Why women should do something more than just being a home maker?

Yesterday I was traveling back in train from Kerala to Chennai. A middle aged lady boarded from Erode. I was half asleep in the cozy AC compartment. My kids were also sleeping. So I hardly noticed the lady in a pale yellow cotton saree.

Later on, the TTE came in to check for her tickets. She did have the ticket but she did not have the id proof. She had a  copy of Aadhar card though. TTE was not happy with her id proof and asked her to move to general compartment.

With the disturbance I woke up and saw her getting ready to move to the general compartment. I asked her what the matter is. She said:"I am traveling to Chennai as my daughter is not well. My son-in-law booked the tickets. But since it was in a hurry I did not take any id proof. And this is the first time that I am traveling alone and I thought the photo copy would be good enough."


I felt that something wrong is happening with her. She had that twinkle in her eyes, her shiny nose ring was complimenting her solid black complexion. I felt that she is saying the truth. Why even with a proper ticket and a decent id proof, TTE is asking her to move to general compartment.

To help her out, I went through her ticket and id proof, it was all real. Then why is she moving to the general coach? I asked her to wait. Let us wait for TTE to come back and clarify. I saw the helplessness in her face. I thought for a moment, it could happen to my mom as well.

I wondered, what exactly happened to her?

And then we started talking. She was talking about her life. She did a course in nutrition in the year 1985. Since the government was supporting nurtition related projects she got a very good job and worked for 4 years. But then she got married to a businessman and had kids. Bringing up kids took up the highest priority, so resigned from job and became a full time home maker.

She has 3 kids- 2 sons and a daughter. One son is an electronic engineer and the other one works with Amazon. Daughter is married of and she has a son. Daughter has done her clinical assistant course (something related to hospital, I did not get this completely) and worked with a renowned hospital for 5 years. But after kid, for the last one year she is not working.

She said she keeps advising her daughter: "Get back to job or else you will be like me."

She then added: "If I was with the service I would have been in a great post by now. Look at me now, I can't even speak in English. I don't know how to travel alone. I don't want the same to happen with my daughter."

She kept saying:" I even feel why should girls be taught such professional courses? To sit at home? Husbands feel that we want to work to make some money. It is not money that we look for in a job. It is just the pleasure of doing something more. The independence. To have a small world for ourselves that gives us fullfillment."

She is now in her late 50s or early 60s. She very frustratingly told that her husband keeps asking her: "What have you done so far with life? Other than bringing up kids. Why you don't know anything about the world?"


I just felt may be my life would be similar to her's after 15 more years if I don't do anything now - Low on confidence, scared to talk even if I am right, always dependent on somebody and easy target to blame for everything.

I really want to be the best of me! And ready to do whatever it takes!

Why women should do something more than just being a home maker?

I always feel, being born as a girl gives us equal opportunity to do anything like men. But when we have kids, our brain stops working and heart takes over. Which is very natural. And it should be that way too. Kids are the future. And nobody can replace mother to give them the best upbringing. 

Having said all these, I feel there should be something more than this. Just imagine that your kids have all grown up and started a family of their own. Except for yearly visits, you don't even get to meet them. Husbands will as usual be busy with their job, business or whatever. 

I as a woman foresee such a future; With lots of time, but no creative work. Low confidence and having no idea of where life is heading. Mega serials, spiritual books, illnesses will become best friends as we don't know what to do with so much of time. 

I really feel that to avoid such a future, I have to start doing something now. It could be big or small. It could happen hand in hand with household chores. But I can slowly keep working on it, so that my mind is always positive and happy till I die. 

By the way, to end the story, TTE came again but we (other co passengers) stood with her and she did not move to the general coach. 

How to start a private security guard business

Last year March we moved from our flat to another one within the community. I went to my neighbour’s place to inform her that we are moving. My neighbour is a teacher in a girls’ school nearby.

While talking I told her ‘you are so lucky to be in the teaching field. You will get respect from everybody you meet.’ But her reply was ‘yes I do get lot of respect, but money is very low. My sister is in Mumbai and she is running a security guard business from home. She is earning more money than anyone else in the family.’ I was dumbstruck!

That was the first time that I heard about such a business. Yes, I have seen security guys with their uniform displaying company name before. But, I never thought that this is a business opportunity. Especially for ladies like me and you!

