful. They are really fussy about ratios. My little girl has a disability and I have to book ahead to make sure that enough staff are available. I could be wrong but I think she gets one to one care.

Unless you are somewhere with a good 'supply' of children, I think you will be providing a service rather than creating an income for yourself. I would love such a service in my area, particularly at weekends.

evamum88

yoda2001 wrote: »

I agree that a creche in a shopping centre is very useful. The one in the Blanchardstown Centre closed down. It wasn't very busy but that may have been due to the location - it was tucked away and poorly advertised. There were issues with the service in the end.

Ye I know about the creche in Blanchardstown closing down but does anyone know why exactly it closed down?...What do you mean by "there were issues with the service"?

evamum88

Pugins wrote: »

I completely agree with this. No way would I drop my children off for 30min/an hour to a random place where they are not familiar with carers or creche.

It just depends on the kids though, I know mine would enjoy playtime with other kids a lot more than being dragged around shops. But that's probably because mine were never clingy and they never made strange with anyone I left them with. I suppose it just depends on the parents and the kids

And as for the location I agree it would have to be fairly central..in the actual shopping centre or just outside it in the retail parts.

caprilicious

I think it'd be an excellent idea in a suitable location.

You could always organise sessional groups for times of the week when it is typically quiet in order to try get extra business.

If you haven't already, doing a Fetac course in childcare will be a must to run the service, but also very informative about the requirements for running such a service.

I recently completed my Level 6 advanced supervision in childcare & one of the assignments on the course was requirements for establishing a drop in service.

Best of luck with the venture if you go ahead with it They used to run one in Swords where JC Savages & Dunnes are. I remember my mum dropping us into it as a kid & loving it.
No doubt it must have given her a bit of peace to do her shopping.

Pugins

evamum88 wrote: »

It just depends on the kids



s.

Think it really depends on the parents. I would not leave my kids in a creche on such a casual basis ie I do not use creches in Ikea/shopping centres etc. (By the way my kids are not that clingy!). The OP is looking for feedback-I would not use a 'drop off' service for my children. But that is a personal preference. Clearly there may be a market for parents who would do this, given the posts here. Good luck if you decide to go ahead with this.

lynski

when my niece was young (16/17 yrs ago) there was tons of these place, but i think that was before regulations on ratios because i remember her regular one in tralee used to be a sea of children so dense you could hardly walk through it.
There was defo one in stephens green shopping center and in whitewater also, both closed. I think it is great, but the melbourne model sounds like a good one.
My sis has access to one in her gym/sports complex in uk. she has to book ahead, usually day before, and it seems to work for her.
i would use one but only if I had an orientation opportunity.

suzed

evamum88 wrote: »

Hey Guys,
I'm fairly new to this site so please go easy on me lol.

I've been thinking of opening a drop in creche service in Dublin suburbs. There is none in the area I'm hoping to open it in. It would be pretty central near a big shopping centre and a few gyms which dont have a creche facility. I'm just wondering would there be enough demand for one? Would people use it? And how much would you be willing to pay? I was thinking a fiver an hour?

I myself have two young kids and I for one think if there was one around I would definately use it. I don't live near any friends or relatives that can just mind my kids while i do my shopping or go to the gym. It would be like a godsend for me.

What do you guys think?

Need to find out the demand before I jump in head first :eek:

Hi Evamum88 I would love if there were a service like this in my area. Being a mum of a 2 1/2 year old and a 8 month, there are times where i could do with them being minded for a couple of hours here and there. i would be able tto get my shopping done in half the time, and i would love to have free time to go to the gym, and there are also times when i could do with just one of the children being minded whilst i take the other one to the doctors say. I am not from the area so its always a hassle to get someone i trust to look after the children whilst the OH is at work. I agree that I wouldn't just leave my children at a drop in creche with random people they don't know, so would like a couple of transitional periods just whilst they familiarise themselves, but once that was done I would definitely use the service on a regular basis.... Please tell me you are in the Blanchardstown area this service would be a godsend to me.. Best of luck :-)

xzanti

I've actually been looking for a place like this where I can drop my Son off for a few hours here and there without having to actually sign up for a Creche..

Great idea, best of luck with it..

Let us know if and where you do open it