How to start a nanny agency in South Africa

Children are a very important part of our lives; we often want to make sure that they are in very good hands and well taken care of. This can be a bit difficult if both spouses work a full-time job. Creating a market for nannies. This is a guide on how to start a nanny agency in South Africa.

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Overview

Nannies are very popular with everyone who is part of the middle class and above. This is because most couples/spouses in the middle class are working full-time jobs. It becomes very difficult for them to take care of the baby within their working hours.

This creates a demand for nannies, nannies take the role of parents and take care of the kids, from feeding them to bathing them and everything in between. However, some parents don’t have the resources to do a thorough background check on a nanny. Which creates a market for nanny agencies, whose role is thorough screening of the nannies and placing them in the correct homes.

This is a business with very little barriers to entry, this business can be highly profitable. The start-up costs are fairly low. The role of a nanny agency is to connect parents to the best nannies.

Operating premises

Most nannie agencies operate from home, renting office space can cut heavily into your profits. Another indirect cost of renting an office is the money you will spend on transportation while traveling from home to your office.

It’s often best to set up your office at home, make sure that it looks professional and good enough. You will use it to conduct most of your interviews and meet with potential clients. Renting an office space might come in when your business has scaled to the point that multiple people come to your office each day.

Equipment

This business doesn’t require a lot of equipment to set up, you will need to have a computer, a website, a telephone, standard office supplies and a marketing budget. The website will prove to be very useful when advertising your services. It will act as a lead magnet to employees and your clients.

How to charge customers

Your main customers are the families that are looking for nannies, they are the ones that ultimately pay. You can charge them a flat fee or a percentage of the nanny’s salary. Charging them a flat fee means that you will only charge them once off, while charging a percentage of the nanny’s salary ensures that you will always have a cashflow.

However, bare in mind that charging a percentage comes with the risk that the nanny could be relieved of his/her duties before you have made a significant amount of money. The percentage that you charge should also not be high.

You can make extra money by offering training services to nannies. Train them how to work with children and manage relationships with their employers.

Register your business

Registering a business only costs R125 in South Africa when done through the CIPC. This will also make you more credible and you will also be able to have a business account amongst other benefits.

Marketing a nanny agency

Marketing a nanny agency can prove to be very difficult, cold calling people won’t really work and advertising at the wrong time won’t work too. People look for a nanny when they want one, it would be a waste of advertising spend to advertise to people who already have nannies.

The focus should be on positioning your agency in such a way that it’s first when people are looking for nannies. People generally forget about your adverts when you advertised them at the wrong time.

Your marketing should focus on having as much Google presence as possible. People usually look to Google to solve their problems. Being available on Google will make it easier for people to discover you, which will get you more leads. You can increase your visibility on Google by bidding on AdWords and doing some SEO for your website.

Conclusion

This was a guide on how to start a nanny agency in South Africa. Do you have any thoughts or questions? Comment below.

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