I always wanted to make it big in my life and was seeking for the best opportunity. So I asked her more details about how to run a private security agency.  

How to start a security guard providing agency?

Her answer was very simple. ‘Find a bunch of people who are ready to work as security personnels. Just manage them.  And this can be done from home.’ I became more inquisitive. But the time was running short, so I parked my research on the web.

What I learnt about security industry is that it is a growing sector - over 20% year on year. More and more people are hiring security for better safety - be it an independent house, an independent building, your corporate office or a shopping mall. A company that provides reliable, security guys are very much in demand these days.

So, how to get started with security guard services?

To start a security agency, you don’t need any prior requirement. If you know of a set of people looking for job (even two persons is good enough to start off) you can apply for a license for the same.

How to apply for a license for a security provider business?

To start of a security business legally, you need permission from the law and order department of the state. You need to obtain a license for the same.

There is an Act passed in the year of 2005, Private Security Agencies Regulations Act, 2005(PSAR) and all registered security business should get license from them.You can apply for the license with the local PSAR  governing body. It could be the local police station or home affairs department of the state you wish to start the agency.

The License is available in 3 possible ways -

(1) as license to run business in just one district, (approx. Rs.5000)
(2) as license to run business in 2-5 districts (approx. Rs.10000)
(3) as license to run business in the whole state.(approx. Rs.25000)

Please be ready to visit the local police station if you wish to get started with this money spinning business. Also do check out the regulations in your state before you get ready with the paper work.

The details of formalities for different states are available on the web:

1. Mumbai
2. Delhi
3. Tamil Nadu
4. Rajasthan
5. Haryana
6. Karnataka
7. Orissa
8. Uttar Pradesh
9. Kerala
10. Punjab

Please refer the web for other states..

But how to find security guard candidates?

Yes, it always looks easier to talk than actually do it. Of course you may find a couple or peoplew ho are ready to work as security guards. But if you want to really make it a big business, you need to have more employees. You can post ads in local newspapers, yellowpages or Just Dial.

You can also look at the option of getting into your network or friends' network to find ex-service men who are willing to work with you. Just ensure that the security candidate qualify the following criteria:

1. be ready to work round the clock and different shifts
2. be healthy and well built
3. is looking for a job
4. has no criminal background
5. good conduct

Once you feel this guy is suitable, do a background check on him. Collect his id card and contact details-address and phone number. Do maintain a couple of copies of the documents he provides.

You can give them rigorous training. This includes punctuality, managing legible visitors list, maintenance people, unauthorised visitors, regularly checking the premises, identifying suspects etc.

Nowadays security is incomplete with CCTV survellaince, x-ray scanning and metal detections. If possible, look for ways to train them with these state of art security tools. 

PSAR Act puts it mandatory that every security personnel should attend 160 hours of training - 100 hours of classroom training and 60 hours of on-the-job training.

How much should you pay a security guard?

The average salary of a security guard is 1.1 Lakhs per annum across India. The salary actually varies on the location and risk involved. 

The security guards are eligible for bonus and insurance coverage. If there is more than 20 employees in your agency you have to contribute for their PF as well. 

You can also check out more details on websites of industry biggies like SIS and G4S security services. 

What are the risks with a Private Security Service company?

Security business is a very sensitive business and involves interaction with law and order authorities of that place.

In case of some crime happening, you need to sort it out with the local police. Similarly, if the back ground check of that person is not done properly and if he ends up in any trouble, it will affect the reputation of your service.

If a theft or burglary happens, you will be responsible for sorting out the issue with the people involved.

Moreover, please note that a security guard is eligible for 1.8 weeks of annual leave. So you need to have sufficient number of employees to provide uninterrupted service for your clients. Also this is a field where there is not much growth for the employees, so retention rate in the industry is very low and you have to really be innovative to retain your best employees. 

To know further about the Private Security Industry in India, more details are available at FICCI.

Get started!

This is a business which requires lot of management skills. But the effort will pay off manifold eventually. Security Business is indeed a money spinning business if started with utmost care and implemented in perfection. You provide employment for many people who are in BPL and are unskilled otherwise. What a better way to boost the Indian economy?

The private security guard service is a 40,000 crore industry according to the recent estimates. An industry that is experiencing a growth of over 20% year on year even in economic downtimes. If there is a business woman in you, you see this as a perfect opportunity. Go ahead. Let's get started and make it big! Start living life Queen Size!

