In 2012, I decided to start a daycare myself, taking
SUNSHINE SMILES (Green Acres,Deonar) as the model. It was mainly to provide care and
companionship to my son. But I also wanted to start a business and this was
what I found most interesting at that time.
I put my details on the net and passed the word around. I
had an extra bedroom and that functioned as the daycare room. I got a good response in the first month
itself and my kid was thrilled to have companions through the day. I had to put
in a lot of effort though; I did the cooking- and I also took care of the kids
when the staff went home. But it was fun and I was able to implement a program
that went beyond just warehousing the kids. Most kids were happy to be with us
and we went on like that for a year. As the number of kids increased, I hired
more staff and also a part-time manager to help me.
After a year I moved the daycare to a separate premises. In
this location, I had my medical office and the inner part was for the children.
By this time, I had full-time, part-time staff, visiting teachers and
volunteers. As time went, I fine-tuned the system and schedule. The day care
was generally much appreciated by the kids, parents and staff.
After 5- 6 years my
medical practice took off and I became busier in it. Therefore, it became
difficult to maintain the personal involvement in the daycare. The daycare was
occupying the space I had actually purchased for my medical practice and now
with the expanded work I needed that space. The economics were also dismal and the kids
availing daycare were not in need of charity. My son stopped attending the
daycare and even that benefit to me was lost. So actually there remained no
good reason for me to remain in that business. The time had come when I had to
choose between my medical practice and the daycare business. And I chose my medical practice.
Cocoon Daycare is a lovely chapter in my life- full of happy
moments, love and learning.
POST- SCRIPT- I rue the fact that nobody was ready to buy my
business or run it for me. I know why that is so- the day-care I set up was a
gross loss making enterprise because I never accounted for the cost of the
premises which is the main investment. The money I made was exactly equal to
the market rent plus cost of running (in fact fell short in some months). If I
gave it to anyone else, I would have to charge that cost as well and then the
whole system would become unsustainable. I am sad to note that this is the fate
of most daycare centres in places with high real estate prices and cheap labour
availability- and the kids of Parle cannot expect a decent daycare facility
despite being born of educated, financially comfortable parents. The most
feasible system here is to hire a reliable person to take care of the kids at
home itself.
