A day care centre. Safaricom and Craft Silicon are some of the companies that have established the facilities for their staff. Photo/FREDRICK ONYANGO
As changing employment trends drive Kenyan parents to work longer hours, entrepreneurs and companies are investing more in day care centres to meet demand for specialised child care services.
Over the last three years, more day care centres catering for children too young to be enrolled in kindergartens have sprouted in urban centres.
Emerging residential estates are now factoring day care centres in their plans, and a growing number of corporate firms have invested in the facilities in a bid to reduce worries of working mothers and boost their productivity at the work place.
Safaricom and Craft Silicon are some of the companies that have established day care centres for their staff.
Standard Chartered Bank is the latest to adopt the trend, with plans to set up a day care centre at its new headquarters.
“As the number of two-income households increase, more people are relying on day care centres to look after their children as they go about their daily tasks,” said David Mirito, a house help bureau manager.
Driving the shift is the emergence of new labour laws on the hiring of house maids.
Analysts say more domestic workers are becoming savvy about employment laws such as minimum wage, health care cover, and other allowances — leading to higher costs of maintaining them.
Day care centres are also capitalising on parents wary of rising insecurity in light of a surge in kidnappings and child theft.
The rising number of single parents in the contemporary society has also served to significantly spur demand for day care centres.
“Most of my clients are single parents who are forced to work and earn a living,” explains Milka Malesi, a home-based day care facility manager in Ruaka Estate, Nairobi.
A survey by Business Daily revealed a proliferation of day care centres in many estates, attributed to rising demand.
“Demand is overwhelming. I am in the process of acquiring a loan from the Women Enterprise Fund to hire bigger premises to cope with demand,” said Ms Malesi.
The dawn of the free primary education programme, coupled with changing faces of the domestic worker, have also robbed house help bureaus of a ready supply of personnel to drive the “home managers” industry.
This has further helped cut a new niche market for day care centres, offering a new opportunity for business even as the exigencies of modern life dictate that parents wean their babies as early as possible to allow them go back to work.
As a result, specialist schools offering day care services —previously unheard of in Kenya — have sprung up in estates in response to this demand, charging an average Sh30,000 per term to look after children who are too young to be in kindergarten.
According to Susan Mwangi, a day care centre operator based in Runda Estate, profitable day care centres are much more than glorified baby-sitting services.
“Today’s mothers demand structured pre-school education and learning stimulation,” said Ms Mwangi.
There are investment opportunities for speciality day care services such as drop-in care, 24 hour day care, vacation care, sick day care, and day care for children with special needs, she said.
“Day care business owners now have the opportunity to curve out a niche for themselves by providing unique services, making this aspect of child care very profitable,” said Ms Mwangi.
Researchers say the most important period in a child’s development is between one to six years.
In response, early child hood education centres — commonly known as kindergartens — are also positioning themselves to tap into this market by setting aside special premises for day care centres.
Setting up a day care centre in Kenya can be surprisingly easy.
There are no enforced guidelines or policy governing the sector, so entrepreneurs are often free to set up the facilities according to their own guidelines.
Start small
“Starting small is the best way to venture into the day care business. Build your reputation to earn trust from more mothers who will recommend your centre to their peers,” said Ms Malesi.
For some parents, the idea of sending their children to the facilities to be cared for by strangers fills them with dread, hence recommendation by a peer makes it a lot easier for them.
Recommendations from parents raises awareness for most child care centres since most parents would rather hear a testimonial from a fellow parent than trust other forms of advertising. Offering transport services also boosts enrolment.
A background in child care or early childhood education is a good foundation for day care business ownership.
In addition, if you love and enjoy being around children and have a loving, nurturing, and creative, spirit, you should perhaps try setting up such an enterprise.
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