Acvatic Bebe Club, a provider of aquatic education courses for children, opened a second venue in northern Bucharest after a EUR 175,000 investment.

The company expects the new club to help increase its revenues by 35% this year, past the EUR 300,000 threshold.

The club, inaugurated in mid-January, is open to children aged between two months and four years. The sessions are individual.

The plan to open a second location took shape following requests from parents, the company explained.

The investment was initially set at EUR 100,000, with the works expected to last four months. The pandemic and its impact almost doubled the investment and also extended the works over 15 months.

“Over the 15 months, we had to accept changes of 30-70% to the price of materials, to understand the delays in the delivery of materials ordered from abroad because of the green corridor implemented in the pandemic, plus the fragmented work or even having the works suspended. We had contractor teams that quarantined entirely. The entire pandemic period proved a test of resilience and continuous readjustment. One advantage of working during the pandemic was that the club was endowed from the very beginning with top equipment, so that every class takes place safely,” Carmen Dumitru, founder of Acvatic Bebe Club, said.

“Even though the activity of the aquatic education club was only suspended during the lockdown, restarting the activity was a complex and challenging process. The impact of the pandemic can be seen in the change of the clients’ behavior and, further on, in the company’s results. If in 2020 the turnover dropped by 25%, the 2021 numbers show balanced revenues, with a 20% increase in turnover compared to 2020,” the founder explained.

A total of 60% of the children taking lessons at the club are aged between four and 36 months, more than half being up to 2 years old. A total of 22% of the children take lessons for more than one season, with an average of 2 years of taking lessons, the company said. 

For this year, Acvatic Bebe Club plans to increase the number of clients by 50% and reach a turnover of EUR 325,000. The company is also looking at expanding outside of Bucharest, with at least one new venue in the country, something included in the 2023 budget projection.

More than 3,000 children took swimming lessons at Acvatic Bebe Club in the ten years since opening. The first club, opened in 2012, targeted from the very beginning to children aged between four months and six years. 

(Photos courtesy of the company)

simona@romania-insider.com