How to make Jewellery at home?

Recently, I met Srijita, a college going girl who is fond of making jewellery. She is making her pocket money from it. The pocket money is now more than a regular income and she is planning to get into real business after the graduation.  When I observed her closely, I felt that even you and I too can make a profession out of this hobby.  Do you feel the same?

So, how to get started with Jewellery making as a hobby? 

To start off as a hobby, first you need to understand what all types of jewellery making you can do at home. Here is the list of hand-made jewellery ideas that you can try:

1. Paper quilling: For paper quilled jewellery you need quilling paper (you will get all the bright colours), a quilling tool and some glue. Fold the quilling paper in desired way and glue it up to remain in tact. It is the new trend and you can find a number of tutorials online. This can hook you for a good time. The designs are often unique and intricate, thus giving each artifact its own identity.
2. Terracotta: Terracotta or clay jewellery is one which involves making jewellery shapes in clay. You have to then fire it to make it strong. Once cooled down, paint it and let it dry. Terracotta is a time consuming jewellery making. But the end product is worth the effort
3. Beaded Jewellery: Beaded jewellery is the one which involves a lot of beads. You will need a beading sting, beads, nose pliers and hooks for the finishing of the jewellery.
4. Crochet Jewellery: To start off with crochet jewellery, you need the yarn and a crochet needle. Use your amazing artistic talents to come up with intricate crochet designs. Crochet designs are internationally appreciated.
5. Kundan Jewellery: Kundan jewellery is one of the oldest jewellery forms in India that orgiginated in Rajasthan. It involves specially cut stones.
6. Silver Jewellery: Making sterling silver jewellery requires a bit of craftmanship. You need specialised tools and you have to follow specific methods. Silver jewellery is always in demand and it is best if you master the art.
7. Semi precious stone Jewellery:This involves usage of semi precious stones on to wires. This required you to handle the stones with care to avoid the breakage while making the artifact.

Well, that was all about the types of jewellery that you can try at home. Yeah I know, yet you dont know how to go about it right?

Still wondering where to start?

Do you already know of any person who makes any of the jewellery that i have listed above? If you do, you can call her up and meet her in person. This will help you to understand the whole jewellery making process in detail. You can learn from her how she started. And later on whenever you come across a hurdle, you can consult her.

For me, a relative of mine is doing some paper quilling jewellery. Last week I met her and she was kind enough to show me how each piece is made. From her I learned, how to hold the paper, how to apply glue and how to get good finishing for the ear ring (She showed me how to make a jhumka paper quilled ear ring).

Similarly, you too should never hesitate to grab any opportunity that comes in your way. 

If you don’t know anyone in person but want to get started off with making jewellery at home, there are still many ways. You can look for good teachers nearby. I find Just Dial very useful in this regard. Just call up JustDial and ask for jewellery making classes in your locality. And once you get the contact, you can call up each for the class details. Before you call up the specific teacher, have a fair idea of what sort of jewellery making you want to learn, say paper quelling.

Often, there are many jewellery making workshops conducted in selected cities. Here in Chennai, the newspaper always shows off some jewellery making workshop happening.

If none of this is working out for you, you can always go for online tutorials. I find youtube videos as the best teacher to get started. You will find many tutorials explaining the basics of each type of jewellery making there. In my opinion, Etsy is a very good website on jewellery making. I would like to tell you to be ready with the required materials and tools, for you to try them out on your own. And yeah it is shopping time now!

Where to buy the required items from?

What sort of jewellery did interest you – paper quelling, bead work or terracotta? Depending on your likeness you can search for artificial jewellery making material in your nearest market. You can also use Just Dial, Quikr and other Internet databases to get the contact details of shops. If you know of anyone already making jewellery from home, (or found a good teacher), she can guide you better.

Jewellery making kits are also available from online shops. Following is the list of shops that provides the same:

1. eBay
2. Craft Gully
3. Beads n Fashion

So now you know where to buy the materials from. But wondering what to make?

What jewellery item should you start with?

Each piece of jewellery that you are going to make is unique and custom made. Depending on your comfort you may choose what sort of jewellery you want to make. To start off, ear rings are the easiest of all.

