Today, the working parent has multiple tasks to juggle, and managing childcare can be difficult when needing flexibility. Currently, options for backup childcare are expensive and not always immediately accessible. NMT spoke to Sam Elliott, founder of Daycare SOS about how his industry solution can deliver quick and effective backup childcare and help nurseries

Firstly, can you share some information about your background and how you came to creating Daycare SOS?

My background was in finance and Daycare SOS came about from seeing a problem that many of my colleagues, and it turned out, the wider parent community faced. They would be unable to come into work because their existing childcare had fallen through: A nanny off sick or grandparents away on holiday. This led me to identify another group of parents who sat on the other side of the issue. They would go away on holiday and still be paying for a nursery space that they were not using – it’s completely understandable for nurseries to do this as they need to remain sustainable but it has been a long running gripe of parents. This then led me to identify the final group, the nurseries themselves. Why could it not be that the parent, who was unable to come into work, and lived in the same town as the parent who was going away on holiday, use their space? That way they would be able to utilise a trusted childcare provider with the upmost confidence and at the same time the parent who is not using their space could be helped with wearing the cost. The great benefit for the nursery here is that they are able to generate extra revenue but still retain all of the existing parents fees paid and create a new cashflow from the covering child coming in.

With Daycare SOS you are entering a new market. How did you approach this?

It was important to investigate what competitors were doing in the marketplace and what the gaps were. I realised that many parents couldn’t come into work because their childcare had fallen through, be it a relative or nanny.

For too long parents have not had a reliable backup solution. There is no better an option than the Ofsted registered nursery in their local area. Nurseries themselves are under increasing pressure from high operating overheads and needing the revenues to cover them and remain viable. Daycare SOS is extremely proud that it is the first service that truly helps all involved: A cost effective option for parents in need of care, the existing parents are thrilled that they have the possibility of some of their fees being worn if they aren’t there, and finally, the nursery is able to take advantage of non-attendance and any spare capacity they may have as an additional revenue stream.

I have a personal drive as well. I was made godfather twice, and potentially it went to my head, so was aware of my friend’s problems with childcare. One from Sussex was going away on holiday with his wife and three children and I asked what would happen with their nursery spaces and they advised that they would still have to pay for the days they wouldn’t be attending. That’s when it struck me: Colleagues would not be able to come into work because their regular childcare had fallen through (nanny/grandparent), and I wondered why my friend’s space, from going away on holiday, couldn’t be made available for the colleagues child to take?! At the same time helping them wear the cost from not using it!

I then had to go through the difficult process of ripping the idea apart; which you must do. You have to try to invalidate the model and find its flaws. However, at every conclusion I came to the concept remained and was still viable.

How do you set yourself apart from competition in the market?

The competition at the time, associated with another nursery group, looked to fill nurseries spare capacity ad-hoc. However, a request had to be submitted to book a space and parents had to wait for a response. If booked in the evening after working hours or at the weekend a reply would then have to be waited for till working hours commenced again – be that the next working day or on the Monday. The solution I had was going to be instant.

Last minute care, historically, has never suitable. A nursery is the best option in any scenario – Ofsted registered with highly trained carers, and other children to socialise with, is also extremely good for the child. With these needs being met we, as I have discussed, are also meeting the needs of existing parents and shedding the nursery in a caring and helpful light. All of this at the same time is helping the nurseries in many ways: Increasing their attendance from both absenteeism and spare capacity, helping their existing parents whilst being more attractive to prospective parents who want Daycare SOS offered and finally as being a lifeline to the local community in need of care.

These parents will know their local nurseries and most likely parents at them. Therefore, having a space available at these settings is ideal and gives them great comfort.

How did conversations with investors go?

I’ve been doing this for over two years and Covid-19 slowed everything down but getting investment was difficult because they wanted nurseries to be onboard and without a platform it was tricky to get nurseries to sign-up. Very much a chicken-and-egg scenario that many new businesses face.

I got very lucky with two large nursery groups who believed in the idea and said that they would use the platform if I built it. I took that back to my investors and one of them agreed to invest. Of course, once one investor joins, the rest start to look at why and more came along. I do own the majority of the company, but the investors have allowed me to continue with this ground-breaking offering.

Tell me why nurseries should use the service and what they are missing by not?

Daycare SOS charges no upfront costs or subscription fees. The service is completely free to use. We are also helping nurseries become more attractive to prospective parents as they start to see Daycare SOS as a pre-requisite when selecting permanent care for their child. Our system in itself acts as a live portal for the child’s attendance – a parent is incentivised to make their space available online which frees up a nurseries phone lines, whilst also meaning they do not need to chase any unforeseen absenteeism’s and it saves the parents time too. We are, at the same time, looking to help nurseries convert any regular bookings into permanent places – our intention here is to see nurseries increase their attendance levels as much as they can.

Another thing I’d like to add is that this solution allows the nursery staff to focus solely on caring and educating the children attending. If we can free up time that is normally spent on absences or admin, that will be a massive help to staff and the children.

We want to be in partnership with nurseries and connect with more across the UK. We have veered away from the approach used by bigger corporations that make you sign complex contracts. Nurseries work with us because they love our platform and the dedication we have to helping them. All the nurseries we work with know I am available 24/7 with any questions they have.

What sort of feedback have you had from nurseries who are now using the service?

Nurseries are finding the platform extremely easy to use. We have invested a lot of time and resources into ensuring that the offering is the very best it can be. We were able to do this by seeking the advice of nurseries in the marketplace who explained the issues they saw and what they wanted from the product – so we built it! It is wonderful to get such positive feedback and have them refer us to others they know in the community.

What are your goals for this year?

Daycare SOS has already partnered with some fantastic nurseries who have helped us to produce a platform that meets the needs of our audience and truly is to the benefit of everyone involved.  We are onboarding more and more who see the opportunity in our offering and are speaking with parent groups to reach/make aware those who are in desperate need of our service.

Away from the specific objectives of the platform we are also currently working with some ground-breaking offerings in the space that are looking at child development and parent welfare. In doing so we are positioning ourselves to be part of that ecosystem and a service that is highly regarded through its objectives and mission of truly being to the benefit of all.

We are extremely proud of what we have achieved to date and are excited for the future. Going forward; we plan to take Daycare SOS to even more nurseries and parents in the UK and welcome them to let us know where they need us.

For more information, contact [email protected]