Degree of difficulty – 4 (on a scale of 1 to 5).

The volume of primary investments – from 400 thousand to 2 000 thousand USD

A license is needed; However, there are private gardens that operate without a license.

Specialization: according to the age of the children (but there may be different age groups), the length of stay of children during the day (but in one garden there may be groups of different duration), the presence of inclusive groups, methods of upbringing and early development.

Business franchise: possible and recommended.

This business is combined with: the organization of children’s parties; an agency for the selection of domestic staff, a thematic and general education school, a children’s shop; rental of toys and children’s goods; children’s or family club (including the management of pregnant women, childbirth, postpartum patronage, thematic classes with parents and baby from birth). BUT: The accompanying forms of business should not be located in the kindergarten (according to licensing requirements).

The payback period is from 2 to 5 years.

The time to break-even point: up to 1-1,5 years from the moment of opening.

The payback period and the break-even point are given taking into account that the project has an individual, high-quality business plan.

Private kindergartens – not a novelty in large cities. Their main advantages are: availability of free places (!), Small groups, good conditions for the child’s stay and nutrition, his safety, quality new toys, early development of children, individual attitude.

• I. Is there a “game of candles”?

It is worth it if you love children.

There are several reasons why it is interesting to open this type of business right now.

1 – high demand for this type of service.

The problem of lack of places in kindergartens began 20 years ago, but has not been solved yet. And since 2010, pre-school education from the senior preschool age (from 5 years) has become a legislative requirement. Despite this, only 72% of children of 5 years of age visit kindergartens (data of the State Statistics Committee at the beginning of 2018).

The electronic queue, created in 2011, did not solve the problem: since the greater part of the “standing” children in it have privileges and are enrolled unplanned.

2 – age features of business.

In state gardens children are accepted only from the age of 2 years (and half of them – even later, with 3). That is, getting into the garden of a child between the ages of 2 and 3 is twice as difficult as the three-year plan (and in the middle of the year they do not take it – the groups are already staffed – parents have to wait until next September).

At an even earlier age, it is impossible to get into the garden, even with a large sum of so-called “charitable” entrance fees. Private gardens are also rarely and with caution take children under 2 years old. More often they specialize in preparing for school – and hence the age category of 3 years and older.

It follows that the niche of early (nursery) age in Ukraine is practically not covered (primarily because entrepreneurs are unjustifiably “afraid to take” for such small children). But in neighboring Poland in the nursery they take from 1 year, some kindergartens – and from 6 months.

Of course, if a mother needs to go to work, as an alternative to a kindergarten, you can hire a nanny. But it’s worth more, the risk is more, finding the right person is many times more difficult, and often the child himself needs variety and communication with peers.

In Germany, for example, many families practice a mixed version: two days a week – a kindergarten, one day – a nurse with a pedagogical education, who looks after no more than 5 children, the other 2 days, they connect grandparents.

3 – state support.

The Ministry of Education and Science (MES) of Ukraine recently began encouraging the opening of private kindergartens and in every way to facilitate the simplification of procedures. So, the legislative base has been changed (for more details see Part II). On the website MON appeared a page explaining the main modern requirements for such institutions and step-by-step actions on the way to opening a private garden (https://mon.gov.ua/ua/osvita/doshkilna-osvita/yak-vidkriti-privatnij-dityachij-sadok) .

The MES plans to open more than 3,000 places for children in private kindergartens throughout 2018-2019.

The degree of freedom for educators has been increased: now they can develop a program (on the basis of a model one) and, having approved it at the pedagogical council of their institution, use it in their work. The work plan of the garden now does not require coordination with the management of education.

The Law of Ukraine “On Education” (from 05.09.2017) provides the principle of “money goes to the child”, which will be introduced in 2019. This principle presupposes the financing of private licensed preschool institutions on an equal basis with state ones.

4 – increasing the requirements of parents of preschool children to the conditions of children’s stay in kindergarten.

On the part of parents, there is growing awareness that the existence of a license in a private garden is not a mere formality, but a guarantee of state control over the institution and a measure of the responsibility of employees for the life and health of children.

In the state institutions of parents, despite the difficulties still passed through the procedure for entering the garden, the meager diet of food, the congestion of groups, the constant illnesses of children, the lack of control over activities, the obsessive patriotic upbringing, insufficient security and attention on the part of the staff are alarming.

