21 locations in 7 states - Opened in 2011, franchised in 2017 Twinkle Toes Nanny Agency (TTNA) Extends Web App Functionality
TTNA is a multi-state franchise based in Gainesville, Florida that provides its families with safe, quality, cost-effective childcare. Founder Kristy Bickmeyer was a nanny herself for many years before launching Twinkle Toes when her needs weren’t being met by local agencies. "I knew that if I was having this issue, other moms were too. There had to be a better way to help moms find reliable childcare." When the company's needs outgrew their existing web application, Twinkle Toes turned to Ambitious Web Services for a fresh, robust solution.
The Problem
In any service business, relationships are the key to satisfied customers and happy employees. Without a cohesive, efficient system to manage billing, payroll and other time-consuming tasks, little time was left for franchise managers to spend cultivating the all-important relationship building required to drive sales by earning families’ trust and offering dependable, quality nannies. "For the first 5 years of my business I had to travel everywhere with a HUGE laptop so that I could stop what I was doing and email documents to nannies and families when I needed to. Then on invoicing and payroll days, I had to use 3 different subscription websites to manually enter all of the information to make sure families were billed and nannies were paid. This was a 10 hour a week task."
The Solution
Ambitious Web Services proposed a custom solution that would allow billing and payroll to be accomplished through an innovative concept: one API that could process credit card and ACH debit charges, ACH credit payments and handle franchisee distributions. "I knew what I wanted my system to do, but I couldn’t find anything like it on the market. I spoke to a lot of companies and developers who all claimed to be able to help, but when we got into the weeds of it, they were too limited. I eventually met Marilyn and Jeff who were able to take what I had in my head and make it a functional, efficient, and accurate system that has added value to my company and hours of saved time back to my life." Additionally, nannies would be able to fill out weekly timesheets online, manage payment and tax information and set notification preferences for email/texts. Families would have the ability to view/manage invoices, set payment information and notification preferences for email/texts. Automating as many business processes as possible would allow those running the company the time required to manage current locations as well as develop new territories.
Conclusion
Ambitious Web Services delivered a solution that has improved efficiency, streamlined business functions and will allow for future growth and the changes that come with success. When asked how Ambitious Web Services has helped grow her business, Bickmeyer said... "The system that they built for me does absolutely everything I need to run my business. It saves countless hours and makes running a Twinkle Toes so, so easy. The fact that it’s a custom system, proprietary to Twinkle Toes, adds immense value to my franchise system as well. It’s the secret sauce that allows us to be the industry leaders."
