How solving the pain of finding a babysitter became a profitable Australian startup

• An app called Sittr connects parents with qualified child minders.

• All the sitters are screened, with one in 20 rejected.

• Sittr is now talking to companies about offering the service as a perk to employees.

Husband and wife team James and Samantha McKinnon created a profitable startup by solving and age-old problem, and one they had with their own three children — how to get a reliable babysitter.

But the vision they had for Sittr, an app, founded in 2014 didn’t go to plan.

“We had the plan that we’ll launch something, get a bit of traction and then VCs will be jumping in and throwing money at us,” James told Business Insider.

“But it didn’t quite happen like that. So, we made a conscious decision to make this a cash flow positive business and that’s where we are at right now.”

Like many, they didn’t have a lot of family support and struggled to find the right care for their children.

“We felt that families deserve a better way to find child carers whether they are looking for a full time nanny, a casual babysitter or a night out while on holidays,” says James. Read more

Chris Pash - Business Insider Australia - 12 Nov 2018