Finding a babysitter is often a word of mouth business between friends, families and, of course, fellow parents; that is, until this babysitting matchmaker website stepped in. Dubbed UrbanSitter, it nullifies the need for flyers with detachable numbers and provides a social forum for people to post what they want and need in a convenient and easy manner.
Likened to Facebook, this babysitting matchmaker website was founded by Lynn Perkins. Launching a beta version of UrbanSitter in 2011 in San Francisco, she reveals that it has "completed 'hundreds of thousands' of bookings for more than 35,000 sitters and some 75,000 parents nationwide," according to Fast Company. Just recently, the babysitting matchmaker website became open in 50 additional cities. Through this carefully built network, parents can leave their children in trust of strangers with little to no angst.
Why This Trend Is Growing
- Online Babysitter Matching
- The rise of UrbanSitter and similar websites provide efficient and easy matching services for parents and young self-starters looking for babysitting opportunities.
- Social Platform for Parents
- Babysitting matchmaker websites, such as UrbanSitter, create a social community for parents to post their babysitting needs and preferences, opening opportunities for niche marketing and tailored services.
- Trust-based Sharing Economy
- As more parents rely on UrbanSitter and similar platforms to find babysitters, a trust-based sharing economy is developed, presenting opportunities to integrate this idea into other industries such as home-sharing and car-sharing.
Industries Being Reshaped
- Childcare Services
- Babysitting matchmaker websites offer new and innovative ways of connecting parents and babysitters, requiring no intermediaries and presenting cost savings and convenience for both parties.
- E-commerce
- UrbanSitter and other similar websites provide efficient online marketplaces for both parents and sitters, indicating the potential for new business models in the e-commerce industry.
- Sharing Economy
- As trust-based mechanisms are developed through babysitting matchmaker websites, sharing economy industries can look to adopt similar models for their own offerings, promoting safety and positive experiences for users.
