How to Start a Nanny Agency (That Stands the Test of Time)

Starting a nanny agency is more than pairing families with caregivers, it’s about creating a business that reflects your values, serves your community, and builds a lasting legacy. As the founder of Preferred ChildCare (PCC) and a business consultant who has helped over 400 agencies grow sustainable and profitable businesses, I have seen what works (and what doesn’t) when it comes to starting and scaling a nanny agency. It is about becoming a trusted voice in your community. A long-lasting agency starts with thoughtful intention and purpose.

1. Define Your Foundation

Before you place your first nanny or design your logo, take a moment to define the “why” behind your business.

Discover Your Why
Why are you starting this agency? What is your purpose and reason for being an entrepreneur? One of my favorite authors, Simon Sinek, defines your why as “The contribution you make to the world. It encompasses both your professional and personal purpose.” Your purpose will guide your decisions, attract the right clients, and keep you going on hard days. Some of my favorite ‘why’s’ from clients have been “to improve the lives of families, especially my own” and “to allow myself the flexibility and freedom to watch my children grow from the front row.”

Align Your Business with Your Life
What do you want this agency to create for you? Maybe you want more freedom, more impact, or more financial stability? Or maybe you want all three? As you go through your entrepreneurship journey, your goals and motivations will evolve, but the key is staying connected to them. When you build with intention, your agency becomes more than a job—it becomes a vehicle for the lifestyle and legacy you desire. Oftentimes, agency owners get so busy working in the business that they forget why they started it and the lifestyle they were seeking when they started. Check in with yourself often to ensure you are making decisions that align your business with your life.

Establish Your Core Values
Values like integrity, communication, and compassion will shape every policy, every placement, and every conversation. They will help you bring the right clients and candidates to your agency and give you a compass for decision-making. When you know your 'why,' your business becomes more than a service—it becomes a mission. Your core values will also guide hiring decisions, client onboarding, and marketing strategies.

2. Understand the Market

Target Market Analysis
This is the most important factor in ensuring you build a successful nanny agency. If you can fully understand your target market clients, what is important to them, and their problems, then you can create a unique solution that speaks directly to them. “Families with young children in (insert your city)” are not a target market. Do not be afraid to narrow it down and ask the right questions to understand a specific type of family and their needs. If you try to serve everyone, you will speak to no one. For example, Balanced Babysitting in Pennsylvania specializes in offering child care for special needs children. She often has a waitlist of parents trying to join!

Understand the Mindset of Families
First-time nanny employers need education and reassurance. Experienced families may come with skepticism from past negative experiences. Ask behavioral and motivational questions to help families open up and discover what their individual needs are so you can find the best solution. Make sure you do not fall into the trap of thinking you know what is best for them. Listen to what they want and need, and then guide them to finding the right fit.

Thoughtful Pricing Strategy
Start with services that are both needed and profitable. Listen to your target market’s problems and create solutions that solve those problems. Then make sure your pricing reflects your positioning and long-term goals. If your target market is high-net-worth families, they may overlook your services if you are offering bargain prices. Understanding your market helps you craft messaging that resonates and attracts the right families. It also gives you the edge when designing packages and anticipating client needs.

3. Build Repeatable Processes

Once we have a solid foundation, I immediately work with clients to start documenting their processes. Documenting your processes sets your agency up for future delegation and scalability. Clear systems create a dependable client and candidate experience from day one.

Client Registration & Onboarding
Make it seamless. A clear, consistent client journey creates better experiences, builds trust, and leads to more referrals. As a service-based business, your process is part of what you're selling—how it feels to work with you matters just as much as the final result. Streamlining onboarding eliminates bottlenecks and ensures every family receives the same high-quality care and attention, every time.

Candidate Recruitment & Screening
Finding quality candidates is easier than it seems. You want to have a quality ATS (Applicant Tracking System) in place to keep track of where candidates are in the process. Similar to your target market analysis, you should perform a candidate analysis to highlight the specific qualities your ideal candidates possess, such as professionalism, responsiveness, passion and excellent references. When your team knows exactly who you're looking for and follows a defined process to find them, you can maintain quality and deliver matches that feel effortless to the client.

Matching & Placement Process
Your matching strategy is where the magic happens. Consider values, parenting styles, and home dynamics. Learning what personalities naturally work well together and matching backgrounds and communication styles are some of the ways to help ensure the right fit. Consistency here means presenting reliable candidates every time, and reliability builds a great reputation!

4. Set Up Your Business the Right Way

Get Organized
There are a lot of moving pieces within a nanny agency. Most nanny agency owners wear many different hats, such as recruiter, client coordinator, receptionist, reference checker, social media manager, bookkeeper, financial officer, scheduler, and more. Starting with the end goal in mind and documenting your systems, workflows, and processes is one way to ensure success. Getting organized is another. You can use free tools like Google Drive for clear folder systems or Trello for online project management. There are numerous general and industry-specific customer relationship management (CRM) options and applicant tracking softwares (ATS) to help automate and streamline your processes. You can review our 2025 Tech Guide to learn more about some of them.

Understand Your Financials
Your financials are the dashboard for your business. They tell you what's working, what needs adjusting, and when it's time to scale or pivot. When you know your numbers, you run your agency with confidence instead of fear (even during uncertain times). You also use your finances to set Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), which help you and your team stay motivated and on track for your goals. Knowing your finances allows you to budget wisely and save up for taxes or slower seasons to avoid cash gaps. Most importantly, understanding your finances ensures you are adequately pricing your services for profit and the desired gross margins.

Build a Digital Presence
Design a user-friendly website, optimize for SEO, and create compelling content. Don't forget local SEO—optimizing your site for your city and surrounding areas helps ensure families find you when searching for nearby childcare services. If budget allows, we highly recommend the services of Karima Creative. If you are more of a DIY bootstraps owner than ensure to use templates inside your website builder, or we recommend 23&9 Designs, which offers incredible training videos with your template. Your website is your virtual calling card and should encourage the visitor to take action, whether that’s registering with you to find care, applying to become a caregiver, reading your blog, etc.

Final Thoughts from a Consultant Who’s Walked This Road

Launching a nanny agency isn’t just about loving children or being great at matching families—it’s about intention, clarity, and systems. With the right foundation, smart strategies, and making decisions that align with your values, you can create a business that brings value to families, meaningful work to caregivers, and fulfillment to you.

If you're ready to go beyond the blog and into a step-by-step blueprint, our brand new Agency Atelier Program helps new agency owners set up and launch successfully, with tools, templates, and support every step of the way. Great agencies are built one thoughtful decision at a time. Every step you take now builds the foundation for becoming the trusted voice your community’s child care needs. Trust your intuition, stay aligned with your mission, and surround yourself with mentors who believe in your vision. We are rooting for your success!