• II. Volume and potential of the market

According to the website of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (mon.gov.ua), now (July 2018), the country has 14.9 thousand kindergartens, designed for 1.1 million places, which are visited by 1.3 million children. In state kindergartens there are always vacancies for educators – the work is hard, and the salary is one of the lowest in the industry.

The coverage of children by preschool education in the country as a whole – 57%, depends on the region (from 43% in Ivano-Frankivsk to 74% in the Sumy region), 1.5 times more in urban areas (66%) than in rural areas (41 %).

The official line in preschool institutions of the country is 46 898 children. Leading in it: the Odessa region (8,406 children), the city of Kiev (5,643 children) and the Dnipropetrovsk region (4,776 children); but in other regions the situation is not much better.

Private licensed kindergartens in the country are 189, of which in rural areas – only 13% (25 gardens) – official data of the State Statistics Committee at the beginning of 2018. It is interesting that their number in 2010-2015 decreased by more than 2 times: in 2010, there were 373 of them in 2013. – 205, in 2015 – already 177.

Released in 2016, the new Sanitary Regulations (order MLO of Ukraine from 24.03.2016 № 234), did not contribute, as expected, the exit of private preschool institutions from the “shadow” and the rush in the queue for a license, even for newly opened institutions did not happen. Although this document was allowed in the garden:

absence of the food unit (that is, the supply of ready meals is allowed – subject to a number of conditions);

lack of laundry;

lack of separate rooms for sleeping children.

This year (2018) is expected to release new, already approved in the final edition, State Building Regulations for pre-school institutions, which, together with the new building standards of “Planning and development of territories”, regulate the area of the territory and buildings of the kindergarten, its functional areas and many. other

Our company has already carried out a detailed analysis of all (both old and new) normative documents relating to kindergartens and has an optimal recipe for a modern startup in this direction.

Since a significant part of the market for private preschool educational institutions is in the “shadow”, it is not possible to estimate its real volume.

Non-licensed participants in the “shadow” market are hiding under the names: children’s (and / or family) center, the center for harmony of the child and parents, an educational project, a family complex, preschool classes, a home kindergarten, a mini-garden for children, a miracle garden and m. But at the same time, many quietly put on their websites the cost of a monthly payment for the stay of children in the garden for a full and incomplete day, their real work schedule.

Private kindergartens can be divided into types depending on the range of services:

private gardens “full cycle” work full day – from morning to night with the provision of a full range of services: food, education and education,

gardens “incomplete cycle” – for a short stay, where the “home” children go for development and training.

The first of them pay off more quickly. The second is easier to function under the mask of a “children’s club”.

The advantages of private kindergartens are: small groups – within 10-15 children, good food, reliable protection of premises and territory. If a private kindergarten is located far from home, parents can offer an additional service – transfer (children will pick up in the morning and deliver in the evenings).

In the “package” offers private gardens – learning foreign languages, communicating with a practicing psychologist, speech therapist, choreography, music, sports, etc.

Taking into account the possibility of state financing of private gardens, it is possible to realistically forecast a significant growth in the volume of the private preschool education market to 3-5 times in the next 10 years.

•  III. Scope of activities

On the average in 68 private places in the private garden, 54 children go. We draw your attention that the loading of gardens is given from the data of official state statistics. The actual load, according to our research, is almost 100% in the season and 50-70% in the summer months.

The licensed institution is not advisable to open for activity volume less than 60-80 children (depending on their age). Home kindergartens (without a license) take care of 10-15 children at the same time and are located more often in ordinary apartments of apartment houses.

The optimal volume of activity depends on the age of the children, the location of the garden, the area of the building and the local area.

• IV. Where is it better to open a kindergarten
  In the big cities. Our company in 2018 conducted an analysis of the distribution of existing private gardens in the regions of the country, which revealed significant unfilled niches. Details of this picture you can find out during an individual consultation.
• V. Portrait of a potential client
  A woman between the ages of 25 and 35 who lives in the area of the kindergarten’s location (up to 5 km radius) with 1 child, with a higher education, is employed in management and has a high or higher income in marriage.The decisive factor for choosing a private kindergarten for potential clients is a high level of services, which is defined by consumers as a set of values: individual attitude to the child, small groups; quality, modern repair and toys; a situation close to home; high-grade food; qualified staff.