How An SBA EIDL Loan Grew Destination Sitters During The Pandemic

Yvonne Lane Wonder's journey from necessity to entrepreneurial success with Destination Sitters encapsulates the evolving landscape of childcare solutions. Fueled by her experience struggling to find suitable childcare when she relocated, Lane Wonder recognized a burgeoning market. She founded Destination Sitters in 2008, targeting families traveling or attending events by providing vetted, high-quality sitters.

The company quickly gained traction, earning partnerships with prominent hotel chains and event planners. However, the Covid-19 pandemic posed an existential threat. Leveraging an SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan, she invested in technological infrastructure, enabling automation and digital marketing.

Destination Sitters surpassed pre-pandemic revenue levels. This success story underscores the resilience of women-owned businesses. It highlights their adaptability during challenging times when they have access to funding.

Destination Sitters: A Solution For Families On The Go And Event Planners

After her husband's passing, Yvonne Lane Wonder wanted a change of scenery and relocated from San Francisco to La Jolla. However, her children’s nanny didn’t want to make the move permanently, so finding suitable childcare for her children became a priority.

This personal experience and the projected growth of the global babysitting market (projected to reach $37.5 billion by 2030, according to Polaris Market Research) sparked an idea in Lane Wonder. The decline of extended families, coupled with the rise of dual-income households and women in the workforce was an opportunity.

Recognizing the need for high-quality, vetted childcare for traveling families, Lane Wonder founded Destination Sitters in 2008. Other caregiving services, such as Care.com, often lacked thorough vetting procedures. Destination Sitters established rigorous standards, including DOJ and FBI background checks, child abuse registry checks, reference verification, and mandatory CPR and first-aid certification. Sitters sign confidentiality agreements to ensure clients’ privacy.

Destination Sitters caters to a wide range of needs. Their sitters typically are young women pursuing higher education but include experienced individuals like a 72-year-old grandfather. Sitters also include EMTs, firefighters, educators, and lifeguards, as well as some sitters who specialize in caring for children with special needs or offer additional skills, like proficiency in second languages or teach activities such as swimming or tennis.

Lane Wonder's initial success in five hotels proved that there is a demand for her service. Within 18 months, Destination Sitters partnered with 70 hotels in the San Diego area. A positive experience came from a senior VP at Hyatt, who valued the service while traveling with his family and opened doors to Hyatt locations in other markets. Word spread and luxury hotel chains, like Four Seasons and Ritz Carlton, started referring the company to its guests.

"Destination Sitters is our guest 'go-to' for babysitting services,” said Danielle de Beaubien, Rooms Manager at The Resort at Pelican Hill. “They are quick to respond, dependable, and we consider them an extension of the Resort."

Destination Sitters' services extended beyond traveling families to childcare at weddings. “Their professional sitters check the most important boxes that matter to a mom and dad—background and reference checks, both CPR and first aid certification and so much more,” said Shannon Tarrant, cofounder of Wedding Venue Map.

The company addressed the challenges of managing childcare during special events. “CRF [Cystinosis Research Foundation] hired Yvonne Wonder and her Destination Sitters staff to provide childcare services for parents attending the [Day of Hope] conference sessions,” said Zoe Solsby, VP of CRF. “They welcomed our cystinosis children as their own by sharing creative games, educational art projects, and opportunities to play and have fun with the children who were just like them.”

Destination Sitters provides childcare in a game room during Seattle Seahawks games so players’ wives and girlfriends can enjoy the game.

Yvonne Lane Wonder's story exemplifies the power of identifying a gap in the market and addressing it with a solution that prioritizes safety, reliability, and personalized care. But what happens when a black swan event threatens your company’s very existence?

An SBA EIDL Loan Turned The Pandemic Into Opportunity

The pandemic brought the world to a standstill, and the impact on Destination Sitters was immediate. "No one was traveling or holding events," sighed Lane Wonder. "Business completely dried up." Faced with this unprecedented challenge, she didn't succumb to despair. Instead, she adapted and improved.

An SBA EIDL loan was a lifeline for Destination Sitters. This low-interest loan with flexible repayment terms allowed Lane Wonder to invest in crucial upgrades. Recognizing that no platform could fully meet the company’s needs, she hired freelance developers to build a custom system from scratch.

This new system automated everything from bookings to managing specific child information like medical conditions, allergies, and behavioral concerns. It also included robust security features to safeguard sensitive client data, particularly for celebrity and sports-figure clientele. Additionally, the sitter portal streamlined sitter payments, ensuring prompt payments.

With states and individuals having different Covid protocols, reopening was complicated. However, worried that Destination Sitters might lose Disney as a client when its theme park resorts fully reopened, Lane Wonder reopened, too. While the company had hundreds of sitters pre-pandemic, when it reopened, there were only 40. Locations reopened when they had enough sitters on the roster. Nineteen locations are now open.

Many of the company’s referral relationships left the industry. Lane Wonder became an expert at search engine and social media marketing. The company has already substantially surpassed pre-pandemic revenue levels. It’s adding locations in New York City, Boston, and D.C., so its growth will continue.

Destination Sitters exemplifies the remarkable resilience and growth potential of women-owned businesses. It is one of the 325,200 women-owned employers generating over $1 million, according to The 2024 Wells Fargo Impact of Women-Owned Businesses.* The economic might of women is growing far faster than men’s. While women employers that generate over $1 million have grown faster than men employers during and coming out of the pandemic, men’s share of firms, employment, and revenue still dwarfs that of women.

Key factors that contributed to the resilience of women-owned businesses like Destination Sitters are:

• Adaptability: Women are agile, improving operations and embracing technologies quickly.
• Digital transformation: Many embraced digital marketing, enabling them to reach more customers.
• Funding: Access to government aid designed to support small businesses during the pandemic supported their growth.

What strengths help you be resilient during crises?