1. Earrings: - You just need to make an identical pair of artifacts. Normally it is simple and doesn’t need much skill in comparison to a stunning neck piece.
2. Rings : - Rings are also easy to make. Just ensure that it fit your size if you are making for yourself. Otherwise make it adjustable so that it will fit any finger.
3. Bracelets:- Bracelets are loved by youth. It is the jewellery suiting both Indian and western wear equally. Just measure your wrist length and make it a little bit hanging.
4. Anklets:- Anklet is worn in one leg as a trend and so it is as easy as making a bracelet. Compared to bracelets anklets are less chunky and simple. 
5. Neckpiece: Neck pieces are the ones that usually show off your designing skills. Just stick to standard neck lengths while making a neck piece.
6. Pendant: You can make a pendant and just buy a silver or gold plated chain to hang it. Pendants are easy and usually making one doesn’t take much time.

Sounds pretty impressing right? Once you get the hang of jewellery making, you can group the jewelleries you made. For example you may make a pendant earring set, or a neckpiece, earring and finger ring set. 

So that is all about getting started with jewellery making. You can wear your own handmade jewellery.  You can also gift it to your friends and family. Once you are confident of making jewellery for yourself and your work is appreciated by many, you can start off selling them.  And before selling, you should know about pricing.

 

How much should you charge for your handmade jewellery?

The cost of the jewellery that you made should definitely cover the manufacturing cost plus the cost for the effort that you have put in. You can actually double the making cost to come up with a decent pricing. Say you spent some Rs.50 to make a pair of ear ring, then you can price tag it as Rs.100. If the effort factor is more, you can willingly increase the pricing more, say Rs.200.  The price actually varies with the complexity of design, quality of the product and overall appearance. You can go for a discount offer of say, 10% to please the customers. 

Have some great name for your jewellery and start a facebook page by that name. Keep adding new designs as and when you create them. You can ask for pictures from your customers and post them on the FB page so that people will have a real life look on them. 

 

How to sell handmade jewellery?

Once you have the FB page you can ask all your friends to visit and appreciate the work. The work quality then spreads by word of mouth and you will get new customers as friends of friends and so on. As a cost effective, yet efficient method, you can WhatsApp your jewellery images to your friends . If it is your good friend she would definitely forward to her friends.

Grouping the jewellery into different categories will help you to get different class of customers. For example group light weight jewellery for kids, Office wears for working women, party wears for party lovers and regular wears for all. 

If that wasn’t enough, to get more customers you can,

1. Conduct a sale or exhibition: If you have enough of your hand made jewellery you can conduct a sale in your locality, Just announce of the sale thorough sms, whatsapp messages, emails, facebook pages and spread it through word of mouth. You can show them samples and take orders. If the sale is in connection with any festival the number of orders are likely to increase.
2. Talk to shopkeepers or wholesalers nearby: You can always approach shopkeepers or retailers if they are ready to sell your products. This can involve bargaining but after all your pricing will cover a good profit for yourself. Shopkeepers and wholesalers form a regular bulk customer. So never miss an opportunity to strike a good deal with them.
3. Sell Online: The online shops like craftvilla, flipkart and amazon allow reselling. Which means you need to register with them and start selling your jewellery there under your brand name. They will eat up a huge chink as commission, so you should keep in mind to fix the pricing to cover up that too.
4. Start your own Shop: If you are confident enough you can start a shop in the busiest part of the city. If that doesn't sound economical, you can go for an online store which is comparatively cheaper. 

Yes there are many channels to start selling your jewellery. Just get started with one and look for more ways. Every sale is incomplete with out a proper packaging. Moreover, you want your customers to return to you for more and more jewellery right?

 

Take care of Packaging:

People would like to have a good nice feeling when they buy something new. Go for an excellent packaging to impress the customers. That shows how much you respect your own effort.  Starting from a Ziploc to a jewellery box you can try out anything.

All of that sounds exciting right. But honestly everything new catches your attention and soon you might drift away from it. So you have to keep yourself motivated to be in the business.

 

So, how to keep yourself motivated?

Once you get going, you will start loving your work. You find yourself so busy that you may not find time for relaxing. Also comes the boredom of redundancy. To keep yourself motivated and wanting to do better and better try following these:

1. Try New Designs: You can keep your eyes and ears open for new designs.  Check out near by shops, online shops, jewellery designers blogs and any other way you can. Try replicating those designs and try to improve them by adding your own inputs.
2. Follow designer blogs: Most of the designers (be professional or people like you) are maintaining a blog of their designs and possibly a facebook page too. Keep following them for motivation. You can take inspiration from their designs and create something on your own.
   
