In today’s time, parenting has become a challenge. And this is especially true for working parents who have to juggle the responsibilities of their family life and a full-time job. As much as they want to devote all their time to their kids, their accountabilities towards their work and career become a deterrent. For such parents, on-demand babysitting apps have come as a huge respite. Babysitting apps are a modern and super convenient way to find a reliable caregiver nearby at any time. With these apps, the parents do not need to shell out fortunes to hire a full-time babysitter. They can easily find a dependable professional of their choice to look after their kid as and when the need arises. In the same fashion, babysitters and nannies can sign up for these apps and trade their baby care services. They can easily collaborate with working parents, making life convenient for both of them.
In today’s post, we will conduct market analysis as well as understand the vital features needed to build an exceptional babysitting and nanny-finding mobile app. We will also look at the associated cost and identify effective methods to monetize the application.
What Is A Babysitting & Nanny Finder Mobile App And How It Works?
Babysitter applications enable users to locate nearby babysitters to take care of their children. These apps offer a marketplace solution where parents can easily come in contact with professional and trained babysitters and nannies offering child care services.
The working of these apps is pretty straightforward and involves the following steps
- Parents can download the app and browse through the profiles of babysitters listed on the platform. After selecting a professional, they can send them a request.
- The babysitter receives a notification on their app for a new job request. They can look at the details of the job and accept it if they like.
- Once both parties have agreed, the babysitter visits the kid’s home and looks after him/her for the stipulated time period.
- After the job is done, the parents can pay the babysitter for their services from within the app itself. They can also leave reviews and feedback on the app and rate the services offered
Thus, these apps are a win-win for both parents as well as the babysitters. While the former can easily find a dependable professional to look after their child, the latter can benefit from improved visibility and a great platform to find work.
How Babysitters & Nannies Are Taking Care Of Families
Before we proceed any further, you must understand the difference between a babysitter and a nanny. A babysitter is a casual contractor with a temporary position. They can be identified as short-term caretakers who are hired on an ad-hoc basis. A nanny, on the other hand, is a full-time employee who not only takes care of the child but also plays a vital part in other chores like home management, housework, and food preparation. That said, both babysitters and nannies take good care of children and make life easier for working parents.
With these professionals, the parents can easily leave their kids in secure hands and go about with their everyday work responsibilities. Babysitters and nannies have the experience and basic to advanced training in dealing with children of all ages. They take care of the child and make sure he/she is fully comfortable in the absence of parents.
Reasons Why Hiring A Nanny May Make Sense For Your Family
- Nanny works from your home, so it’s very convenient.
- Nannies are experienced caregivers.
- Nannies can act as a third member of your parenting team.
- Nannies help you maintain your household.
- Nannies can be affordable similar to daycare costs.
- Nannies can be like extended members of the family.
- Nannies are available for long-term commitments.
Benefits Of Babysitting & Nanny Finder App Development
Benefits for Parents
- These applications make it easy for them to find the best babysitter for their babies
- Parents can easily come in contact with a reliable professional as all babysitter profiles on the app are thoroughly screened and verified.
- Parents do not need to hire a full-time professional as that can be very expensive. They can use the app to hire a babysitter for a few hours, only when
the need arises.
Benefits For Babysitters
- The app helps babysitters to connect with the parents who are looking for babysitting services.
- It helps babysitters to advertise their skills and get better visibility to grow their careers.
- It provides an excellent opportunity to earn more as the babysitters can do a full-time job as well as a part-time one.
Market Size & Stats For Babysitting & Nanny Services
Babysitting is a huge industry, especially in the United States. According to a study conducted in 2020, parents in the U.S. pay $17.73 per hour to hire a babysitter for one child. This is double the federal minimum wage. For two kids, parents can expect to pay around $20 per hour. The same study also indicated that childcare was among the greatest family expenses with parents spending between $30k and $75 every year.
Moving on, 69% of the parents claim that good babysitters are hard to find. This should be good news for entrepreneurs who fancy developing an on-demand babysitter-finding app. Some more statistics that point towards the importance of having a good babysitter app are as follows:
- 71% of the households where both parents are working are willing to pay for childcare.
- 86% of the parents who use childcare services do so on a regular basis.
- According to a report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the job growth for babysitters is anticipated to be up by 7% from 2016 to 2026.
All these statistics reveal that investing in a smart mobility solution in the babysitting and nanny finding domain can prove to be immensely fruitful.
