Are you a busy parent needing help with your children’s transport and care? Then you need to give this guy a hug! Why? Because he has created the perfect app for you.
It was early 2015 when Melbourne dad Simon Bishop first began to appreciate the struggles parents faced when it came to juggling paid employment and the everyday transport and care requirements for their kids which in turn led him to develop The Hug App. The Hug App connects parents with their trusted network of family and friends through a simple and safe platform to manage transport and care requests.
We chat to Simon about the idea behind the app and how he juggles life with start up business and a busy 9yo daughter.
Firstly tell us a little bit about yourself and your daughter Bailey.
After 25 years in the finance and technology sectors it was my 9 year old daughter Bailey who inspired The Hug App. Being able to combine my two greatest passions, technology and parenting, I came up with the idea to build a solution that would save time and reduce stress when it came to sourcing assistance from friends and family. I’m lucky enough to share custody and maintain a friendly relationship with Baileys mum who does a great job with Bailey in her own right. Bailey’s role as creative director should not be underestimated as she was instrumental in the imagination and formulation of the in app animations that allows users to thank each other for their help.
What inspired you to develop The Hug App?
I began to notice at my daughter’s primary school many of the kids were being dropped off and picked up by someone other than their parents. I soon realised this was not an isolated issue and in fact common across many schools.
My personal experience in sourcing help for school pick ups, drop offs, care etc was met with much frustration. Often waiting for a return call or text message I would sweat on whether I would be able to find someone to help out in a timely fashion. It got me thinking,
I absolutely needed an app for this.
I searched far and wide for a platform that could automate all transport and care requests with my own network when it came to my daughter, for those occasions I was predisposed with work. Failing to find an adequate solution, I designed my own.
What types of people will benefit from using The Hug App?
Essentially, anyone responsible for the transport and care of dependants. Whether you’re a single parent like me, a busy working parent or a stay at home mum or dad, I’m sure you can appreciate the battles we all face as parents when it comes to the transport and care of our children. With so much going on, no matter what your status, most of us rely on our friends and family at some point, so every parent can benefit from the app.
Can you explain a little bit about the services the app provides and how they work?
The Hug App is designed to save time and reduce stress. I often get asked how different is it to simply using traditional forms of communication such as text messaging. The simple answer is that once you set up your profile, save your custom locations and create your dependant and activity specific groups, there is no need to ever have to re key the same information again ensuring the time taken to source assistance is reduced to a fraction of what it would be otherwise. In addition, parents have everything at their fingertips regarding who they are helping out for the week and who in turn will have their children on certain days. GPS tracking and in-app appreciation animations make The Hug App unique and fun to use.
Tell us a bit about the safety involved by using the app.
The most important aspect of the app to me is safety, security and an emphasis on leveraging my own network rather than outsourcing to unknown third parties. Its multi-layered security ensures parents are only able to connect with their own network of trusted contacts who use the app. It also puts an end to the worry of whether your child has been collected safely by allowing users to see where their children are at any time through its geo-location ability.
What makes the Hug app different from other apps on the market?
Lets be clear. The Hug App is the first of its kind around the world and its patent pending intellectual property ensures it will forever remain the most efficient platform available to parents. It remains the only one stop solution that handles both Transport and Care for parents and unique in its security parameters, GPS tracking and in app animation. The Hug App was developed by Australia’s premier app developers Dreamwalk who are responsible for for over 30 number 1 apps on iTunes. The UX/UI is second to none and parents can see for themselves the amazing user experience compared to subsequent imitations.
How do you manage juggling parenthood with running a business (besides using The Hug App of course)?
It certainly is a juggle. I’ve always been one to give everything 100%. Being a hands on dad and business owner hasn’t left much time for anything else, however I remain committed to having The Hug App on as many parents phones as possible so they can take some more time for themselves and not constantly stress about family management.
What’s your favourite part of being a parent?
Its hard to name just one thing. I’ve loved the whole journey so far. While taxing at times, I wouldn’t change a thing. Everything from making school lunches, bedtime reading and arts and crafts to name a few, means being a parent constantly reminds me that putting someone else first and being responsible for their growth and development is by far the most rewarding experience in life. It helps
when your daughter makes the whole job pretty easy indeed.
You can find The Hugg App at www.thehugapp.com.au and download it free through the App Store or Google Play.
Simon Bishop, is the Founder and CEO of The Hug App. Simon was previously a co founder of Coin Software (acquired by Macquarie Bank 2005) and Hub 24 (ASX listed). He also was an Associate Director at Macquarie and Account Executive at salesforce.com