3. Have some regular buyers: There will be a fanship following your designs. And you will be able to locate some regular buyers from that. You keep taking feedback from them to keep reinventing yourself.
4. Gear up for big events: Plan atleast a month before any major festivals so that you can make huge sales. Raksha Bandhan, Diwali can bring you lots of customers, so be ready with enough designs.
5. Catch up with the trends: You can catch up with the trending jewelleries by following bollywood divas, tv show hosts, news anchors  or anyone around you for that matter. Have an idea of how the jewellery world is evolving.  
6. Actively participate in online platforms: Follow blogs, forums, websites, facebook pages, twitter accounts of jewellery designers and actively participate in conversations.
7. Increase your skill set: Make a habit to increase your skill set every six months. For example you are now an expert in paper quilling jewellery. You can learn a new form say terracotta and become an expert in that too.
8. Give back to the society: Remember how you struggled in your initial days. Back then, you did not know where to start, how to get along and where to buy the materials etc. Someone is there looking for help and you can guide them to learn jewellery making.

Jewellery making is a new hobby and everyone wants to try hands on them. You can make jewellery for yourself, your best friend, or your daughter. Hand made things always come with a special personal touch. Thus it is the perfect item to gift your near and dear ones. You can get started with jewellery making as a pass time and if interested, soon make it to your full-fledged business. Give it a shot and you will be happy thereon.

How to get started with tuitions at home?

School syllabuses are turning tougher and deeper with every academic year. The average I.Q. of the students is also increasing. The attention spans of kids are decreasing and they want to learn things quickly. Every mom of this generation finds it difficult to teach their kids by themselves. Instead, they prefer to resort to experts in teaching. They assign different tutors for different subjects so that the kids receive the best of everything and be ready to face the competition. What's more, kids seem to listen better to someone outside the family than their own mom.  

Earlier, home makers were the people who were not good with studies and preferred to manage the household duties. Things have changed now and most of the home makers are graduates or post graduates who quit their high paying jobs to manage family. Each of you have a favourite subject and teaching someone the same will be no effort. Why not brush up your knowledge and put it for some use to the society rather than wasting it? You can earn some decent money if you can spare a bit of your quality time for taking tuitions.  

How to get started with tuitions at home?

Before you get started with something, a good amount of ground work is required. Similar is the case with tuitions. First of all you have to shortlist the subjects you are confident to teach. If you have a maths and science background, pick those up. Else if you are good with languages, pick up English, Hindi, foreign languages or your mother tongue. Similarly, if you are good with programming it will be easy to teach computers for students. If you are really confident with your subject, you can think of guiding undergraduate or research students through home tuitions.

Once you have shortlisted the subjects, collect the concerned syllabus and textbooks of the students from various classes. This will be easy as your friends will be happy to share their kids’ books with you. Go through them in detail and decide on the level you are confident to teach. Teaching kids of different levels require different methods. So try to stick to one level of students – be primary, upper primary or high school. Try to secure a copy of the study materials of those classes, as you will need to refer it frequently once you get started with the tuitions.

Also, browse through the school calendar to have a fair idea of the school holidays and exam seasons. Build a strategy that tells you how to cover the entire syllabus in advance with ease. Ensure to include in the plan the portions to be covered in each month and specifically each week. This way you can be ready with all the materials you need for every week. This will help you to analyse how many days in a week you need to devote for teaching a set of students. Moreover, this will help you to work out a strategy for assessing the kids.

Chalk out the days and timing from your calendar that can be utilised for tuitions. Check if you can work on holidays as well. Remember to fix on a timing that does not disturb other members in the family.  This way all your commitments are responsibilities will be unaffected. You can be ready with little bit of stationery as well ahead of commencing the tuition service.

Once you have geared up for taking tuitions you can look for the fees to be charged. You can enquire this with moms who are sending their kids for tuitions already. Alternatively, you can talk to other tuition teachers in your locality. When you are ready with all these ground work, you can start advertising. Talk to your friends and relatives in your neighbourhood. Even if you get only a couple of kids initially, launch your service and dedicate yourself to help them succeed. Usually the success rate of the students acts as a self booster to get more kids.

