Knappehoofd interviews Amsternannies!

NMintz, the 15-year-old daughter of a wealthy businessman, was done with mediocre babysitters. To prevent other children from also suffering from bad babysitters, she founded her own babysitting company. She has now earned 0,000 and employed several people. If we do this message from NU.nl believe, then the Nanny industry is a lucrative business. High time Evelien and Dorine from Amsternannies to ask everyone about their recently established and successful babysitting service. Syb into the wonderful world of nannies, diapers, tutoring and more!

3, 2, 1, Start: Who are you?

We are Evelien and Dorine. I, Evelien, am 26 years old and studied business administration and worked in the recruitment & selection industry at Studentflex and the High Potential Academy. And I, Dorine, am 29 years old and studied educational sciences and worked as a remedial educationalist (specialist for intensive family support). We both studied in Amsterdam and lived together in a student house.

How did you come to Amsternannies?

During our student days we always babysat, an ideal part-time job. When we were in a playground, parents regularly came to us asking if we could babysit for them or if we knew any nice babysitters who might be willing to do so. Given our large network, this was always easily arranged and we have already linked many nice students to families. When we both started working and had to give up our babysitting families, we founded Amsternannies to at least help them.

We soon received many registrations from new Nannies and families. In addition to our full-time job, we were working late every night and a weekend off was no longer an option. We are certainly not averse to hard work, but Amsternannies continued to grow faster and faster, making it no longer possible to combine it with another full-time job. Since March 1, 2015, we have been working full-time on Amsternannies at the office in De Pijp; what a party!

What was the biggest challenge while setting up Amsternannies?

We started very small with a model that worked well, but it is now difficult to make our model scalable. We now have more than 230 Nannies and 170 families and are growing every week by approximately 5 families and the same number of Nannies. This requires better systems. In order to be able to handle this growth behind the scenes, we are now working on automating our administration. Fortunately, we have many people around us who help us and we become more and more professional. This way we can handle the growth and both Nannies and families remain satisfied.

You are not the first babysitting service in Amsterdam, yet you have an innovative, hip and reliable image. How do you manage that?

Since we are seasoned Nannies ourselves, we know exactly what parents want and need within a (busy) family. This certainly gives us an advantage. In addition, we have an extremely large network of both young families and enthusiastic Nannies. When a family is satisfied with its Amsternanny, it tips neighbors, colleagues, friends, etc. and the same applies to the Nannies. This ensures that Amsternannies is a popular 'brand' among potential Nannies and families. The success of Amsternannies is of course mainly due to all our fantastic Nannies! All Nannies are great: enthusiastic, proactive, experienced and flexible. After every intake interview with our Nannies, we are as happy as a child that she has also chosen to be an Amsternanny. All parents and more importantly, all children, love our nannies!

And is nu.nl's story correct that a lot of money can be made in the babysitting service?

It is a fun and challenging market, full of possibilities. And of course there is money to be made, but we work really hard. We are available 24/7, so a coffee date with our phone on the table is not always pleasant. We are out until late every evening and cover many kilometers on our rickety student bikes. Sometimes we wake up at night wondering whether we have informed the nanny that the babysitting service starts an hour earlier. We have also come to appreciate a relaxed breakfast with a newspaper and a latte macchiato. We regularly receive calls in the morning from a mother who has a sick child at home and therefore cannot go to daycare - or we can arrange a Nanny as soon as possible. So far we have been able to fulfill every request, no matter how last minute! This gives us a tremendous kick again and again. Despite all the stress that it sometimes brings, we think our work and therefore Amsternannies are fantastic!

You were recently at Schiphol for a collaboration with the Office App. You work together with multiple parties, how does that come about?

That's right, an acquaintance of ours asked us to collaborate on this App. A super fun opportunity with a great effect. The App will soon also be offered at the Zuidas and Atlas Arena - an even greater reach within our target group. Through our network we come into contact with many parties with whom we can collaborate. This ranges from a restaurant such as the Harbor Club or the care products for babies NAIVE. It is great fun to be in contact with many (young) entrepreneurs and to brainstorm together! We also regularly attend events for young entrepreneurs.

Would a kind of Tinder for babysitting be something for you?

Of course we have also thought about this, but if there is something truly impersonal - it is of course Tinder. Although we were big fans of Tinder at the time, we notice that our parents and Nannies find the personal attention very valuable. In addition, we are happy to handle the selection process for parents, so that parents no longer have to do this themselves. Parents trust us and enjoy using an Amsternanny selected by us.

Do you notice that many parents find it difficult to hand over their child to an (unknown) nanny?

Especially for families with a first child and therefore a Nanny for the first time, this is of course also very exciting! To ensure a lot of trust, we visit each family for an intake interview. After we have created the family profile with all the family's wishes, we start looking for a suitable Nanny. After an introduction between the two, the Nanny can also spend a day with the parents. In addition, all Nannies come via via, which ensures that our Nannies fit in well with the families.

Do you recommend students to start themselves, or to work for an employer first?

I don't know whether we advise students to do something or not, but we thought it was very valuable to first gain some work experience. This has benefited both of us a lot when setting up Amsternannies. During our studies we did various internships and when we graduated, we worked for an employer for a while. A company that has been around for years, has many employees and has experienced many changes. Companies from which we have learned a lot at a higher level.

Finally, when do you need a babysitter yourself ;)?

Even though we children really want the end, that is not yet possible. We want to give everything for Amsternannies in the coming years. We are bursting with ideas that still need to be implemented. Just the idea that one of us would be out of action for a few months due to maternity leave?! No, not yet!