{"id":44978,"date":"2023-10-20T15:40:07","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:40:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/peter-scutt-finds-a-better-way-to-care-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:40:07","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:40:07","slug":"peter-scutt-finds-a-better-way-to-care-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/peter-scutt-finds-a-better-way-to-care-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Peter Scutt finds a better way to care – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Peter Scutt\u2019s startup journey started with a simple desire \u2013 he wanted to ensure his parents received the best possible care as they grew older.<\/p>\n

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Both parents adamantly wanted to stay in their own home, but Scutt found it difficult and expensive to organise care workers.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe were struggling to provide adequate support so they could continue to live independently in their own community,\u201d Scutt says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI had to deal with these problems, and my conclusion was that the industry didn\u2019t work well for my parents or the care workers.\u201d<\/p>\n

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He said it would typically cost $45-50 per hour, and his mother, who has dementia, lacked a social connection with the \u201crevolving door\u201d of carers, something which also frustrated his father.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe situation with my parents made me realise that this industry was crying out for change,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

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So Scutt decided he would be that change.<\/p>\n

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Connecting people directly<\/b><\/h2>\n

Along with co-founder Tony Charara, he\u2019s created Better Caring, a two-way online marketplace connecting care givers with care recipients across Australia.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe thought that these marketplace solutions where we empower people and connect them directly would result in a much better outcome for both sides,\u201d Scutt says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt was a vision for how the marketplace could operate better.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Sydney-based startup has just closed a $2.3 million series B investment round which Scutt says will be used to \u201caggressively\u201d expand the platform nationally.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe essentially spent a lot of time building the platform and getting engagement on the platform with care workers and consumers,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cNow we\u2019re at a point where we feel we can grow the platform rapidly. We want to take a Sydney offering and make it a national offering.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Investors in the round include Computershare cofounder Tony Wales, KTM Capital Founder Keith Kerridge and Macdoch Ventures.<\/p>\n

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While he won\u2019t reveal the valuation that the investment round was based on, Scutt does say he was \u201chappy\u201d with the price placed on his startup.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI think it fairly represented the opportunity and significant first mover advantage we have,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe talked to a targeted group of investors, and they were people we knew and thought the opportunity would resonate with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

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He says this targeted pitching is the key to successfully closing an investment round.<\/p>\n

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\u201cEntrepreneurs need to make sure they\u2019re heavily aligned with their investors so they\u2019re all working together towards building a successful company,\u201d Scutt says.<\/p>\n

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The Better Caring platform<\/b><\/h2>\n

Better Caring allows care workers to operate their own small businesses and connect directly with those needing care. It allows users to specifically pick which care worker they want.<\/p>\n

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There is a \u201crigorous\u201d selection process to make sure all care workers listed on the site are safe and qualified, Scutt says, with only 350 of the 2000 applicants so far making it through to appear on the site.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s a much cheaper alternative to more traditional means of proving care, Scutt says, with prices ranging from $25 \u2013 35 per hour, and workers setting their own prices.<\/p>\n

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As with all marketplaces, Better Caring\u2019s success relies on being able to attract both sides of the equation to ensure the demand is met with adequate supply.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019ve been very encouraged by the take-up on both sides, particularly with the satisfaction care workers have gotten from running their own small business,\u201d Scutt says.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Want to grow your business with Instagram?<\/i> StartupSmart School can help<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Peter Scutt\u2019s startup journey started with a simple desire \u2013 he wanted to ensure his parents received the best possible<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":58981,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44978"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44978"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44978\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}