FOR Grace Kids founder Grace Sagaya Chia, business is and has always been about children. "I never thought about doing business," she says.

Bored with staying at home after her first child was born, she started a music-based course for youngsters called Rhythm in Me in 2003.

News of her innovative teaching quickly spread by word of mouth, which led to demand from parents for more programmes. And one result was a non-structured format that teaches children through play, which became Busy Buddies.

From the start, improvisation was the key to everything Ms Sagaya Chia did. "The parents on my database want the same thing I want for the kids, which is creativity," she says.

This is the guiding principle that underpins everything she does. The aim is to give children space and time to grow.

Another thing Ms Sagaya Chia wanted was a way to meet the exercise needs of children. Outside expertise was used for this through a franchise arrangement with US-based My Gym.

After starting Busy Buddies, Ms Sagaya Chia saw a need to create a single place for parents to take their kids to meet all their needs, rather than take them to many different places for different activities.

An all-in-one idea with everything needed for early childhood development was born. It was to include physical fitness, music, play groups, art and of course basic play.

Ms Sagaya Chia spent about a year looking for a physical fitness programme after she noticed that some mothers did not really know what to do with their kids. She took on the My Gym system on a franchise basis because she was impressed with it.

Growing calls for her to organise parties led to the creation of the third arm of her business - Jolly Party, which organises parties and provides party accessories.

Being energetic and loving kids makes business a pleasure for Ms Sagaya Chia. "I've got 30 screaming kids around me at a party and I'm fine," she says.

At the moment, the three parts of her business are run as separate entities. Rhythm in Me is the biggest revenue contributor, bringing in about 30 per cent, followed by My Gym. But down the track, she sees Jolly Party becoming a big player. "The demand for parties is definitely there," she says.

From this month, the three units will be combined as one, so it can be marketed as a whole concept and offer parents a complete package.

Amid all this has, Ms Sagaya Chia has been savvy enough to step back and assess the best way to grow the business, which will be franchising. This has meant getting patents and doing plenty of preliminary work. The teaching syllabus and concepts are all original and needed to be protected.

Ms Sagaya Chia's greatest concern is that franchisees maintain the standards she set right from the start. Rhythm in Me has interested parties from Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, and even some expressions of interest from Europe. But the founder is treading carefully because the goodwill her brands have built up over the years could quickly be dissipated if franchising is not done properly.

Ms Sagaya Chia's target is to triple revenue in two to three years, which would lift it to more than $3 million a year.

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