Daycare/nursery

[justbrad]

Hi my partner and i will be moving back to thailand before the end of the year with our (then will be 6month old son) I would like to do a daycare or nursery for thai children and foreign alike..

Some advice please! Would it work, and what should I charge??

Thanks!

[jdinasia]

ummmm it COULD work .... but with live in help and the Thai thing for family involvement ...... I just don't see it.

[justbrad]

ummmm it COULD work .... but with live in help and the Thai thing for family involvement ...... I just don't see it.

Yeah i thought that, but what if i was to teach the kiddies english at the same time? 2 in 1...like a nursery school maybe 2-4hours a day.......?

[fxm88]

There's a day-care at the Fairtex Muay Thai complex in Pattaya, I think it's 400 baht per day.

http://www.muaythaifairtex.com/fairtexpattaya-nursery.html

http://www.fairtexpattaya.com/html/kid.html

Edited September 15, 2006 by fxm88

[Douggie Style]

well we usually end up taking the kids to one of those in store playgrounds for a few hours (one parent stays to watch) just to get a break. we find it invaluable and would use a similar service if confident of security, staff etc

there may be a similar target market amongst visitors/tourists, of course you would need to get your message to that target group.....

my partner (thai) has told me stories of thai nannys doing horrific things to kids from time to time, probably a media beat up but this may be a fear a few thais have so something to think about in your marketing.

could go well, best wishes

[think_too_mut]

Hi my partner and i will be moving back to thailand before the end of the year with our (then will be 6month old son) I would like to do a daycare or nursery for thai children and foreign alike..

Some advice please! Would it work, and what should I charge??

Thanks!

Are you a qualified kindergarten teacher? To set up a shop like that you would need more than good will - sorry, that's all that can be read from your post.

Unless you do it for your neigbours/relatives, I don't see it working. Don't know how many countries in the world would issue you an official license.

(How rigorous it may get: I remember 20 years back in Norway, a qualified, experienced, teacher married to a Norwegian, was denied jobs one after another. Finally, she was told that parents won't send her kids to a kindergarten where there is a teacher from countries where children get slapped. Not that she would do that but her "guilt" was her origin - place then called Yugoslavia).

[steveromagnino]

It could work very well.

Especially linked up with office tower, retail complex.

If you can offer a 'brand name' experience, people have the money to pay. e.g. All Season Place, think of how many mothers are in that complex; they CAN leave their kids with nannies etc, but are just as willing to leave their kids with the 'Gucci' of childcare and pay for it.

Anecdotal 'my Thai wife' 'my friend' 'my neighbour' and so in is a pretty small sample; it might or might not be true, and would need to stand up in market research of the market, but suffice to say the aura of respectability, quality care and some sort of trappings of luxury would be most likely to command top dollar. Incidentally this is totally off the cuff and I have no children so I may be well off base here in terms of current market demand and supply.

There is a story in the HBR about someone who did this in USA and made big money; check it out from maybe 3-4 years ago.

If you want to go downmarket, then I doubt you can compete against housemaids (live in help); non working mums (of which there are many) and so on. This is the same market as international schools, and there are enough of those.

The idea of teaching english, enlisting some progressive techniques and a few celeb kids is what would be needed. I actually do consult on projects a bit like this. PM me if you want or are curious abuot the more upmarket approach; I can think of two buildings off hand that would be interested.

Edited September 25, 2006 by steveromagnino