Rupali Alankar Mhatre, Founder at Tender Wonder Preschool

Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business?

Rupali Alankar Mhatre : I was working as a secondary school teacher till after marriage. Once we were blessed with children we decided to keep our children on top of the priority list. So working as a full time secondary teacher was out of question. However I wanted to work too. So we as a couple started brain storming on an idea which would blend both, my passion as a teacher and mother too. While we were still in the process of thinking a way out; my husband came across a friend (Shilpa) who was running a preschool of her own. She had a teacher’s requirement and I was selected for the job. Shilpa was kind enough to allow me with my children which was one of my conditions to work. This turned out to be a very good option as now I was following my passion to work as a teacher with my children around me. After working with Shilpa for a few months I learnt the traits of the business and gained a lot of confidence. When my husband provoked me to start our own Preschool I agreed in a jiffy.

Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by Tender Wonder Preschool

Rupali Alankar Mhatre : Various services provided by us as of now are:- Preschool (Playgroup, Nursery, Jr. KG and Sr. KG), Day Care, Tuitions, Dance Class and Drawing Class.

Great Companies: What makes Tender Wonder Preschool different from hundreds of other Preschools ?

Rupali Alankar Mhatre :

1] At Tender Wonder Preschool we believe that a teacher is and should be like a second mother to the child. We (all the teachers) take care and love the children as our own, to the extent that we do not have the concept of Mavshi (the lady who is employed for cleaning and washing children after attending their natures call) in our school. Everything, right from teaching, entertaining, feeding or even cleaning/washing the children is done by the teachers and we have a very strong reason for doing so. This way teachers are 100% involved with the children throughout.

Here are a few more points that make us unique.

2] “Child Sex Abuse and We” – A free training workshop conducted for parents every year.

3] “Mastering the Art of Modern Day Parenting” – Another free workshop conducted for parents every year. 4] Everything right from the bag, books, uniform, pencil, eraser, lunch box, water bottle notebooks, crayons, craft materials…. anything that is needed throughout the year is provided by the school at no additional cost.

5] Sports, Picnic, Field visits Birthday Celebrations, Festival Celebrations, and Various Competitions for children as well as for parents are also part of the curriculum.

6] While junk food is a complete no-no in the school tiffin box and a food chart is provided to the parents so that children can have a healthy and balanced diet; Friday snacks are on us.

7] Apart from the affordable academic fees that they pay; not even a single paisa extra is asked from the parents throughout the year for any reason what so ever.

Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face?

Rupali Alankar Mhatre :

1] Initially we faced lot of challenges. After the thought of starting our own preschool was finalised the biggest challenge to overcome was space. We did not have the required finance to buy or rent a commercial place. So we decided to start at home.

2] We stay on the fifth floor and the lift used to keep stopping every now and then due to electricity issues. So we (I with the help of my husband) decided to pick and drop the children from the ground floor to the fifth floor and vice versa as and when required.

3] We had no students to start with so we decided to ring each and every bell of the home in our society to identify and convince prospects.

4] Finding vendors within my small budget and requirement was a task and a lot of time, energy and efforts went in here.

5] We finally stared with four students one of them been my own younger son (Saksham). Today with the kind of image and position that Tender Wonder Preschool has created for itself in the last 8 years it is a much smoother road to run.

One challenge is on-going though……Managing my own growing children, their increasing demands and managing my home along with the school (Not to forget I am a mother and wife too) – I take pride in calling myself a home maker along with been called a teacher, principle or owner of a popular school)

Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for Tender Wonder Preschool?

Rupali Alankar Mhatre : Honestly speaking I am living the moment and enjoying every minute spent at Tender Wonder Preschool with my children, parents and staff. I have no big five year plan in mind but would definitely have another branch of Tender Wonder Preschool in the years to come.

Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

Rupali Alankar Mhatre :

A] Be passionate about what you are doing, if you are not do something else.

B] There is no option to hard work and consistent efforts; study and prepare yourself well. C] Remember you are serving not only the parents but also the children and service comes straight from the heart not the brain.

D] Finally love and enjoy what you do and the parents and children will love you too.