Best Babysitting & Nanny Finder Mobile App
1.Sittercity
2.Helpr
3.Care.com
4.eNannySource.com
5.UrbanSitter
6.Bambino
Monetization Opportunities Offered By Babysitting Mobile App
There are several ways to monetize your babysitting app. Some of the most common and effective ways are as follows:
1.Subscription
This is an excellent monetization strategy in which the app owner can offer paid subscription plans for both the parents and the sitters. With a paid subscription, the parents can easily view completed profiles of the sitters, get free background checks, and even contact any sitter from within the app. Similarly, a paid subscription will allow the sitters to feature on the top of the search results and even get notified when any parent checks their profile.
2.Commission
The app admin can choose this monetization technique where he charges a pre-decided amount of commission fee from both the parents and the babysitters for every service availed through the app.
3.Advertisement
Including advertisements in the app is another effective way to earn a steady stream of revenue. The app admin can integrate customized ads such as diapers, baby food products, etc. that can provide value to the users. And in exchange for these ads, the app admin can charge a fee from the advertising business.
4.Featured Listing
The app admin can offer an option of a featured listing, where the babysitters can pay some specific fee to feature at the top of search results for some time. Typically, the babysitters that feature at the top get the maximum number of appointments. So a lot of babysitters are willing to pay for a featured listing to improve their visibility on the platform.
5.Ecommerce Integration
The app admin can also integrate an eCommerce platform within the app to sell all the allied products. This includes baby gear, diapers, baby food items, etc. This can not only help to keep the users engaged but also set up a parallel revenue stream.
General Features Of Babysitting Mobile App
User Panel | Babysitter Panel | Admin Panel |
---|---|---|
Social Media Login | Babysitters handling request | User Management |
Manage Bookings | Register | Dashboard Management |
Text & Call Babysitter | Status Updation | Notification Module |
View all babysitters with hourly rates & ratings | Accept/Reject Appointment | Report Generation & Weekly Statement |
Give Ratings & Reviews | View Payment Details | Manage Ratings & Reviews |
Book & Schedule Meetings | Start Appointment | Support |
Real-Time Tracking | Manage Availability in Calendar | Manage Payments |
Live Status Tracking | View User/Babysitter History | |
Customer Review | Babysitter Management | |
Check Weekly & Daily Earning | Manage Earnings & Commissions | |
View User Details & Requested Service | Service Module | |
Chat with Multiple Customers | ||
Edit Assigned Time | ||
Change Availability | ||
Accept or Decline Booking Requests | ||
View & Edit Profile |
Features For Parents
- Availability feature
- Push Notifications Feature
- Sign In
- Online Payment
- Booking/scheduling Features
- Live Tracking
- Customer Chat Service
- Cost Estimation
- Viewing the Profile
- View History
Features For Nannies/Babysitter
- Register
- Dashboard features
- Parents Information
- The location
- Service history
- Availability feature
- Fast customer care
- Payment
Important Features Of Babysitting & Nanny Finder Mobile App
1.Push Notification
Push notifications are an integral feature that notifies the sitters about any booking requests from the parents, upcoming babysitting appointments, or money transactions. Similarly, these notifications inform parents if the sitters have accepted or declined their requests, send them reminders to review a sitter, etc.
2.In-App Navigation
This feature helps the babysitters to find the best route to the child’s home and reach there on time.
3.In-App Call/Chat
Using the in-app chatting or calling option, the parents and the babysitters can communicate with each other and discuss all the important information. For instance, the babysitter can ask the parents anything related to the child or elucidate any nuances. Alternatively, the parents can ask the babysitters any queries that they may have.
4.Doc Scan Management
This feature enables the babysitters to scan their verification documents and other certificates using an in-app scanner. They can easily turn hard copies into digital documents and find babysitting contracts.
5. In-App Cam
With an in-app camera, the parents and babysitters can do a video call in real-time and address any issue at hand. This feature comes extremely handy in event of an emergency as both parties can have a face-to-face interaction.
6. CMS For Publishing
A Content Management System enables the app admin to easily manage all the content published on the app. Using this feature, he can streamline the babysitter profiles as well as maintain a regular blog to drive organic traffic to the app.
7. CRM Integration
A CRM helps the app admin to manage the customers and address all their queries in real-time. This can help to ensure a smooth user experience.
8. Report & Analytics
With this feature, the app admin can gather information on different metrics such as new users, inactive users, user acquisition rate, e-store numbers, babysitter with the highest ratings, etc., and devise ways to improve the performance of the app.
9. Payment Gateways
It is important to offer an in-app payment facility to the users that allows them to pay via their preferred payment mode. You can integrate common payment gateways such as debit/credit card, PayPal, eWallets, etc. into the app to offer an exceptional user experience.
