Editorial

Award-winning franchise provides peace of mind to working parents

As working parents know, one of the greatest challenges to succeeding in a career is managing to balance the demands of a job with the needs of a family. There is perhaps no greater stress to a working mother than the maternal pull to stay home with a sick child while knowing that a missed deadline at work will be detrimental to her career.

Joe Keeley, President and CEO of College Nannies & Tutors, developed a business that helps parents by providing highly screened and trained nannies that can help with a variety of Child Care tasks. Better yet, this is a Franchise opportunity available to savvy entrepreneurs who want to help their friends and community while taking charge of their own career growth.

College Nannies & Tutors actually has two income streams available. The nanny staffing business could be home-based, making it perfect for an at-home mom. A franchisee can also add the tutoring component, which provides individualized tutoring from college students and teachers to school-age children at a centralized learning center. Since the whole process of matching families with nannies and tutors relies heavily on proprietary technology, either or both businesses can be run initially by just the franchisee or perhaps with an additional employee.

“This business is all about flexibility and customization,” says Keeley. “Our nannies can be available for after school, summers only, full-time or occasional use, such as when a child is sick. Tutoring is also very customized. Unlike the big box tutoring centers, our tutors work one on one with the student, whether she needs help in a particular subject or help preparing for college.”

To ease the minds of concerned parents, Keeley assures that the nannies provided are better screened and trained than most parents would be able to do. Before being hired, potential nannies receive both online and personal interviews. They must have a background in child care and many are interested in related fields as a career, such as teaching and child development. College Nannies & Tutors will do extensive reference and background checks – everything from criminal to motor vehicle to sexual assault records. Additionally, the training provided includes first aid and CPR and there are also online classes that must be completed before a nanny is certified.

“I believe we are the only company providing this service,” says Keeley. “College Nannies & Tutors franchisees are employers of the nanny and provide such services as tax withholding, and carrying workman’s compensation and liability insurance. The family pays by credit card for the hours of service provided, which eliminates billing and carrying an account.”

An additional benefit for parents is that College Nannies & Tutors actually does an extensive profile of both the nanny and the family before the match is made. Much like an online dating service, the interests, needs and talents of each are taken into consideration. Why? Well, that brings us back to Keeley and how the business started.

“While in college I was looking for a summer job and found one taking care of two school age boys who were heavily into hockey. As I was a hockey player, it was a natural fit for me to take care of them, entertain and sometimes referee them. Basically I was a nanny but I liked to call myself a ‘manny.’

“A typical day with the boys might be taking them to their hockey games and watching them play, grilling hamburgers, and then the three of us would play nine holes of golf. It was not a bad life! Because our interests matched so well, it was great experience for the boys and I enjoyed it as well. Meanwhile, friends of the boys’ parents asked me if I had any friends who would be interested in a similar job. My roommates were spending the summer digging holes for swimming pools. They were definitely interested!

“My major was in business so I quickly saw the potential of making this an actual business and also of creating it as a franchise-able venture and that’s how we started the company – with all of the pieces for Franchising developed at the beginning. The project won both local and national awards for entrepreneurship, which in turn attracted a business group in Wayzata, Minnesota who helped with start-up funding.”

College Nannies & Tutors, which has been open for five years, has franchisees in both Minnesota and Arizona (half of whom are women) and is interested in finding franchisees all across the U.S. A typical franchisee has a love of children, a passion for the business and a “can do” attitude, says Keeley. People who immediately get this business are moms who would have loved this service for their families when their children were young and also those with young children who want to help their friends and neighbors.

Business skills are helpful but Keeley says they can also be learned during training, which takes place in Minneapolis for five or seven days, depending on whether the franchisee opts for the nanny portion only or also adds the tutoring business. “This training begins with the creation of a business plan and then covers all operational aspects, such as how to recruit, interview, train and place the nannies,” says Keeley. “We cover all business operations from marketing to accounting. We have a powerful internet site with a proprietary matching system, specifically developed for this business. As soon as we get the franchisee licensed and insured, they can immediately begin placing nannies.”

The College Nannies & Tutors business has been receiving lots of press these days, including a recent article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The company is aligned with several major corporations like 3M and General Mills, who offer their employees information on College Nannies & Tutors as a resource. “Businesses don’t want to lose their star performers,” says Keeley, “and they know how difficult it is for working parents who can’t be in two places at once. They understand the benefit of having a resource to offer their employees—one a parent can trust and depend on.”

Franchisee Laura Davis owns both the placement service and the tutoring business and has been open since October 2004. “I was reading an article about Joe Keeley in local paper and because I had a 12-month-old, child care was a subject which greatly interested me. I immediately gave him a call,” says Davis. “I had a marketing background [she formerly was a marketing executive with Target Corporation] but always wanted to own my own business. Joining College Nannies & Tutors married both my interests in marketing and in child care and development.

“This is a great business, particularly for a women owner,” continues Davis, “because the majority of our contacts are mothers. A woman has often been in the shoes of the new parent and this forms an instant bond between the franchisee and the parent.”

Davis says her business experienced steady growth for the first seven months and then exploded, primarily because word-of-mouth brought her so many new clients. Besides Davis, she employees two women full-time and has an additional part-time employee who works evenings at the learning center. “We will be opening a second learning center this summer,” says Davis, “doubling the size.”

With both a one and three-year-old at home, Davis loves the flexibility she has to spend time with her children – an option she wouldn’t have had if she had stayed in corporate America. “But I also enjoy working and I have two great nannies to help me.”

Davis gives credit to College Nannies & Tutors for the growth of her business. “Joe has been incredibly available and supportive to me, from going on interviews to helping me with operations. He’s been wonderful.”