The South African government has adopted a poverty-targeted approach to provisioning in early care and education. This approach prioritises public funding for vulnerable and disadvantaged children. Given the need to address past imbalances and the context of limited financial resources, the private sector has been given an increased role in financing and delivering early care and education. To date, little attention has been paid to how private providers configure their services. This article seeks to address the gap. Through the analysis of the discourses of private entrepreneurs and their staff in two early childhood centres in urban KwaZulu-Natal, it is argued that the business approach in early care and education, with the focus on parents as customers, is narrow and limiting. It marginalises access for young children from disadvantaged groups and downplays the diversity that characterises young children's lives in South Africa. (Contains 2 notes.)