5 Tips to make tuitions interesting for kids

It is not easy to retain the interest of kids while teaching them. Here are some tips that could help you to make the tuitions interesting for the students:

• Show videos explaining the subject – With the advent of internet you get detailed explanation of everything in a matter of few seconds. You can show videos or experiments that will embed the concept quite fast into the little brains. Pictures speak more than thousand words and videos speak more than a zillion pictures.
• Teach them shortcuts to remember stuff – Quite often kids tend to mug up half of the things that they don’t understand. And during exams they forget a good amount of that. You can teach them better ways to memorise like coining the first letters of the words, relating dates and ideas to familiar stuff etc.
• Take regular harmless assessments - Surprise them with funny tests to assess the knowledge gained. Please take care not to put it as a burden on them as they are already suffering a lot in the name of assessments from school. You can do this by conducting modern assessment techniques like multiple choice questions or drawing graphs or charts, or even writing a related story.
• Assignments to improve the depth of knowledge- Give minor assignments to gain more depth in the knowledge of the subject without affecting their study curriculum. Try to make it interesting by giving them freedom to choose from a set of assignments. This way you can keep them hooked to the subject and improve their likeness towards the same.
• Be their friend – Never impose learning on any kid. Rather than scolding, try to understand the problem that hinders him from excelling. Be a friend to kids and they will enjoy learning then. They will start sharing their little happiness and sorrows with you if they see a good friend in you.

This way kids will enjoy coming to your home for tuitions. To see how far you have succeeded in teaching the kid, you have to track the progress of the kid on a regular basis. In a short span you can understand the strength and weakness of each kid. You can help them to get over their weakness and build more on their strength. This will boost the confidence of the kid as well. You might have to provide different approach to different students based on their skill set.  You can take feedback on your teaching strategy from the kids as well as the parents. That way you can keep improving yourself and a make a mark with your life.

More than a mere time pass or a way to earn some money from home; aim at educating the kid as the prime motive. Help them have an in-depth knowledge in the subject and earn good marks, thus pleasing the parents as well. Make the teaching as interesting as possible, so that studying is not a burden but a blessing and enables the kid to explore more on the subject. How good it will be if the kid succeeds in life and remembers you as the best teacher in his life!

How to start a day care business at home?

“Managing my kid is such a headache. How can anyone manage many like him together?” Often a home maker steps away from venturing into starting a day care because of this inability. But factually, kids are full of energy and if you can divert this stupendous energy into something engaging, there can’t be anything better than operating a crèche. The fun and laughter filled atmosphere that they bring in is incomparable with other happiness in life. And the best part is that you can start off your day care centre right from your home.

Why is day care an ideal business opportunity for women at home?

Many working couple find managing kids as the biggest pain than the stress at work. If things are not fine at home, how can someone focus on his or her career goals? The frequent disturbing thoughts like is he eating properly, or has he taken his nap, is he all safe at home, is he throwing tantrums, etc keep haunting a dutiful parent.  Every such working parent yearns to have someone trustworthy to look after the kid. Some are lucky enough to have a dedicated maid to take care of their little ones. Yet when they don’t turn up one fine day, things go for a toss. A permanent solution to take care of kids is to put them in a crèche.

A crèche or day care centre allows a child to explore a world different from his home. Having peers to mingle with can make him socially active. Such an environment helps him to grow in a more rewarding manner.  And the parents too can focus on their career. Any home maker can utilise someone’s weakness in bringing up a kid to her benefit by opening up a day care centre at home.  The warmth and love that you shower on the kids return to you in multiples. And you will find this as better pass time than trying to take a nap or watching a cookery show on television.  So what all exactly do you need other than home to start your day care?

Setting up a day care at home

Before you go ahead with turning your home into a day care you should have a proper plan and vision about it. You should have a fair idea of the total required space that can be utilised for your crèche. For that, you should know in advance how many kids you can accommodate and the preferred age group that you can handle. Apart from the space, you should provide a child friendly environment to make the most out of your day care. By child friendly it means to have a safe, entertaining atmosphere. To get an exact idea of running a crèche, you can visit an adjacent day care centre.  

