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Kiddies Aqua, based in Moreleta Park, offers swimming and water safety courses

Kiddies Aqua Swimming Academy’s service offering varies from Self-Rescue Water Safety Courses for babies (ages six to eight months), Learn-to-Swim and Swim Readiness Courses for toddlers (two to 10 years old), Stroke- and Stroke-Correction Courses for young competitive swimmers (any age) to stroke courses for adults (any age).

How did your business start?
Swimming is a life skill and the younger children start swimming, the better. Drowning is the main cause of deaths among children under the age of five. Worldwide, more than 400 children drown every day (one child every three minutes). In South Africa, one child drowns every day. The business, therefore, started out of the need to make children water-safe.

Why did you choose this area to set up shop?
We chose Moreleta Park because of its demographic profile and its location. Its habitants are mostly upmarket middle-class people with young children. It also borders other upmarket suburbs, like Erasmuskloof, Woodhill, Parkview and Mooikloof with similar demographic profiles. Our premises are highly visible to passing traffic and easy to find.

How did you find your premises?
The landlord was preparing the premises for another swim school, and then that person withdrew from the transaction due to personal reasons. We were very fortunate to be at the right place at the right time. We immediately moved in.

Why are the premises ideally suited to your business?
Because of the location, the strong visibility and ample parking. But the space has become way too small for us and we’re planning to move to a larger premises, but will still keep these premises as a satellite.

Who are your neighbours?
Residential owners, a small gymnasium, a hair salon and a beauty parlour.

What are the shop rental/sales prices like in this area?
The rent is very reasonable, but we need to maintain and improve the property ourselves, which is quite costly.

How many people visit your business each day?
We’ve got more than 1,000 families affiliated to us. We receive approximately 350 swimmers per day (excluding parents, grandparents, nannies, brothers and sisters). I would say approximately 800 pairs of feet visiting us daily.

Do you have any expansion plans?
For sure, we are already in negotiation with several property owners to see where it will be best to expand to. We are also taking the indoor facility over at the University of Pretoria (Sport Centre). The university approached us as part of its strategy to build capacity for its swim club. In March next year, we are opening a branch in Somerset West (Western Cape). In 2018, we are planning to open branches in Monaco, Nice and La Turbie (France) in partnership with someone else and as part of a worldwide launch.

Do you operate online as well?
We have strong social media campaigns (more than 10,000 followers on Facebook) and a very active website.

What’s your most popular service?
The Self-Rescue Water Safety Course for Babies (Amphibies Babies Africa/Les Bébés Amphibies – Switzerland) is very popular, seeing that it differentiates our business from other swim schools in Tshwane and the rest of SA.
See for yourself:
Kiddies Aqua
076 392 4958 / 072 186 6660
kiddiesaqua.co.za

 

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