I spend a lot of my time helping people find babysitters, trying to find fill-in's for my families when I am not available, and discussing with people appropriate pay, how to interview, etc. One of the ladies that I nanny for threw out the idea the other day that I should start something similar to the nanny agencies here, but do it specifically as a Christian agency. I've been thinking through the idea and although I'm not super excited about starting a new business or anything, it has occurred to me that I spend much of my time doing what those agencies do and if I made it official I could do that job even better.
I would like to get some other people's input on the idea and see if there would even be enough interest and also would love any ideas for thing you would like to see.
Here is a general description of what I thought would be helpful for families and nannies/babysitters:
- Conduct interviews of all incoming nannies/babysitters and have all their information on hand
- Interview/meet with families to hear what they need, what their routine is, and what they are looking for in a third-party caretaker
- help match care-takers with families (like match.com but for babysitters and families...right?)
- Set up a "classifieds" so that when you find yourself needing an emergency babysitter there is a list of already approved, responsible babysitters to contact. This works to the benefit of everybody, babysitters can chose to be available for last minute calls and pick up extra work and families know they aren't just getting some random person they know nothing about.
- "Shared" nannies would be much easier to come by with this system...I am a shared nanny and can at times be juggling three or four musician/traveling families....this works because I end up knowing I have full-time work...this doesn't always work because I need to find fill-in's for certain days. If we had a network of nannies within our community it would make scheduling easier on everyone. As it is my friends and I have our own little "network" and fill-in for each other and pass off jobs when needed.
- I would also make this blog more consistent (now that I have Internet) with tips on working out confrontation, nanny searching tips, and other helpful tools for families and nannies alike.
- As much as I'd like to do it for free I would need to be making some income for my time being the "go-between" person so there would be a percentage cost from either that babysitters/nanny income and possibly a one-time fee for the families to join
So what do you think?
Input?
Additions?
Throw the idea out?
Keep it?
Run with it?
You tell me...
I think that sounds like a great idea! There are a lot of websites out there, but narrowing it down to a Christian website, sounds absolutely fantastic. If only you'd do it for California too! [:
ReplyDeleteI love this idea. I know that it's really hard to find people that you trust to take care of kids. The fsmily I nanny for doesn't really have a local backup person. Her mom tries to help if I need off for some reason. A program like your idea could help with situations like that. Sometimes you only need help on certain days and with an already approved list, families could just search for the right person. I like the idea of families and nannies paying a one time joining fee and then maybe even a low monthly payment to continue their membership. Hope that it all works out.
ReplyDeleteCyndi
I just think what you mentioned would be great blog posts for other nannies like myself - like "I spend a lot of my time helping people find babysitters, trying to find fill-in's for my families when I am not available, and discussing with people appropriate pay, how to interview, etc." Posts on pay, interviewing, family issues - those are totally relevant topics that I think other nannies would love to learn from your experiences!
ReplyDeleteHi there! I know this is WAY overdue, but was wondering if you ever ended up creating a Christian nanny agency? I am a New Hampshire nanny with a heart for Jesus, and am hoping to move to Nashville after visiting in late 2011...I strongly feel like God has called me to serve this awesome young musical city, for His Glory, so I am putting out some feelers to see if He opens any doors for me. Care.com and Sittercity.com haven't been much of a help, so if you know of any other places I could look then that'd be great! SydneyKrystyne@gmail.com is my e-mail, and I'd love to hear from you! Thanks!
ReplyDelete-Sydney