1. Know Your Business – Thoroughly.
Your knowledge of your industry, and your market, are the first keys to success. You need to know:
- What services are you offering?
- How will your clients benefit from using your services vis a vis alternatives?
- Why are your services better than the competing services?
- Who are your customers? Do you have buyer personas? What is it about your client that makes them want your? Do they all have common characteristics that make them more likely to buy from you? This is your target market, the key to attract clients and expand your client base is marketing to them, and just to them. Focus on this target market, don’t waste time and money on costly “scatter shot” approaches.
- How will you sell your services to your target market? Will they call you? Visit your website? Respond to an offer of a ‘free guide’? Your marketing efforts need to be directed toward reaching prospective clients in the places they are. Put your nanny referral agency in front of prospective clients to increase your visibility in the marketplace. INA member Rosalind Prather offered many practical suggestions in her Moneyless Marketing workshop at the INA’s recent Annual Conference in Los Angeles (yet another great reason to attend conference!).
The INA is committed to helping its nanny agency members answer these questions and be successful. This INA Weekly Brief, our INA Annual Conference and our Nanny Agency Marketing Tool-it (FREE!) all help you intimately understand nanny agency marketing, the nanny industry, and help you apply what you know. You must learn everything you can about the nanny industry and your clients to maximize your probability of success.
2. Keep Good Financial Books – or Get a Great Accountant.
Great bookkeeping and understanding financial metrics is what will make or break your business. A professional accountant who specializes in working with and coaching small businesses is a great asset – and if you can scrape together the budget you should get one. Fast. All small business owners should learn to read financial statements and balance sheets, ask lots of questions, and evaluate your financial situation and metrics with those of your peers. Failure to understand, track and adjust financial metrics is a key reason many new nanny referral agencies fail.
A good accountant/financial coach can be found through networking, and due to the intimate nature of this relationship you should shop and interview until you find one with the background and personal chemistry that works with you.
3. Great Contracts are Created by Knowledgeable Lawyers.
Agencies who attend INA Annual Conferences routinely report that well thought out client contracts are a work of art, and invaluable to both the smooth financial operation of your nanny referral agency and the satisfaction of clients. INA member Bob King Esq. is one of our most popular conference speakers for good reason – he ‘gets’ the household staffing industry and totally understands the key elements of an iron-clad client contract. You nanny referral agency may have other legal needs – partnership agreements, corporate documents, and lease agreements to name a few. Network – both within the nanny industry and in your local small business community – and find the legal talent that will allow you to focus your efforts on sales and revenues, not contract disputes.
4. Network and Stay Informed.
Attend the INA Annual Conference, download our Nanny Agency Marketing Guide, host nanny workshops, network with other local business owners (particularly those who are marketing to your target market) and subscribe to the INA Weekly Brief. Keep your finger on the pulse of the nanny industry, childcare issues both local and national, and small business concerns. The competitive landscape is constantly changing, and you want to be in front of these changes to maximize your revenues and profits.
5. Plan For Retirement and Develop your Nanny Agency Exit Strategy.
Think ahead: While your agency is running at full steam right now, one day you’ll be ready to sell your business and retire. Or perhaps you’ll just hand the day-to-day decisions over to someone else. The INA’s Nanny Agency Exit Strategy Guide (FREE!)
will help you plan for these life transitions, so you either have the resources to finance your next business venture, or retire on a beach in Miami. You own your own nanny referral agency – and planning for your future is part of your job! It isn’t rocket science yet all to many small business owner fail to make any plans for their own exit and financial future.
I am a 20+ year nanny industry veteran. I have seen many successful nanny agencies, and sadly more than a few that have been rising starts only to crash and burn. Your success is only limited by your imagination and motivation. Put some time aside weekly to focus on these 5 keys to a successful nanny referral agency – don’t be all consumed by the myriad demands of your clients, your family, and your employees. I strongly encourage you to consider an annual sabbatical – attend the INA Annual Conference, learn from your peers, expand your industry network, focus on tomorrow instead of today, and return to your business with new skills, knowledge and most of all enthusiasm.
A special thank you to INA member Kathleen Webb for contributing this article.
Kathy is the co-founder and President of HomeWork Solutions, a leading household payroll and payroll tax compliance service, and a member of the International Nanny Association since 1993.
Kathy serves on the INA Board of Directors as Co-President and chairs the Governmental Affairs committee.