How to Start a Babysitting Business

To start a nanny business doesn’t mean simply registering it. Now it is no longer a part-time job for teenagers. Babysitting can become a profitable and successful service. If you have a good business idea for babysitting, this article is for you. We offer a detailed guide on starting your babysitting business.

Starting your own babysitting business in 8 steps

Most parents look for everything on the Internet. They even use it to search for a great nanny for their children. And that is where having an excellent nanny application can help. There are examples of popular nanny apps. But this sphere doesn’t have a cut-throat competition between different services. So, babysitter app development is a prospective business opportunity for 2021.

If you are inspired by the successful example of Uber, here is a guide for starting a nanny business.

Step 1. Market research

Start by getting acquainted with the current market situation. It can be divided into several points:

• Define your target audience and their requirements.
• Get acquainted with potential competitors. It is especially significant if you decide to go local. Find the weak points of your competitors and present solutions for them in your app.
• Get acquainted with the must-have features to add to your babysitting app. It is crucial if you want to turn to on-demand babysitter app development

Next, it’s time to organize everything with a business plan.

Step 2. Make a business plan

Many startups skip this step, but a well-organized business strategy is a key to profit. The main details to include in your business plan are:

• The ongoing business expenses. Predict how much it will cost to run a babysitting business. Apart from the app expenses and salaries, take into account business insurance. Consider paying your employees as freelancers to save costs at the beginning.
• Ways to make money. Most babysitting businesses charge their clients for each completed job.
• The prices. Consider the medium hourly wage of a babysitter. It will be better if you provide various fees. For example, for different ages and numbers of children, different times your services are necessary, etc.
• How much you can earn. If you are the only babysitter, your opportunities are quite restricted. The more people you hire, the more you earn.

Apart from this, here are our pieces of advice to make your babysitting business even more profitable.

• Focus on advertising your services on the Internet. We will talk about marketing strategies later. But you need to build a reputation as a trustworthy and expert service provider.
• Hire people who have degrees in pre-school education. Clients are ready to pay more if you have such employees.
• Pay attention to the time when such services are in the highest demand. Usually, it is after school or in the evening. Make sure your employees are available at that time.

Step 3. Developing your babysitter app

The next step is developing an application. You don’t need to write a code yourself. The best option is custom app development, which many companies provide. Make sure you tell your dev team all the requirements. Here are the must-have features for such apps:

• Provide opportunities to register using a social media account. Users don’t like to spend much time on registration. This option allows for all necessary info to be provided by their social media accounts.
• Rating and review system. Rating and reviews enable making more informed decisions. It would be good if both customers and nannies can rate each other on your platform.
• Make sure the chat doesn’t expose sensitive customer data like phone numbers or emails.
• Push notifications. Notifications inform the babysitters about the requests from customers, future sits, etc. Parents are notified when a sitter accepts or declines their request. Don’t forget to remind parents to review the sitter.
• This feature will enable parents to find a babysitter within their area or a particular district. It would bring the most advantages to the local babysitting business.
• In-app purchases. This feature helps you avoid problems concerning payment security and cash payments. You can charge your clients automatically when the service is completed.

Step 4. Select a name and register it

Pay attention to the name of your business. Make sure you pick an extraordinary and catchy name for your application. An outstanding name is a significant part of your babysitting business success. As soon as you choose an excellent name, remember to give your domain the same one. What is more, you will have to register your business name at the state level. You can get acquainted with the particular requirements of the state by contacting your local governmental agency.

Step 5. Establish a legal entity and register for taxes

Although staying away from all these nuances can seem very attractive, you need to register your business. It will make your business secure. Running a nanny business is a challenge for most entrepreneurs. Registering your business for taxes is also essential. You just need to sign in to a website and fill in an application for an EIN.

Step 6. Open a business account in a bank

If you’ve already established a legal entity, you can open a bank account for your business and receive a business credit card. As a rule, the bank has many advantages for the owners of business cards or accounts. What is more, you can monitor the business income apart from your personal account.

Step 7. Get a License and Insurance

It is impossible to run any business legally without licenses and permits. Some you can get from the city, some from the government. Each state and city has different rules and procedures for obtaining a license. Contact governmental institutions for further information.

Insurance is also a crucial part as running a business is always risky. You may think that a babysitting application is an all-win opportunity. But still, there are many traps and negative issues.

Step 8. Attract your potential clients

The babysitting business success depends mostly on the reputation of your company. You need to prove you are reliable enough to take care of others’ children. Look for customers among your family and friends. If you are a member of any community group, offer your services there. You can also promote your business on social media like Facebook or local forums. Nowadays, it is more effective than flyers. We wouldn’t recommend attracting clients with low prices and discounts. Instead, focus on high-quality services from experienced babysitters with a degree in education.

When to start hiring employees?

It is better to get a growing client base and an excellent reputation first. If you can’t deal with all the babysitting requests, this is the time to hire more babysitters. But managing all of this can become risky. Consider hiring a person to be in charge of management. It will allow you to work more effectively and save your effort for more important processes.

Summing up

Nanny businesses will always be in high demand as there will always be busy parents. Consider our advice and run a successful babysitter company. We hope our article was useful for those who want to start a babysitting business and develop a babysitting app.