Meet Anju Agarwal | Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Anju Agarwal and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Anju, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Actually I hadn’t thought about starting any business. I wanted to spend some time with my 2nd child and decided to quit my research job. and after some time I started feeling a needed some adult time and at least a part-time job. that’s when my brother-in-law introduced me into this business of childcare and said -spend some time and see if you enjoy it. I enjoyed it. it was something different that I had never done before. It was quite a learning curve for me as it was an absolute deviation from my branch of study and earlier job as a Research Scientist. But once I stepped into it- it was just the beginning- we invested in buying another property and designed it into a daycare and there as no stopping us then- we were hooked.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
What sets us apart is we do it for the community-provide great care for the kids in our childcare and also provide a very stress-free environment for our employees- besides providing them great benefits. A few of our center’s were open during COVID- we were there to provide care for the children of all essential- care workers while keeping them safe.

How did you get to where you are today business-wise.
We expanded as we did well and saw the need for care in different area’s around the Cleveland area. And also by making some wise investment decisions.

Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges?
No-it definitely was not easy. There are always challenges when you are taking care of children. The challenges were vast -because both me and my husband come from Research background. We both have Ph.D. We had no knowledge about construction involved in building the right structure needed for childcare, Licensing rules for childcare, hiring employees and a lot of other issues- it was all learning as you go and it was a lot of learning to do- and do it fast-on your feet. It involved a lot of learning about Licensing rules, requirement to make it a good childcare, also at the same time learning all about building permits, inspections, and a whole bunch of things involved with both.

What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
Our Childcare are called Loving Cup Kids Academy-followed by the city they are in.
We have 10 childcare center’s now. We love what we do. And we are good at what we do.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would take them to Science Center, IMax theater, to the beach by Erie lake Park, Mentor Headland Beach. We’d do a fun-game night at Top-Golf or Escape-rooms.

Places that we love to eat-out at are Olive Garden, El-Rodeo Mexican restaurant, Pepper-mint Thai, Taza (middle-eastern) restaurant.

We have a huge friend group- so either we would take them to our friends place, or we would throw a get-together so they could meet our friends here. If it was our Indian festival time-it would be a treat for them- because we celebrate all our festival with friends and have so much fun doing it together with our Indian community.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I guess my first credit would be to my brother-in-law for introducing me into this different branch of life. I have to give a big-shout-out to my husband Mukesh Agarwal who not only supported me and guided me but also became a full-time businessman after quitting his own job as a Research scientist. Big and heart-full thanks to God for kept his blessing on us and helping us succeed, and also to my kids for adjusting with mom being busy from time -to time.

Website: www.lovingcupkidsacademy.com