Child safe environment: A child safe environment allows the kid to be a free spirit without hurting himself in anyway. Ensure that all the outdoor exits like doors, windows and balconies are properly locked during the operating hours of the crèche. This ascertains that the kid cannot go out of the centre without your permission. All the sharp, heavy objects needs to be covered up or moved to another location away from the kids. If your budget allows, you can cushion the floor with colourful mats. To ensure the safety of the kid, you should limit the dropping and picking of kids at the door of the day care centre and that too only to authorised persons.

Entertaining and Engaging kids: Depending on the age group of the kids, you can plan for different ways to entertain them, the more creative your ideas are, the better. Most of the kids do enjoy drawing or painting and you can keep them occupied with a set of pencils, papers and crayons. Yet another way to entertain kids is to dance with them. Put some moderately loud music and get them follow your steps. If you practise yoga you can engage the kids by letting them follow some easy postures. You can invoke the inherent inquisitiveness in kids by showing them simple science experiments like why plastic floats and stone sinks in water.   

Having a mini garden where kids can grow their plants will make them understand how plant grows. You can enhance their creativity by teaching them some hobby ideas like paper crafts or stitching. If the kids are school going ones, you can help them finish their homework and revise the curriculum at school. You can read out stories or play puzzles and games to entertain them. Internet has opened up a vast window to teach kids whatever they are curious about. Shortlist good videos and let them enjoy. And as a surprise you can play Tom and Jerry cartoons once in a while to let them laugh their heart out.

Food and water: Kids tend to be more hungry when at a place other than own home. While planning for the crèche, have a proper menu in mind to feed the little ones. Ensure that the food is healthy and hygienic. Providing something that everyone is fond of is a better solution. Also water or fruit juices can keep the energy level high. You can limit giving junk food to the kids to special occasions like a birthday celebration or some festival etc.

Toilet: After the hunger and thirst, then comes the toilet. You will find kids making frequent trips to toilet. In your crèche plan have a proper solution for accommodating this need. If you are planning to accommodate more than 4-5 kids you will definitely need more than one toilet and possibly a helper to attend them.

Timing: You should know what time of the day is convenient for you to conduct the day care at home. The timing should be such that your free hours at home is utilised for this and not bothering the rest of the members of the family. Fix the timing so that it is easy for the kids to attend too. Inform your kith and kin in advance of the timing so that they never end up complaining about your unavailability later.   

Fees: Have a fair idea of the running expenses of the crèche and make a fee structure per kid. The fees should cover the operating cost and fetch you some pocket money. If you are still ambiguous about how to setup the fee, just enquire at the nearby day care centres. Also you can look around for the affordability of parents so that the fee that you are charging is not too high either.

Managing worst case scenarios: Your plan should accommodate the worst case scenarios like managing with an emergency. If at all a kid gets hurt or if suffering from some injury, be ready to rush him to the nearest paediatrician. Have some emergency cash ready in case you have to take him to a hospital.  Also you should be strict about not allowing an unwell kid to attend the crèche till he is alright, thus saving other kids. Once the crèche time is over and if nobody turns up to pick the kid, you should have a provision to temporarily extend his timing. Also sometimes you may have to suspend the crèche; for example if you fall sick or you are travelling to your native or you have some guests at home. Talk to the parents’ in advance about any such possible holiday.

Advertising: Once the setting up is done and things are in place you can advertise to get kids. Word of mouth, attaching pamphlets with newspaper with the help of newspaper boy or JustDial can be tried depending on your budget. You can also put up a notice at the nearby preschool after talking to the school authorities.

Why setting up a day care centre is easier than you imagine

Every woman is naturally gifted to take care of kids. And if you are a mom, definitely you have mastered the art of managing kids. This inborn talent can be put to use by setting up a day care centre at your own home. To set up a day care, no prior experience is required but Montessori training can be an added benefit. Kids demand warmth and love from their care takers. And to be successful, you just need to be their good friend and guide. Once you are up and running you can think of scaling up your crèche to a hobby class or a preschool according to your preferences.You can find a decent name for it and invest more money in it to make it more professional.

Many working women prefer to put their kids in crèche as it allows the parents to continue building their career without compromising on the upbringing up of their kids. The kids enjoy their time there as they are occupied with some activity or other and having friends to play with make them socially active. Indeed, it will be very happy for the parents to receive a happy kid back home after a tedious working day!