Rough cost of setting up a Day care/creche.

Guffy

I know there are regulations and guidelines that will have to be followed and a lot of work that will need to go into it but basically,

Coming into a little bit of cash soon, and I'm thinking of setting my wife up with a day care centre to run. She currently works in the sector.

Just a rough idea would be great if anyone could estimate from experience the initial outlay (ballpark) for say 50 children, we'd be based in Co. Galway (i know staffing levels vary on age and type of care provided).

walterking

A lot 😂

More seriously, there are a couple of sector organisations that would give you all the information you need.

Early childhood Ireland and the NCCA are two.

enricoh

More creches closing than opening as far as I can see. I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole personally.

poker--addict

there are various reports on google for Ireland which look at this in detail for the government. The limit of children per adult kills any margin.

mondeoman72

It's very tight and the new schemes are making things worse. I know of a service where they don't take babies as the ratio makes it uneconomical.

Add the sense of entitlement and parents being unreliable, it is a minefield. We are facing a period of hardship, so defaulting on bills will rise and needs to be managed closely

Somebody was overdue on payments and had the cheek to ask could they continue sending their kids

neris

Sorry I know im a month late on this.

Any where from 500K to over a million depending on various factors of which the main one will be the fit out of your premises. Fire safety systems, doors, internal glass, playground, electrics, a kitchen thats not short of a restaurant to meet food safety standards, ventilation & air con maybe needed aswell. Then theres the equipment you need to put into each care room, tables,chairs, toys, sinks, toilets maybe, cots, changing units, white goods. outdoor play equipment. And once youve gotten the building fitted out and ready to open you need to wait for Tusla to come out and give it an inspection and approval before you let a child in the door so you could have your 1 million euro plus building sitting empty till Tusla decide to make the time to come out. Any centre catering for less then 40 children is a loss maker and not worth while, bigger is better (but that has its own headaches). Staff come and go very quickly and staffing is a revolving door system and a major headache along with the red tape and bureaucracy of the likes of NCS, ECCE & now Core Funding.

Grumblemouse

The thing is with so many creches closing the demand is clearly there!

This is actually something I have been investigating. I'm wondering whether something like a 'family friendly' cafe would avoid a lot of the regulatory issues. Obviously it's a different offering if the kids are supervised by their own parents but there's certainly a lack of spaces to spend time with kids out of the house.

rob316

I'd imagine insurance is astronomical for this sector