Successful businesses: education and entertainment

There are businesses that remained successful during the crisis, standing on the delicate shoulders of children. Private kindergartens, companies that organize parties for children, manufacture children"s furniture or set up playgrounds remain profitable, with some of them seeing higher turnover than 4-5 years ago. Since over the last two years, Romania"s birthrate increased 10%, these businesses have a bright future ahead of them.

Every autumn, parents have to fight tooth and nail to get their children into the state owned kindergartens. There are very few places available, especially in the case of full day kindergartens, which forced many parents to look for alternatives, and thus, the market adjusted by itself. New private kindergartens appear every year, with 185 registered in Bucharest alone. 20 of them were created in 2010. Even though prices are rather high, these kindergartens operate at full capacity. Parents have several options available: reduced program, full day, with or without meals provided, with each extra option increasing price exponentially. Full time kindergartens (7.00 - 18.00) cost from 500 to 2500 lei a month. Prices are lower if parents come in and take their children home before 13:00, (250 to 950 lei).

Companies that host private parties for children are also doing well. Since social status is expensive, anniversary parties held at home are no longer trendy. A famous restaurant chain already introduced the Birthday Party concept in Romania 15 years ago, and since then, the idea was adopted, adapted and improved. Demand is very high, meaning that plenty of entrepreneurs have set up their homes specifically for this purpose. The company that pioneered this concept hosts approximately 30,000 parties a year all over the country. Prices for a party for 10 kids range from 200 to 5000 lei, depending on the duration and the menu. It all starts with a basic menu, which includes one juice and one dish for each kid, plus the birthday cake. Demands are only limited by the available budget and by the customer"s imagination. Hiring hosts or a small group of actors costs extra. Whoever says party and children, says chocolate. Prices for renting a chocolate fountain start at 250 Euros for four hours.

Renting carnival costumes is another business that goes hand in hand with all of the above. In the December and June, when schools and kindergartens host their parties, in order to rent a complete carnival costume one needs to get on the waiting list, and it is also valid in the rest of the year. Prices range from 40 to 100 lei for 24 hours, depending on the accessories requested.