Challenges And Safety Concerns Associated With Developing A Babysitter App
Although an on-demand babysitter finding application offers multifarious benefits, there are several challenges associated with its development. And the most common challenge is trust. Many parents find it difficult to trust the babysitter and leave their child alone with her. To help parents overcome this fear and trust issue, the on-demand babysitter app must have robust security measures in place. The app must carefully vet all the listed babysitters and ensure they are safe and have no criminal history.
Here, we will look at the various security measures your app must have to offer complete peace of mind to the parents.
1.Safety & Security Of family
To ensure that the children are in safe hands or the babysitters that parents hire through the app are reliable, the app must include adequate trust and safety functionality.
2.Sitters Background Screening
Running thorough background checks on the sitters is important to ensure the complete safety of the children. As the app admin, you can hire a third-party company that provides background screening compliant with FCRA, i.e. Fair Credit Reporting Act. This is a document that governs how a background screening must be performed.
3.Sitter Identity Authentication
The app must have an ID verification system as a minimum security measure where the sitters can upload a copy of their passport, driver’s license, or any other valid document. However, sometimes, some people may try to upload fake documents. For reliable ID verification, you can hire a third-party company that specializes in such services.
4.Scam Preventions
The app must use a combination of predictive analytics, machine learning, and qualitative review processes to prevent any kind of scams. Besides, there must be functionality where the users can report any suspicious accounts.
5.Profile Screening And Experience History Analysis
There must be adequate measures to verify the profile of the babysitter. Also, all babysitters must have CPR and first aid emergency training at the very least. There are plenty of private organizations in different countries that provide this training.
6.National Warrants And Sex Offender Screening
All countries have a sex offender registry. For instance, in the U.S., this registry is publically available and easy to access by simply entering the first and last name. The app must screen every babysitter by scanning their name through the registry to find out if they have been involved in a sexual offense.
7.SSN/ SIN Trace
This is a screening test that compares the babysitter’s social security number (SSN) they provided with public records to identify any incongruities. In case the names and addresses do not match, the babysitter could be using a bogus name.
8.Licensed Private Investigator Developed Screening Process
The app should also have an option where the parents can run a Licensed Private Investigator Developed Screening check on their chosen babysitter. The check will verify all the details of the babysitter including their profile, past experience, criminal history, and more. This will offer the parents complete peace of mind.
9.Criminal And Civil History Search
Investigating a babysitter’s criminal and civil history can verify both good behaviors or reveal activity that could pose a threat to the children or their family. These checks verify if the babysitter is listed in the national criminal database of the specific country. If the babysitter has lived overseas, it might be worthwhile reviewing for criminal records in those countries as well.
The check will provide important details about the babysitter, such as if they have committed a felony, were an inmate or on probation, have any criminal offense history, etc.
What Team Structure Is Needed For Babysitter-Nanny Finder App?
It is important to understand that building a marketplace is a technically difficult procedure. Merely having some basic knowledge of frontend development is not enough. And for this reason, you need to have a good and knowledgeable app development team in place.
You are no longer restricted to working with in-house employees. You can outsource your development requirements to a good app development agency that works with a reliable and tech-savvy team.
To build a resourceful on-demand babysitter finding app, you need to have a team that comprises the following professionals
- Project Manager
- iOS/ Android Developers
- UI/UX Designer
- QA Analysts
- Testers
How Much Does It Cost To Develop Babysitter-Nanny Finder Mobile App?
This is perhaps the most popular question among people who wish to build a resourceful babysitter and nanny-finding app. However, it is almost impossible to define the cost of developing such an app. This is because it depends on several factors, such as:
To build a resourceful on-demand babysitter finding app, you need to have a team that comprises the following professionals:
- Choice of app development platform
- Features and functionalities integrated
- APIs and third-party integrations
- The complexity of the UI/UX design
- Size and location of the app development company
Taking these factors into consideration, the approximate cost of developing an on-demand babysitter-finding app may range between $6,000 and $10,000. However, if you enhance the functionalities, the cost of development may also go up.
Wrapping Up
For working parents, babysitter finding apps are a gift. These apps encourage parents to focus on their responsibilities and partake in their own stuff without worrying about their children. Thus the babysitting is a huge industry with an on-demand business model showcasing the immense potential for market growth.
If you are starting a business and looking to develop an on-demand babysitter-finding app to help parents hire reliable caretakers, you must connect with a reputed mobile app development company. They will help you streamline your idea and kick-start the development process.