Thoughts on a childcare/coworking business

[mima08]

Hello all lovely parents.

For years I have been thinking wouldn?t it be great if there was a place for self-employed mums & dads to work from that offered the community spirit of an happy office, the flexibility of working from home, had great coffee and snacks AND provided flexible childcare? The idea is/was tried by a couple of places such as the Treehouse in Brixton (now closed) and the Third Door in Putney. Basically, these are coworking spaces that offer childcare on site. What I don?t understand is: why do we not have something like this in ED? There are enough children (nursery places are a nightmare to get). There are enough freelancers / entrepreneurs / flexible workers (just check out Caf? Nero). And I keep hearing the same story from many parents: we?d love to get more freelance (and other) work but can?t because we cannot afford to commit to childcare costs and there are not enough places anyway. So, today I had a nice chat with a lovely lady and we would like to put our minds to finding a solution along the lines of flexible childcare mixed with a flexible coworking offering. By posting here I was hoping for two things: gage interest ? would this type of offer appeal to you? And find more people who are interested in hearing more about the idea and potentially want to get involved in some form or other. If either of these things are true for you, I?d love to hear your thoughts!

[Jayyfa]

Hi Mima, this is certainly something I'd at least be interested in talking and thinking more about. It struck me that even while on maternity leave lots of us have projects we'd like to progress - or even just the 'job' of negotiating a return to work or a career change which takes time to research etc. So there might be an even wider market than you'd think - if we could work through the challenges of childcare for very young children and their specific needs!

Jenni

[sim1]

Would be amazing to have something like this in the area. Especially something that is flexible and does not have to be booked ages in advance. Something like an online booking system where you could see availability in real-time would be great. But that might be a bit tricky to set up, especially having the legally required number of childcarers available when child numbers vary. Anyway, as I said, would love it if it existed!

[mima08]

Hiya,

thanks for your comments - there has been quite a bit of interest on Facebook and I'd love to keep exploring what is possible. Thinking lateral is definitely what I want to do - it would help to make something like this sustainable. There are a few interesting models in other industries that I am familiar with, so it might be workable... I've created a FB group to allow people to get a conversation going - if you fancy joining, here is the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1593888504196263/ If you don't do FB, drop me a PM!

[mother of jack]

Hi there

Think this would be great. Please keep me in the loop. Couldn't follow the Facebook link, can you let me know the FB group name and I'll search for it?

Thanks, henri

[mima08]

Hiya, if you couldn't follow the facebook link, tthe name of the group is "happy work play" - I'll try to figure out how to post a link once back on laptop...

[mother of jack]

Found one on FB called Happy Play & Work, is that it? Thanks!

[mima08]

Yes, thanks for joining! Will post more when back from holidays :)