Childcare waiting lists are the bane of many a parent. Unfilled vacancies can be a source of frustration for childcare providers.
However, a new website started by an entrepreneurial Aussie dad could signal the end of time-consuming, frustrating searches for a vacant childcare spot, providing a means for centres to advertise their vacancies online.
Lachie Neilan recently launched EenieMeenie, which he hopes will develop into a national database of childcare information, vacancies and reviews at parent’s fingertips.
For parents, it allows them to select the childcare centre that best suits their needs at the click of a mouse, and for carers, it provides a free vacancy listing along with a one-page profile.
Lachie said he came up with the idea when looking for temporary childcare for his own young children.
”Our regular babysitter was away on holiday, and both of us had to work – we just needed something temporarily but it was so hard to find what we needed,” he said.
“It was frustrating and time consuming and I needed to be able to find something quickly.
“I felt like it shouldn’t be this hard, and that surely there should be one online hub where parents could find temporary or permanent vacancies that suited them.”
Lachie said feedback amongst other parents had been positive – and so, too, has it been from the childcare providers themselves.
“Often, childcare centres have temporary vacancies, or vacancies for one day a week, which they can’t advertise very well,” he said.
“Using EenieMeenie, they can go onto the site and update when they have vacancies. When the vacancy is filled, it will automatically update that on the site – so centres can easily fill spots, even if it is for a vacancy of a few weeks.”
The best news for centres is that the listing is completely free until a parent books a space through EenieMeenie – there is no retainer fee.
Until the end of March, Lachie is even taking away the commission fee, meaning centres will pay nothing for their profile page and vacancy listing, even if those vacancies are filled through the website.
“I really want to encourage people to jump on board and see what we have to offer,” he said.
“This way, we can get everyone on board and familiar with the system, so they can see how easy it is to use and how effective the process is.”
Having just launched recently, Lachie has already had interest from a number of childcare centres as well as parents.
“Since I have mentioned the idea, I have a lot of parents asking me ‘is that site up yet’, so I know there is a need there,” he said.
Lachie plans to spend the coming months spreading the word that finding a childcare vacancy could really be as easy as eenie, meenie, miney, mo.
Visit the EenieMeenie site at www.eeniemeenie.com.au.
For further information, interviews or images please contact:
Lauren Gallagher
Elevate Communication Executive
07 3286 3333
lauren@elevatecom.com.au
Coverage:
The Courier-Mail: Brisbane dad reckons his Eenie Meenie website is the Wotif of childcare (Emma Williams, The Courier-Mail online, 10 March 2015)
Brisbane Business News: Cracking the $9B childcare code (Laura Daquino, Brisbane Business News online, 20 March 2015)
Tags: Eeenie Meenie, Childcare
