KEY POINTS:
One of the drawbacks of life as an entrepreneur is that if you are hit by a bus, so is your business.
But Cecilia Hall and James Robinson have built a robust structure around their company, Au Pair Link, to ensure it's here to stay.
Au Pair Link matches New Zealand families with live-in nannies from across the world, promoting cultural exchange and, as Hall puts it, preventing divorce.
The business idea came to Hall in the middle of the night late in 2006 - she couldn't sleep because she missed her little American girls so much.
Hall, a Swede, had worked as an au pair for a young family in the United States, before moving to New Zealand. She was juggling her law study with a job in human resources, but decided to take a "leap of faith" and pour everything into forming a professional au pair agency.
European and American families are well-used to employing au pairs and there are several international organisations matching young travellers with families who could use an extra set of hands around the house.
Given that New Zealand is such a popular travel destination, Hall was surprised to find it relatively uncommon for families here to take on an au pair.
In January last year she approached a handful of "guinea pig" au pairs who had listed themselves with online agencies, and successfully matched them with New Zealand families.
From that point the business "snowballed".
Her fiancee Robinson came on board as her business partner, working on the marketing and operational side.
His previous involvement with business growth programme The Icehouse helped secure Au Pair Link a place as an incubator business.
It started generating a profit within six months. Its income comes from the families, who pay to register with the service, then pay a placement fee when they are matched up with an au pair.
Hall attributes the rapid growth to the fact that Au Pair Link is the only organisation in New Zealand and Australia to join the International Au Pair Association, and it must adhere to stringent criteria to remain a member.
This gives families confidence in the business, as well as knowing that all candidates are interviewed, registered and trained in first aid, rather than recruited blindly.
Robinson and Hall also had to build awareness and support for the au pair concept in New Zealand.
"Internationally, particularly in America and Europe, the concept of au pair is ubiquitous. In New Zealand with research we did, 90 per cent of people know what it is but none of them would consider it when looking at childcare options," Robinson says.
The couple developed a proposition for families to explain what an au pair would bring to their household: an extra pair of hands, convenience, cost-effective childcare and cultural exchange.
Robinson says Kiwis have responded positively because they like to think of themselves as travellers, and employing an au pair is a way of introducing their children to other cultures.
And as the au pair lives with the family, it is also considerably less expensive than paying a nanny an hourly rate.
Au Pair Link recruits child carers from Britain, France, Italy, Germany and soon Canada. Over the past six months it has worked on forming partnerships with similar international agencies such as the Swedish Institute, which now interviews the Swedish candidates for Au Pair Link.
There are 87 child minders placed in New Zealand families, and the business now employs 10 staff - including both Hall and Robinson's mothers.
Robinson says the focus is now on scaling up the business to cope with future demand.
By opening three new offices, building partnerships and training new staff, the company is preparing to bring 1000 au pairs into New Zealand over the next three years.
That also allows Hall's dream of the business carrying on without her dictating every move.
"One year ago if I had been hit by a bus the business would be finished.
"Now I'm passing on that knowledge," she says.
Au pair duties:
* Waking children, getting them dressed.
* Bathing/showering them, according to family guidelines.
* Preparing children's meals.
* Helping children tidy their rooms.
* Taking children to school and activities.
* Playing with children, helping with homework, enforcing family rules.
* Washing and organising children's clothes.
www.aupairdownunder.com
