By Eleni Kretikos, Staff Reporter –
Jan 27, 2003 Updated Jan 27, 2003, 12:00am EST
Two years ago, Jerry and Susan Milwit needed a reliable caregiver for their daughter-to-be.
They also wanted to own their own company.
Now, they have a nearly-2-year-old Molly and a nanny. Not only do they have a nanny, they have a fledgling nanny referral business.
Newborn venture
Launched in 2002, Metropolitan Nannies was created by the telecom- and sales-trained couple who decided to make a change when Susan Milwit got pregnant.
She planned to go back to work after the baby was born. The couple began searching for a nanny … and searching and searching.
“I started asking around to people I knew; no one could give us the go-to agency,” Susan says. “I really wanted a referral. People would say, ‘This one was OK; this one was pretty good.'”
They ended up using an area agency they won’t name, saying they provided adequate service.
“I wasn’t overly impressed,” she recalls. “I remember thinking we could do much better.”
And so, the research began. A business plan began to take form. Conversations were held with out-of-area nanny referral businesses. The child-care woes of friends and friends of friends was noted.
“Everyone we know is having babies,” Susan says. “Everyone they know is having babies. We had so many people coming to us saying, ‘How did you find your nanny? How do you get a nanny?’
“It was all starting to hit home.”
‘Horror stories’
Pat Cascio, president of the International Nanny Association, says that’s how it started for her.
She had three children and decided to return to work when she got pregnant a fourth time. That child was two when she went hunting for a nanny.
“I had seven nannies in my house the first year,” she says. “I found nannies with drug paraphernalia. I had a nanny that drank a bottle of Jack Daniels in four days. Horror stories. Absolute horror stories.”
A 19-year veteran of the nanny referral business, her current company, Morningside Nannies, has been in Houston since 1992. When she started in the business in 1984, she was one of the few nanny referral firms in the area. Now, she estimates that number at 10.
“Today, there are lots of organizations and how-to books and experts; it’s a lot more sophisticated now than in 1984,” Cascio says.
The industry has grown rapidly the last few years, as birth rates climb and the desire for in-home care increases.
RECOMMENDED
RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE
Mansion sale sets price record for Intracoastal in Delray Beach (Photos)
CAREER & WORKPLACE
DBJ Forty Under 40 awards celebration (PHOTOS)
CAREER & WORKPLACE
TBJ reveals 2021 class of Best Places to Work Awards winners (first batch)
In fact, the International Nanny Association (http://www.nanny.org) has created an accreditation test for nannies. Four years in development, the exam assesses skills and knowledge in child care.
“We haven’t looked back once,” Jerry says of the new venture. “We’ve never worked harder and never been happier.”
Metropolitan Nannies offers full-time nannies, part-time nannies and other services, such as babysitting or help for when a child suddenly gets sick.
Parents seeking a permanent nanny fill out a $150 application fee. Metropolitan Nannies gets a percentage (typically, 10 percent) of the first year of the nanny’s annual gross salary as a finder’s fee. The nanny and the family negotiate the salary, which generally amounts to $400 to $600 a week, depending on experience and responsibilities.
“If, for whatever reason, the nanny leaves or doesn’t work out within three months, we replace the nanny for free,” Jerry says.
The Milwits leaned heavily on their sales experience while setting up the company. Getting the word out and getting the company up and running has proven to be a labor-intensive process.
Susan is still working full-time as a global account manager for Cable & Wireless, where she and Jerry met seven years ago. She plans to eventually join her husband in running Metropolitan Nannies. Jerry spent five years with C&W, but most recently left a sales job with Blue Ridge Networks, a security technology company in Chantilly.
They set up an office in the basement of their Reston home and opened one in Reston Town Center. They began to build up their nanny pool and started a Web site, http://www.metronannies.com.
Susan speaks to new moms’ groups. The company advertises in the yellow pages and in local parenting magazines. Jerry attends a slew of networking events � breakfasts, chamber meetings and cocktail hours. He meets with real estate agents, and is doing direct mail campaigns with physician’s offices and law firms.
“I’m starting to get recognized as ‘the nanny guy,'” he says with a laugh. “It’s rare and it’s great for marketing.
“As a new company with strong goals, we can’t afford not to dot the i’s and cross the t’s on everything,” Jerry says. “From a level of service perspective, our follow-up is second to none. A referral from customers is priceless at this point.”
Fertile market
A steady birth rate coupled with population growth generate a never-ending demand for reliable, home-based child care in the region. In Virginia alone, there were nearly 99,000 new births in the year 2000, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.
This booming demand helped the Milwits reach their six-month goals in their first two months in business. They’ve made enough money to cover their startup and monthly expenses. They expect profitability by the end of this year.
They have about 20 parents on the list, and more than 100 available nannies, who have gone through extensive background, health and criminal checks.
The company has a full-time receptionist and contractors who handle the referral services. The paperwork alone is hugely time-consuming, so the Milwits are already in the market for two placement counselors. That will free up time for Jerry to focus on finding more clients. He plans to take their services to corporations.
“We can provide a service that they in turn can provide to their employees,” he says. “It’s a benefit they can offer their employees maybe at a discount and allow them better assurances that employees will be at work.”
The eventual goal: to franchise the company across the country.
“It’s nice to know everything you put into it you’re going to get out of it,” Susan says. “The fruit of your labor are yours and your employees.”
Recent Comments