Increased Productivity, Improved Child Security, Easier Parent Communication: Perch & Play

Small business owner and MBA graduate Raleigh Kukes is the owner of Perch & Play in Bellingham, Washington. Perch & Play is a welcoming and friendly indoor café for adults; with a large, fun, monitored play area for kids. The idea for her business started several years ago and intensified when she returned to school for her MBA and encountered difficulty finding a safe, monitored play area where her young daughter could play while she studied.

Saving Time, Saving Money

Kukes created her vision and researched long and hard to make sure her business model stood on a solid foundation. It took a great deal of searching, learning and investigating to find the right location and get all the key elements in place before opening. Ensuring child safety was one of those important elements for Kukes so she researched various electronic children’s check-in systems, including KidCheck. In an effort to save startup operating costs, Kukes initially opted to use a manual “pen and paper” system to record child check-ins. Kukes recounts, “I investigated KidCheck before we opened. While impressed with the solution, at that time I wasn’t sure how my operations would go and if an initial investment in an electronic children’s check-in system would make sense.”

She soon found her manual system proved to be tougher and more time consuming than anticipated. Kukes recalls, “In the beginning, every day, seven days a week, I was literally checking in every person by hand. I quickly recognized the pen and paper check-in process was taking me away from other priorities. Although I could personally greet customers and explain our concept when they came in, I wasn’t able to attend to the things necessary to run the business.”

Kukes continued, “I very quickly realized I needed to look at KidCheck again to determine if it could solve my problem. It did! KidCheck has freed up our time and saved us money by not requiring we staff an employee simply to handle check-ins all day. Not to mention the other benefits KidCheck provides such as improved security, a faster check-in process, and better records. For example we use KidCheck to keep track of the amount of time people have been at our facility. KidCheck makes that simple and straightforward.”

Kukes has received positive feedback from parents as well. “Parents like how easy it is to check in their children. They set up their free account and then checking in is as easy as entering their phone number and selecting their children. They also like receiving text alerts notifying them their child was checked-in or out.”

Keeping Kids Safe

KidCheck increases security for the children at Perch & Play. Kukes explains, “Before leaving Perch & Play, our staff matches the unique security code on the child’s name badge with the code on the guardian receipt; essentially like a lock and key to ensure children are only allowed to leave with the right adult. With the name badges, we can also easily identify children and call them by name.”

Access to allergy and medical information on the child label is especially helpful during special events at Perch & Play. Per Kukes, “We have camps and kids’ nights, and having the medical alert shown on the label is so beneficial. It’s another great way to keep kids safe while in our care.”

Connecting with Parents

A café where parents can read, surf the web, or socialize while their kids play, means sometimes parents aren’t close to their children or don’t immediately notice their child needs attention. KidCheck’s printed child name badges help the Perch & Play staff quickly and easily get in touch with parents. Per Kukes, “We place the KidCheck name badges on the children when they enter our play area. For parents, we have a separate loft area where they can sit, work, watch a football game, or whatever. It’s key that parents can immediately be found and contacted should a need arise. The immediate access to a parent’s cell phone number from the name badge allows our staff to simply text the parent and let them know they are needed in the play area.”

Kukes continues, “KidCheck also allows us to easily connect with parents when needed beyond something immediately related to their child check-in. With KidCheck’s unique parent maintained accounts, the parents enter and maintain their information themselves so we know it’s accurate and up-to-date. Parents appreciate the control of owning the information in their account, and the opportunity to upload photos, which helps even further with the security KidCheck provides as we can easily identify the children and guardians.”

Highly Recommended

According to Kukes, KidCheck’s service goes beyond a stellar product. “The customer service is phenomenal! I wish all places were as helpful as KidCheck. Any time I’ve called, regardless of the reason, they’ve helped me resolve the question, quickly and professionally.”

KidCheck works very well for Perch & Play between the cost savings of an automated check-in system versus manual staffing, the added child security, and the ease of use for her customers. Kukes sums it up with this simple statement: “I would definitely recommend KidCheck to others, it’s a great solution!”