Björn Czinczoll: a Kindergarten Founder from Germany

Czinczoll sees himself as a service provider who works closely with companies. The companies spend nothing on the kindergartens, but donated space and furniture is welcome. Parents pay by the hour; but the longer the child is in the kindergarten, the lower the hourly rate. Long opening hours mean the kindergartens get plenty of use. And that is important to Czinczoll. An attorney in his mid-30s, he is convinced: "Even in kindergartens, you need an economics-oriented person at the top." And the project's success proves he is right. His current six day-care centers will see at least 11 sister centers open next year. Demand from companies and parents is huge.

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New toys have finally arrived, and Björn Czinczoll is delighted to see it. A car park with lots of gadgets. The youngest ones here are just three months old. Björn Czinczoll's childcare centre in the industrial area of the Bavarian city of Regensburg is open from seven am to seven pm. Children can come here on an hourly basis for as long as their parents need. Czinczoll's concept offers the flexibility that state childcare centres can't provide. The 34 year old is a qualified lawyer, but instead of sitting in an office he builds kindergardens for a living: "I wanted to do something positive, something useful for children. This rewards you daily. I have no regretts – not for a single moment. I like being in the kindergardens. I really like being surrounded by so many children."

He's already worked out his next project. All he has to do now is to convince the board members at the Regensburg University Clinic. The hospital needs a daycare centre for the children of its employees and Björn Czinczoll is prepared to set it up. He finances his projects with state subsidies and contributions from the parents. He approaches companies for donations, and takes care of all the red tape and deals with the local authorities: "If a hospital that doesn't know anything about child care approaches the city council it is easy to turn it down. We are different. we know what we want, we are more obstinate and we get what we want. Sure they don't turn me down. We just keep on insisting. Balancing work and family is an important issue these days and we want to make that possible – for the parents, the employees and the employers."

Construction work at this site has already started. Still Czinczoll needs nerves of steel. The numerous regulations makes building kindergardens a tiresome business. Suddenly he gets a call about the University Clinic. Things are looking good. But progress on the building site is being hampered by red tape. The first children are scheduled to move in by August, if everything goes according to plan: "We live in Germany and that means progress is very slow. Sometimes we start planning two years in advance before the children can finally move in. Especially with new buildings because so many different authorities are involved and unfortunately communication between them is so poor."

This kindergarden in a villa in Munich has just recently opened. Czinczoll's latest facility is open 13 hours a day six days a week. A co-operative provided the house at low cost to create kindergarden placements. One-year-old Mena will soon be coming here quite often. Her mum pays 4 euros an hour, but if she stays for longer periods the hourly rate decreases. Menas mother: This facility is certainly a great help. I work a lot from home but that wasn't easy. Looking after a child is really a full time job. I don't think I could have carried on working without this kindergarden."

Björn Czinczoll already runs a total of 6 kindergardens. He plans to open another 11 next year. Demand is huge, and Czinczoll has dicovered a niche market: "If child care is organised properly to suit their needs then you see that a lot of parents think about having a second or third child. They no longer have to choose between a career or a family because they can have both."

So is he creating a small scale baby boom? Björn Czinczoll: "A small one, perhaps. But that's the way it should be. The current problem is that Germany's population is growing older and there aren't enough children. So we are doing what we can to rectify that."

Björn Czinczoll doesn't have children of his own, by the way – he says he doesn't have the time - but of course it's always possible that that might one day change.