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Beginner’s Guide on Starting a Daycare Business in Singapore

With the rising living costs, daycares are slowly becoming the norm in Singapore as most parents are both working to earn a living to support their families. You would say some would prefer a nanny over a daycare for their child. However, the costs of a nanny are higher as compared to that of a daycare. With the increasing need for daycares, starting a daycare business in Singapore is a really good idea. So, shall we get to the point? How do you start your very own daycare business in Singapore?

 

Daycare Business in Singapore: Home-based and Established Centers

First and foremost, you need to decide if you would want to start a home-based daycare business or an established daycare centre in Singapore. You can weigh the pros and cons before you decide.

For example, if it’s a home-based daycare, you would have around 1 to 4 caregivers, a small facility, and fewer children to care for. On the other hand, if you prefer an established daycare, you will need a lot of staff, a larger facility, and many more children. The benefits of starting a home-based daycare would include giving the children under your care home an environment. The closer teacher to child bond, the lower the tuition rates and, most importantly, better child-to-teacher ratios so the teachers can pay better attention to the children. The pros of an established daycare center are, they have a more structured schedule and a school-like environment. There are also greater opportunities to socialize between children and teachers through enrichment activities such as dancing or even foreign language classes.

No matter how great the pros are, there’s bound to be some cons. For home-based daycare centers, your child will have a less structured day and education. This is because the curriculum and routine solely depend on the nanny, and there isn’t a governing body to oversee or monitor the whole thing. The downside to established daycare centers would be that the relationship between your child and their teacher isn’t as close because there are more children and the staff turnover rate is high. This is because of the less flexible policies about vacation and sick leaves. The final con that parents fear most is higher tuition fees.

So now that you have a rough idea about home-based daycare centers and established daycare centers you can decide for yourself which one suits you better. Don’t worry. This article will guide you on starting a daycare center in Singapore, whether it is home-based or an established one. From the birth of your vision to the company incorporation, let us at 3E Accounting help you!

 

Daycare Business Registration Process in Singapore

Let’s start with how to start a home-based daycare center in Singapore. A home-based daycare business is a wonderful alternative for ambitious entrepreneurs who enjoy working with youngsters. This necessitates an understanding of early childhood education. Toys, mats, first-aid kits, cleaning supplies, binders, markers, paper, food, insurance, business registration, and ads are all needed by the Daycare.

Researching Rules Before You Register Your Business

However, there are still rules to follow. Home-based daycares have a small number of employees who usually are the business owner’s immediate family living at the premises. The Singaporean government has a specific set of rules for a home-based business.

• For the operations to take place, certain authorities’ laws and regulations must be followed.
• There will be no advertising or company signage on the outside.
• Extraneous traffic is not allowed at the station.
• Noise, smoke, odor, effluent, or dust should not be a nuisance or a threat to neighboring inhabitants.
• The loading and unloading of products are not permitted in vans or vehicles.
• Instead of HDB flats, private homes can be used as business locations.

There should be no one hired from outside the company.

The establishment of a daycare center in Singapore is under the care of the Child Care Centers Law. It specifies that the business owner must meet certain legal requirements before starting a Daycare in Singapore. Singapore’s Early Childhood Development Agency oversees the entire process of establishing a child care centre (ECDA). The requirements are as follows:

1. The applicant for a child care permit must be at least 21 years old
2. The applicant and the company’s management must have no criminal records or offenses under the Woman’s
3. Charter or the Child and Young Persons Act.
4. The daycare center’s staff must have preschool teaching certificates;
5. The Early Childhood Development Agency or the Ministry of Social and Family
6. Development must not have any warning letters.

Preparing for the Actual Registration

As now you have learned about the prerequisites to open a home-based daycare center, you should also start researching what the market needs as a good business will need prior knowledge to get more customers.

Here are the documents and requirements you need for company registration in Singapore with ACRA.

• Name for your company
• Get a resident director
• Get your shareholders
• Hire a company secretary
• Allocate your paid-up capital. This step is optional
• Get a registered address for your daycare business

There is no minimum capital needed for setting up a daycare center in Singapore.

Besides that, as we said before, you would need to get certain things to start your business, such as mats, toys, books, etc. Besides getting materials, you would also need funding to cover your basic operational and even train your employees.

In Singapore, foreign investors are also permitted to open a daycare centre for children, and if you need any assistance, you can get help from a Singapore corporate service provider, like 3E Accounting, that can assist you in forming your ideal company.

 

Licenses That You Need

Home-based Daycare

Next, as you want to make your daycare home-based daycare, you will need a private premise that allows you to do some renovation to suit your home-based daycare. This must be according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). These are certain guidelines to follow.

• The Daycare center must be on the building ground floor.
• The building layout and structure must be safe and convenient for children’s supervision.
• The area must be accessible to the community and away from main roads, gas stations, and traffic hazards.
• Capacity is sufficient for the number of children.
• There must be necessary and proper facilities.
• There is access to the office area, outdoor play space, and storage area.

Finally, you need to get government clearance and approval. Register your daycare under ACRA. Sole proprietorship and partnership are subject to Medisave Contributions payment. After completing the registration process, the Early Childhood Officer will schedule pre-licensing visits. License approval takes approximately 14 days.

Established Daycare Centers

For an established daycare center in Singapore is almost the same as opening a home-based daycare center. You will still need to comply with the rules set up by the government of Singapore.

• The person applying for the child care permit must be at least the age of 21
• The applicant and the managers of the company must have clean criminal records;
• The employees of the daycare center must have pre-school teaching diplomas;
• The business owner must register one of the available types of structures in order to be able to operate.

Finally, since you are building your established daycare center in Singapore, you must apply for a child care license from the Singapore Ministry of Social and Family Development.

Are you wondering whether you need any documents to apply for this license? The answer is yes! and you guessed it. Below are the documents you need:

• Daily menus and programs for each group of children based on their age.
• A plan of the premises of the daycare center must be prepared on a 1:100 scale.
• A guide for the parents which states the rules that they must comply with the reasons for doing so.
• Information of the educators, such as their qualifications which the director’s signature must accompany.

 

Conclusion

There is potential in starting a daycare business in Singapore, and the procedures aren’t as difficult as well. However, should you require any assistance, contact us at 3E Accounting, and we will gladly assist you in ensuring you have a great experience when incorporating your company. After all, creating your own business is a unique experience!