May 3rd through 6th, 2006, Starkey International hosted a conference for Estate Managers, Household Managers, Butlers, Enlisted Aides, Personal Chefs and Personal Assistants serving the Luxury Market. Also in attendance were several agency owners who are also members of the National Alliance of Professional Nanny Agencies:
The National Alliance of Professional Nanny Agencies, (APNA) is 13 years old this year. We have had many volunteers in this organization over the past years. In 1993, at the Boston Strictly Business Conference, the following Agency Owners got together and talked about creating APNA: Denise Collins, Judi Merlin, Floreen Bishop, Allene Fisch, Dee Zarnowski, Joyce Bowe, Amelia Crutcher, Annie Davis, Betty Davis, Susan Dineen and Terri Petracca.
Hiring a part-time nanny seemed like a simple thing to Peggy Seiter. The job she planned to offer — $250 for four afternoons of work a week, plus school holidays — seemed attractive.
But making a deal proved harder than she expected. After interviewing a string of unsuitable candidates, Ms. Seiter, an actuary and mother of two in Rye, N.Y., had to raise her offer to $400 and add a full additional day of housecleaning work to lure the nanny she wanted. “You don’t really reduce your costs very much” by hiring a part-time nanny, she says.
While it is becoming more and more the norm to turn to the internet to find and purchase everyday items and even for more complex things such as “the perfect mate”, it is doubtful that it will ever be a safe place to find a qualified, screened sitter for your children.
by Kevin McCormally
Bernard Kerik seemed straight out of central casting when he was nominated to take over the Department of Homeland Security. Until, that is, we learned that President Bush’s first choice to replace Secretary Tom Ridge couldn’t run his own household legally. Instead of taking on terrorists, tough-guy Kerik was felled by the Mary Poppins tax.
By Sue Shellenbarger
From The Wall Street Journal Online
Of all the touchy issues I’ve covered in my 14 years as a family columnist, none send more parents running for cover than the nanny tax.
Parents are willing to discuss nearly anything, in my experience, except whether they pay the nanny tax: the Medicare, Social Security and other payroll taxes that are required of employers with household workers.
An increasing number of parents aren’t paying such taxes — largely because of the rising cost of child care. Filings of the nanny-tax form, Schedule H, fell 4.9% in 2003 to 239,810. That was down 24% from 1997, implying a high scofflaw rate. The Labor Department counts 746,000 household employees, including nannies and housekeepers; many more doubtless go uncounted.
By Lynn Peterson, President of PFC Information Services, Inc.
Harvard Emeritus Professor, Derek Bok, once said, “If you think education is expensive, consider the cost of ignorance.” By the same token, if you think pre-employment background checks are expensive, consider the cost of placing a nanny with a criminal record. While a typical background check costs only a small portion of the placement fee, placing just one candidate with a serious criminal record has the potential to sink an agency-not to mention the fact that a child could be harmed.
A typical business hears from only 4% of it’s dissatisfied customers. The other 96% just quietly go away and 91% will never come back. That represents a serious financial loss for companies whose people don’t know how to treat customers, and a tremendous gain to those that do.
The National Alliance of Professional Nanny Agencies
POSITION PAPER
September 2003
Taxes and Labor Laws
APNA is committed to informing all agency owners of their responsibilities for encouraging household employers to comply with all relevant tax and labor laws.
APNA member agencies encourage all household employers to pay their employee(s) according to federal and state regulations. It is the responsibility of the employer to pay and treat their employee(s) fairly and professionally in accordance with the Fair Labor Standards Act and Publication 926 (Household Employer’s Tax Guide).
Houston Business Journal - October 20, 2003
ENTERPRISE
The Company Doctor
Scott Clark
When you have a company that specializes in large-ticket items, marketing — or getting your name and product frequent exposure — is one key element of your success. However, the most critical factor is your sales strategy. The best product in the world will go nowhere fast without a carefully-executed, sound sales strategy designed to close the order. There are six pillars that form a solid foundation for a long-term winning strategy. Once you have carefully identified your niche market, if you want the potential to succeed beyond your wildest dreams, include all six of these pillars to support your sales strategy.
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