Behind the scenes with CharlyA conversation with Charly about entrepreneurship during corona, new features, and the latest developments

Charly van der Straten looks at the Charly Cares Babysitting App on her phone

It has been a while since we gave our parents & Angels a peek behind the scenes, so it is high time for an update! And who better to do that with than Charly herself. In this interview, she talks about entrepreneurship during corona, new features, and the latest developments. Read on now.

First things first, how is Charly Cares doing now?

“Entrepreneurship is a top-level sport, let alone in a crisis situation. Times of crisis really wake you up and teach you to do things differently, in every area. As a team, despite everything, we maintain a positive outlook and the current situation has only forced us to listen even better to our parents and Babysitting Angels.

After a hectic first period, we have focused on what we at Charly Cares are good at: how we can offer solutions to our parents, especially now. We have noticed that working from home in combination with family life can be very challenging for parents. Our Angels can be of great value to a household by unburdening parents. In addition, we have made the entire organisation and all services corona-proof, so that we can take steps for the future with peace and confidence.”

What solutions exactly are being offered?

A babysitter's profile in the Charly Cares Babysitting App

“Our parents have an even greater need for one familiar face around the house. They want to keep their circle as small as possible. A permanent babysitter at home for a longer period of time is essential to many families. Charly Cares responds to this need by improving our fixed babysitting services. Think of, for example, improving supply and demand, but also introducing our new fixed babysitter profiles. Also think of new services such as extra tasks during a babysitting service, such as cooking and light household chores. Our Angels can also help with homeschooling, so that parents can continue to focus on their work at home, while the Angel temporarily takes over care and education.”

“Our parents have an even greater need for one familiar face around the house. They want to keep their circle as small as possible.”

“We have launched a new feature: Jobboard. Perfect for fixed babysitting requests, when finding an available babysitter for a longer period of time can often be a challenge. You can think of Jobboard as the old-fashioned noticeboard at the supermarket, where parents can pin a note if they were looking for a babysitter. If our Angels see a fixed babysitting service they want to fulfil, they can make an offer. In addition to their own personal selection of Angels, the parents will thus have an even wider choice of Babysitting Angels who want to commit to the fixed babysitting service.'”

“Interesting to see that there is more enthusiasm for fixed babysitting services”

“We have also added a new type of babysitter profile to our Angel network: the fixed Babysitting Angels. This type of Babysitting Angel is characterised by deliberately choosing for a fixed part-time job, at fixed times, over a longer period of time. In addition, these Angels are extra experienced when it comes to helping out in a household, meaning they can handle multiple tasks. Where we previously struggled to find fixed babysitters, it is interesting to see that the crisis has led to increased enthusiasm when it comes to fixed babysitting services. The babysitters need security and regular earnings.”

And what about the future? Can our parents and Babysitting Angels expect even more new things?

“Now that I am expecting a little one myself, I have noticed even more that the need for a familiar face around the house is essential. We are therefore hard at work to expand the long-term solutions for fixed babysitting at home. Just like our different types of babysitting services (last minute, flexible, fixed & after-school). After a successful launch in 7 places in Het Gooi, due to which we are now active in 57 places, we aim to expand our operations to even more cities across the Netherlands.”

Charly van der Straten is expecting and holds a cute romper

Want to know more about the Babysitting App?

In this blog, we talked to the developers of Charly Cares and you can read all the ins & outs of the development of the app. Or download it now and have a look for yourself.