Archive for NYC

Nannies by Noa: The Unique Nanny Service

      Noa Mintz is a fascinating and truly inspiring millennial entrepreneur, who is currently a senior at Brown University. She grew up in the Upper West Side in Manhattan; at the age of 12 she created her own business, “Nannies by Noa”, which is currently a member of the Association of Premier Nanny Agencies. Her business serves affluent NYC families seeking well-educated and well-trained nannies on a regular basis. There are many different positions for the nannies ranging from part-time after school babysitting, to full-time 40 hours per week, Monday through Fridays.  

    According to a CNN Business article, Mintz’s idea came to her after her mother told her to “find a better babysitter.” Since Mintz didn’t like her own babysitter, she started looking for another one and later helped her friends find nannies too. She designed a thorough application process and started interviewing people for nanny positions. 

    Nannies by Noa’s application process is extensive. Understandably the application process requires multiple background checks, drug testing, but also includes three years in-home childcare experience requirement, two childcare employment references, a resume, an interview, and the requirement to be able to commit for at least one year. For example, there are a couple of active positions where some families have requested the nannies to speak French fluently. In many instances healthcare is also paid for by the families, which is unlike other major nanny services in the New York City area. Also, some families make arrangements for the nanny to have four weeks off for a vacation as well as the major federal holidays. Mintz has created a variety of different positions and services to best accommodate nannies as well as the families. 

   Nannies by Noa continues to thrive; even as Mintz is finishing up her last year studying Cognitive Neuroscience at Brown University, she continues to manage her childhood business. 

To learn more please check out…

https://www.nanniesbynoa.com/about/

https://money.cnn.com/2015/02/06/smallbusiness/nannies-by-noa/index.html

Waffles and Dinges- Kraus

Thomas DeGeest was a worker for IBM for 12 years before he decided he was called to do something else. Thomas left his day job and started to pursue his dream job of owning his own business where he is now serving waffles to the streets of New York City. Originally, Thomas was from Belgium and moved to the states in 1997. Waffles and Dinges has now become such a huge hit in New York City, and Thomas has created over 100 jobs. The annual revenue for W&D is $5 million. The business is open 7 days a week and for at least 14 hours each day. Originally Thomas and his wife were thinking of moving to Brazil, where they thought they may be able to open up there business idea there. However, Thomas did not speak Portuguese and they ended up not moving to Brazil. Now the mission of the company is to not just make waffles, but to make it be the customers best part of their day. The waffle recipe is straight from Belgium and Thomas stated that he will never sell frozen waffles.

Originally the company was ran out of a mobile truck serving waffles. This became an issue due to the cost of maintaining the truck and the traffic is hard to maneuver through in New York City. This led Thomas to pivot and tow his business behind his car, and then led to buying actual stores for a home base. Thomas stated, “If you really want to run a food-truck business, realize your most important asset is your vehicle.” He goes further to explain how the truck is running 18 hours per day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Thomas has grown such a successful business, and he his interviewed on CBS Magazines where he gives his input to other immigrants on how they can grow a successful business, using themes from the country of origin.

Sprayground

David Ben-David is a young entrepreneur from New York City, he was a big fan of going surfing and to the skatepark. He would always bring a bookbag with but they were always really plain and boring.

The idea hit him, why not sauce up the bookbag category like skullcandy did to headphones or swatch with the watch industry. The first bookbag that David decided to create was a “Hello my name is” bag in 2010 and that bag sold out faster then he thought it would.Sprayground "Hello My Name Is" FIRST EVER Backpack – WNS Apparel From here David started thinking bigger and bolder. He had several ideas that were shot down at first so he didn’t go through with them.

Sprayground bookbags are widely know in NYC and also by several big know names including collaborator Spike Lee. Sprayground is know for their unique design and bold statement that do not mind offending the public. David decided that he was just going to design these bags on how he felt. He knew that some people were going to like them and some people were going to hate them, but as long as he liked them that was a win in his book.

Although David is know for his invention of sprayground and his collaboration with Spike Lee and Shaquille O’Neal he also has a little side hustle that brings in something that’s worth more than money. Since the Corona Virus hit David goes out every Sunday with bags filled with food and mask and gives them to people in needMr. Ben David has been working with the Lower Eastside Girls Club in Manhattan to distribute tote bags full of food, clothing and masks to New Yorkers in need.