Arranging babysitting anno 2021

It takes a lot of guts to decide to start your own business at a young age. However, for 29-year-old Lyla Kok, entrepreneurship was instilled by her entrepreneurial parents. Together with her twin sister Jasmijn, she founded the babysitting app Nanny Nina. You might know thisNew Kid from her participation in the program Dragons Den in which she brought Shawn Harris on board as an investor with 300,000 euros.Text: Fleur de JongTheidea of Nanny Nina is to arrange babysitting suitable for 2021. This means that parents can post a request for a regular babysitter or just for an evening. Then Nanny Nina searches for 1 to 3 screened babysitter profiles who are available and meet client requirements. No more hassle with cash, as parents can simply pay via the app. Where babysitting often falls between shore and ship, as a babysitter with this company you are also just insured to work. The investment of dragon Shawn Harris comes in handy, because July 1, Nanny Nina will go live in 3 other countries.

What is your personal USP?

''Nice question! I think, like my twin sister Jasmijn, I think it is very important for people to be in their strength in what they do. If you are doing what you are good at and can also learn extra, in my eyes you are a happy person. This is something we pay a lot of attention to with our company and on which we base many of our choices." 

What can the older generation of entrepreneurs learn from you?

''I think being able to learn things is not necessarily tied to age. That almost sounds a little disrespectful. For example, I can learn a lot from an older generation of entrepreneurs. I have also really learned a lot from, for example, my father and mother who are also both entrepreneurs. But if I really have to mention something, it might be the importance of SEO; being organically findable online. How to get this done and the importance of social media channels in that. New ones are added all the time, so you're never done setting up and keeping your SEO strategy up to date properly."

Who is your teacher or inspiration in the entrepreneurial field?

"That's Shawn Harris, our investor who we met through the TV show Dragons Den. Shawn has made a company incredibly big herself, by working very, very hard, but also by making smart choices and thinking big. And she teaches us that too, her perspective is tremendously inspiring and we learn a lot from her. Shawn has been through a lot and she helps us not to make the same mistakes. When we have difficult issues, we like to call Shawn. She has the skills to get something that we find really complex and that we can spend days worrying about clear in 1 sentence (sometimes even just via Whatsapp)."

What is your motto or quote?

I actually have 2 mottos: 'Life is short and yours, make of it what you want.' And 'Do what makes you happy. Money really isn't that important.' "

What is the biggest entrepreneurial risk you have taken so far?

"Funny enough, it seems very logical now, but the biggest risk for me was quitting my job at Zodiac Aerospace. I had a very nice job there. Another risk was doing a crowdfund campaign totaling 100,000 euros, which was a loan. Jasmine and I really don't like borrowing, especially from friends, but in retrospect it was the best choice ever!"

Where will you be in 3 years?

"We will go live July 1 in three new countries: Spain, Belgium and Ireland. These are our testing grounds. We need to learn how it works in these countries with babysitting payments, laws and regulations and the demand for childcare. These things are very culture-dependent. If everything goes well, in 3 years we will be in at least 12 countries, with both nannies and au pairs. I hope to have 10% growing turnover every month (we had this pre-Corona in the Netherlands as well). I also hope that with Nanny Nina I will be the go to company for nannies. There is no international player for a childcare app yet, in 3 years we will have closed that gap with our company, not only in Europe, but also in for example South America and Australia.

Perhaps in three years our team will also be expanded with international colleagues who know the local market in these countries well. For now, we are trying the first three countries from our headquarters in Haarlem with country captains who will kick-start these areas. "Do you know or are you a successful young entrepreneur who also deserves a spot in the spotlights? Then email Fleur de Jong(fleur@mastershq.nl) for the possibilities.Click here for new kid Tom Brokking of the new app JUMPTHE-Q.