Parents find it difficult to manage a work-life balance, especially after their social and professional demands leave very little room for them to take care of their beloved children. This gap, however, has been adequately addressed by the professionals known as babysitters who are endearingly referred to as nannies.
The business of nannies has always proliferated by word-of-mouth. It is obvious and understandable that parents are not ready to trust any random person with their children. Technology has given room for people to avail services with a couple of taps on their phone through the mobile app, and an on-demand babysitters app development could very well be the solution that this space was looking for. However, if we were to factor in the trust that parents consider the foremost when entrusting their babies to a babysitter, you will need to add a few features.
A recent survey by care.com has proved that 64% of parents do not trust using such services because they have certain inhibitions and reservations to put their baby under the care of a complete stranger.
The lucrative market
In all of this, it cannot be denied that babysitting is one of the most sought-after services in the United States. A report by the bureau of labor statistics shows that the job growth for babysitters is expected to be in the order of 7% between 2016 and 2026. Considering the fact that the babysitting industry was valued at about $48.2 billion in 2016, with this CAGR, it could be projected that it will be valued at about $94.82 billion in 2026, which is quite massive.
In all of this, there remains a massive rift between what is observed and what is projected. There are about 181 applications in the market but they add up to less than 50,000 downloads. This shows that if an app can adequately and fittingly address the drawbacks, there is huge potential for profit. One of the reasons that contribute to this Delta is the pursuit of most businesses to concentrate on scaling the periphery rather than strengthening the cold.
The chicken and egg paradox
This paradox is prevalent in any industry that aims to aggregate businesses and consumers over a platform. With respect to the babysitting industry over a mobile app, the question of whether you will hunt for parents first or babysitters first continues to hunt a lot of entrepreneurs.
Considering the balance between demand and supply, it is strongly recommended that you focus on parents. Parents, in essence, are the ones who will fuel the profit of the company. It is, however, crucial to understand the topic in considering the balance between demand and supply, it is strongly recommended that you focus on parents. It is, however, crucial to understand the tipping point where you will have to shift your focus from parents to nannies. Having a lot of parents and not having an adequate amount of babysitters is going to be detrimental for your business as well.
Validation and verification-the key
It is quite evident that the biggest game-changer in this industry will be the intensity of validation that the company can provide for the nannies. It is suggested that the tables be turned. If parents can suggest their trusted nannies for the app, it would be a good starting point. When more people start working with nannies, the data and the feedback become more reliable.
This also presents an interesting avenue for profit. The more feedback you have and the better trust you are able to establish for a babysitter, the more profit you are likely to earn.
Although you engage in reviews and a proper background check, there are sporadic chances of lapses in quality. At this juncture, prompt and instant customer care is the remedy you need. If the parent needs to talk to someone or raise a complaint, they should be able to do so instantly and across multiple platforms. The platforms should include email, phone, and chat.
The monetization models
There are different ways in which a babysitting app can make money. The two most obvious ones are charging a commission from every babysitter for their tasks, and engaging in advertising, especially for baby products, baby apparel, and healthcare services.
In addition, you can also look at the following avenues:
- You can provide parents with monthly or weekly services that will give you the amount upfront even before the service begins.
- You can charge nannies/babysitters for accelerating the verification process.
- You can tie up with companies and give them corporate offers or you can directly charge the company and provide free service to the employees.
The features
To ensure that your babysitting on-demand app functions properly, you will need to have in place a few features for the customer, the babysitter, and the administrator.
The customer app
- The customer should be able to easily log in without any hassle either using their phone number or email address or social media credentials.
- They should be able to manage the booking in an intuitive interface and they should also have the facility to cancel their bookings before the stipulated time.
- They should be able to chat/call babysitters and get the essential details.
- They should be able to view the details of all the available babysitters with their reviews, ratings, and their charges.
- After booking a babysitter, they should have the facility to review and rate their experience with them.
- With the assistance of the GPS, they should be able to check the movement of the babysitter to ensure that they are traveling in the right direction.
The babysitter app
- Just like the customer, the babysitter should also be able to easily register for the services. The registration process should, however, include verification steps to ensure that their identities are established and credible.
- Most babysitters are gig workers, and they should have the freedom to accept or reject requests based on their availability.
- They should be able to manage their availability over a calendar and should be able to control their hours of availability.
- Just like customers, they should also be able to review the behavior of the customer with them.
- The earnings of the babysitter should be quickly credited to their bank accounts without any delay.
- They should have an option to edit and view their profiles, adding bits of information when needed.
The administrator panel
- The administrator should be able to manage both users and babysitters.
- They should be provided with a dashboard that gives them a Birdseye view of all the way to statistics about the app.
- They should be able to control the notifications that go for both the babysitter and the USA.
- They should be able to review the analytics over a weekly/monthly report.
- They are responsible for handling customer support, and if need be, they can delegate it to a different team.
- They should be able to manage payments and payouts.
- Overall, they are responsible for the sanity and sanctity of the app.
Conclusion
It is quite evident that the market for babysitter apps is open, profitable, and it has a lot of space for accommodating new players. If you would like to be one of those aspiring entrepreneurs who would like to build a babysitting app like Uber, all you need to do is get in touch with the company that specializes in the development and customization of Uber for babysitting apps.
The white-label model ensures that you can be quick to hit the market and that to come up with the assurance of having a perfect product garnished with the elements of customization to ensure that it reflects your brand. With this 90s on-demand app, you can start making your profit in a lucrative segment that is bound to give you long-term returns!
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