Entrepreneur Factfile: Renee McGinn

On the 9th of September I met Renee McGinn, director of Tir Na N'og Creche in Naas. I held an interview with her about what it was like being a businessperson. I will present this interview with a powerpoint to my business class in due course. I thoroughly enjoyed undertaking the interview, as I got to learn more about the minds and intentions of entrepreneurs.

Thank you to Renee for doing the interview, The contents of which can be read below:

What is your education?

Primary school, secondary school and then I went straight into the civil service where I worked as a junior officer. I did a short commercial course at the time and I worked at the civil service for 18 years. I had a five year career break when my kids were young. I went back to college and studied childcare before setting-up the crèche.

Did college benefit you?

I couldn't have done it without going to college, I did work experience (40-60 hrs). In fact, it probably wouldn't have been legal for me to open a crèche without the proper qualifications.

Where did you get the idea for the crèche?

Having had five children myself, I always knew in Naas there wasn't a comprehensive service. There were pre-schools and after-schools but no comprehensive service. I saw a gap in the market. My husband was building that facility and was going to rent it out to someone else. I was asked to assist the architect in designing the crèche as she had no children. I thought that you'd nearly need a course to design a crèche, and I knew that there was a lot at stake. I was just interested so we delayed the process, I took a basic course and then one step followed another and I thought I could do it.

Were there any major challenges opening the crèche?

Yeah it was a huge challenge as I had never been in business before, nor an employer. I thought the people I would be employing would be much more knowledgeable than me. As I had five children, I knew I would need to have a manager. Thankfully I found a business partner easily.

Do you have the same partner today?

Yes, she's qualified as a nurse and she has a small amount of training in childcare. I feel a huge relief having someone like her to back me up.

Did you feel that you were taking a risk when starting the business?

Yes, I was very worried. I was having nightmares and panic attacks. I went ahead and it was how to get it from a to b and getting the business from the concept to opening the doors. So I got a consultant to help me with that. She was somebody I met through doing my night courses. She helped me decided how we'd market it, do a business plan and have a launch day. We had a launch night and we got 40 deposits in. The crèche wasn't even built at the time of the launch

When did it open?

The launch night was in April 1999. We opened on the first of September. At that stage we opened with 40 children and 10 staff. It looked really positive to have 40 deposits in before opening.

How has it expanded?

It has expanded in both size and the range of services offered twice. We run an after-school with 50 children. That started off with five or ten children. Now this summer our summer camp was very busy with around forty to fifty children per day. That was a huge success.

What are the future goals?

I am currently developing an exit plan out of the business in the next three years as I am heading towards sixty. It has come to where I wanted it to at this stage.

What would you like to see happening to the crèche after leaving the business?

I'd like to see it keeping up the standard at which it's got to. I'd like to see it go for goals and targets like we have been doing. We've won a couple of awards. We're currently doing a q mark for quality assurance. I'd like to see them maintain that standard and go for more awards.

The advantage to us is that we are very large and most similar crèches would be in a chain but people like the fact that it is a local business.

Was there ever a time when the business was in jeopardy in the recession?

There was a time where it certainly wasn't making money. Actually there were two years where it was losing money, albeit very marginally. We had to look at absolutely every aspect of the business, the suppliers, the salaries. We put a lid on salaries and made sure that there were no increases. Thankfully now we are on the up again.

Do you find you have to market it a lot?

We have a very good website. Though most of our promotion comes from word-of mouth. We're virtually full in all the rooms and we've never had to advertise. It is well known locally. Mind yo, I was in the bank the other day and there was a teddy bear and the woman asked me if i would like a photo with it. We took the photo and the woman told me that it was going in the paper, so I asked her if she would put down 'Renee Mc Ginn, Tir Na N'og crèche' below it. So I don't miss a trick.

How do you keep a positive atmosphere?

I've 32 staff now on the books. Being positive, encouraging them. Doing a lot of the in-house training. So , if they're not being promoted each time that they feel that they're moving on in their careers. They get top-up qualifications in terms of childcare. Also empowering them, making sure that they hear all the excellent feedback from parents. We have regular staff meetings where we listen to them. A lot of the staff would report that it is the happiest place they have ever worked.

Are you in a business network?

It supports you as a business owner. We do business with each other. You exchange solutions to problems. I get a chance to showcase at particular events. Mostly the network for me would be asking people from other professions to give me some informal advice. But some would say it gives them a platform to promote their business. I pick up tips here and there. Most recently I found out that putting keywords on your website helps to put you on the top of the Google rankings. You get to pool your knowledge and resources.

Do you like helping other entrepreneurs? Did they help you along the way?

Yes, I thoroughly enjoy helping others by sharing tips and giving advice. I had a staff member who's leaving to start a craft business. I came across an enterprise board dealing with start-ups like hers, so i posted out an information pack to her. There is a definite sense of helping the next lot as they find their feet in business. I had little or no experience of this industry before I opened the crèche, so I was able to get help from established business people.

If you were Taoiseach, what would you do to change the childcare industry?

I would put the government in charge of childcare. In childcare, there is very low profit margins. There is a fine line between providing a duty of care and making a profit. I would be very focused on the standards of the care that the children receive, and my partner, for example, would be more interested in the money element. This makes it a very hard industry to be in. If the government ran crèches, there would be little or no issue with cost. Therefore, in theory, every child would be able to avail of the highest quality care possible. Also, recently we had a child who had severe autism. In order to care for him, we had to employ an extra staff member which cost €26,000 per year. It's very hard to run a business if you are faced with burdens like that.

There was an episode of Primetime recently exposing crèches where children were being neglected and abused, did this scandal and do other similar scandals regarding childcare affect your business?

I remember that Primetime program well. The weekend following its broadcast, I had all the staff in working hard to ensure that the crèche maintained its high standards. Low and behold, we had a random HSE inspection the following Monday. We achieved remarkable results. They are a credit to the hard-working staff.

Were there any times you had to make tough decisions?

Staff have to be checked meticulously in childcare . They have to go through Garda vetting and plenty of training. I've found it very hard having to dismiss unsuitable staff. There was one staff member with personal problems which were affecting the children. Having to let her go, in a legal manner, proved to be quite difficult. But she was a huge burden on the crèche.

Having to advise a parent if the setting is unsuitable for their child. Letting parents know that their child may need assessments  can be tricky.

What skills and characteristics make a successful entrepreneur?

Being able to take a risk, being confident, staying determined. Being able to hold onto the vision while coasting through tough times. And constantly ploughing back more interest in your business. Trying out new things and always innovating.

Would you encourage an entrepreneur to start his/her own business?

Only if there is a market for the business. There's no point starting something for the sake of it, just to get the chance to be your own boss, for example. Conduct market research before it, and if there's every chance that this business will take off, go for it. But if there's little chance of the business succeeding, it's not worthwhile taking the risk.