Opening your first nursery in Luxembourg

I’ve always worked like that. It was never: “I open it and I have everything, right away.” It was always: “I have a little, I invest.”

Opening your first nursery in Luxembourg

Barbara Agostino, founder of Crèches Barbara since 2011

Where to start?

When you open a business and you don’t have a core or an idea of what your nursery is about, it won’t work. I had great ideas. To me, life was about… Investing, so making money. But reinvesting!

Development work

After my classes at Hilti, I went to Bati C to rent machines. Those with the big compressor units! My arms were like this in the evening! And I helped myself as much as I could… I purchased a new car, a MINI Clubman that I sold so I lost some money on it, it was brand new… I lost money to buy an old 4X4 where I could fit everything in it because I couldn’t afford a container!

So every day, I would fill up the car and go to the recycling centre. If not, I was waiting to get paid so I could buy materials. The only big companies I dealt with because I needed certificates were electricity and plumbing for the boiler, I had to change it etc. You are required to take on companies that also have compliance certificates. So these are packages that take much longer.

The reaction of your relatives

Tilly often blamed me, and she still blames me today. She says: “I don’t even count the weekends I spent alone.” I said: “Listen, I have to pay back the bank, I’m going to work.” There was some tension, but I didn’t let… Because I wanted to be independent.

The opening

Everything was going well. In September 2011, I opened the nursery. I had put a tarpaulin, two iron poles that I took from a construction site that was in the final stages of completion, I had opened the trunk and taken out the poles… And I put a phone number and an email address. No website at first, nothing like that… I had set myself a deadline on Saturday morning for registration. But as soon as the nursery opened in September, it was already full. And it was going really well!

But again, at the beginning, I couldn’t afford nice chairs, fancy nursery supplies. So I went to Ikea to buy small chairs, small tables. And every time I earned a bit of money each month, I would place an order. I’ve always worked like that. It was never: “I open it and I have everything, right away.” It was always: “I have a little, I invest.”