ECD Finance - You can afford to invest in your educare business
Affordable finance for SA preschools
We know that many ECD centres find it difficult to invest in their preschools. Traditional banks don’t want to lend to preschools without collateral, extensive paperwork and months of financial records. Moneylenders are too expensive and don’t care about your business. But without money, how will you invest and grow your educare centre?
With Grow ECD’s blended finance options you can get specially negotiated, affordable low-cost loans to invest in your preschool’s education, infrastructure and registration requirements. Your loan could be made up of a combination of cash, loan and grant funding.
- Supplied by an authorised financial service provider. Your loan is in safe hands. We work with a registered Financial Service Provider that wants to see ECD businesses flourish.
- We've negotiated affordable, fixed rates. Like us, our partners believe that ECD centres need a fair, affordable interest rate so that they can invest in their businesses.
- Only for SA preschools and ECD centres. Finance is available for investments in our ECD Small Business Programme and selected infrastructure only.
Is a low-cost ECD loan for you?
Our affordable low-cost loans are for passionate preschools with 25 or more active learners (located in Cape Town, Gauteng, Durban or Pietermaritzburg). The loan is specifically to help centres with a quality education programme. If you believe that you need to invest in your ECD centre to grow your business and support children better, this loan could be for you.
Who can apply for ECD Finance?
- You must have an ECD Centre located within 75km from a Grow ECD office (we are based in Cape Town, Midrand, Durban and Gqeberha)
- Your centre must be operating for at least 2 years.
- Your centre should have 25+ active learners
- You must meet affordability criteria (we will help you calculate this)
- Your centre must actively use the free Giraffe App for at least 2 months to:
– Enrol learners and staff
– Take daily learner and staff attendance
– Capture all income and expenses (Why? This helps us understand if you qualify for a loan, can afford the repayments, and proves that you are an active ECD centre)
“This is such a worthwhile investment. I’m not being boastful, but if you had seen our ECD before and you see it now: it is wow! It’s important to invest in your centre and in a curriculum, good equipment and teacher training because you are investing in the children and in your business. It may initially sound like too much but Grow ECD checks your finances to see if you can afford it, and they help you see how to afford it. If they see you can’t afford it, they give you guidance on how to run your business better and you can apply again.
What can you use the funding for?
Grow ECD's Small Business Programme
Infrastructure to meet registration and safety standards
This option is exclusively available to our ECD Small Business Programme members.
How does it work?
1: Prove that you run an ECD centre (Preschool/Educare/Creche)
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We need to know that you run a centre and can afford the loan. Use our free ECD App for at least 2 months to do your learner and staff attendance and to capture your business income and expenses.
2: Apply for a loan
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After we visit your centre we will help you submit your application form to the financial service provider. This includes a credit check, all the data you've captured on the app, and a breakeven analysis we've prepared with you.
3: Get finance to grow your ECD business
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You receive funding and repay it over 36 months. You can also settle your loan in advance without any penalty fees. The fees are transparent and easy to understand so that you know exactly how much you will be paying.
What does it cost*? How can I afford it?
EXAMPLE: 100% loan
Estimated monthly repayment over 3 years at 5% interest-
The ECD Small Business Programme
R27 000 -
Once off credit initiation and admin fee
R2 600 -
TOTAL COST R29 600*
EXAMPLE: R10 000 cash payment. Rest on loan.
Estimated monthly repayment over 3 years at 5% interest-
The ECD Small Business Programme R10 000 cash + R17 000 loan
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Once off credit initiation and admin fee R1 425
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TOTAL COST R28 425*
“I wish I had found Grow ECD earlier. Initially running my centre was a challenge. I didn’t know what I was doing. We had no curriculum and no educational resources. We would buy things as we saw them and try to improvise. I was lost - running around like head-less chicken! The Education Programme is definitely value for money. I would recommend it to anyone. The image it gives to your ECD centre, the professionalism it portrays to parents and how it assists you as principal!”