As a single mother of a nine-year-old, Carleen Haylett knew the challenges of work and family life, but she also knew there wasn't a well-rounded solution out there. So, she created Sit-a-Bit: a SaaS platform that provides parents and caregivers with enriching virtual activities. 

The company launched in early 2020 but, soon after, the pandemic hit. Conditions changed in no time, so Carleen Haylett needed as many tools as possible to help her startup grow, and Slidebean proved vital. 

How Sit-a-Bit navigated the pandemic

Sitabit is a SaaS platform and marketplace that aims to become an extension to child-care benefits for employees, and to solve two problems. First, it provides parents and caregivers with enriching virtual activities for kids ages K through 12. The second is to provide help for corporations. In 2020, the pandemic aggravated the struggle to balance between work and family for many, and this included Haylett. 

"All of a sudden, I was a third-grade teacher, and I'm terrible at math. So, I had to figure out how I was going to support my son and hold down a full-time job, right?"

Despite the sudden change, Sit-a-Bit managed to survive. After all, it had a live product that was generating revenue and corporate customers. What the company needed was to make the product a hit with parents and companies alike. 

"So, through the rest of 2020, we started building an ecosystem of partners and starting to take our message to market". 

Haylett added that Slidebean proved essential for this. Her first contact with Slidebean came from watching the YouTube channel, where she found videos on startups and challenges founders could face. Haylett enjoyed the videos’ progressive nature, allowing viewers to work their way up from basics to more complex topics. 

How Slidebean helped Sit-a-Bit get one step closer to its goals

Sit-a-Bit's next challenge was all about the sale. The startup had to keep employees and children engaged. It also had to deliver high-quality content and make sure the vendor partners had the correct exposure, but to sell right, Carleen needed to be clear on what to sell. 

"When you're a founder, you think you're the biggest thing on earth. You want to tell everybody everything, right? What I've learned is that less is more -so, what is that less?" 

Slidebean's videos proved vital in understanding what a valuable initial pitch deck needs. Then, she used the online tools and templates to create her original pitch. From there, she moved to financial models. These were vital as Sit-a-Bit was maturing and needed an upgrade. 

"It was a faster way for us to plug in the numbers and get to a financial model that worked"

The startup already had a financial model, but the pandemic forced changes to fit the new conditions better. Slidebean's templates for marketplaces and SaaS companies were the ideal fit. 

"It was a faster way for us to plug in the numbers and get to a financial model that worked," Carleen commented. This step was critical, as Sit-a-Bit was ready to take the company to the next step: funding. 

Funding and how the future looks for Sit-a-Bit

"We are closing out a pre-seed round and have the opportunity to go in front of a VC firm," Carleen explained. Sit-a-Bit was a post-revenue startup with customers, users, and an operating platform. So, they needed to take the pitch deck to the next level.  "That's when I engaged you guys in redesigning the pitch deck that we had."

With a new pitch, and the chance to face VCs, the future is bright for Sit-a-Bit. After all, it's a startup that managed to adjust its heading when the pandemic hit. So, Carleen knows that resiliency is vital. Plus, the changes in the workplace bring exciting opportunities. 

"What we're seeing are employees standing up and saying we're not coming back to the office." Carleen also added that Sit-a-Bit is aiming at the evolving labor force in the US and the world. 

An important target is the independent gig economy, one of the fastest-growing sectors globally. With more people having a variable schedule, the need for full-time care might decrease. But, instead, flexibility is vital, and she places herself as an example. 

"My child doesn't need full-time care, right? Or, full-time nannies." She explains. "But I do need after-school programs that help with tutoring, or a language, or something he's interested in." In the end, for Carleen, these benefits prove vital for both employees and companies. 

"I'm just so impressed with the company and the way that you support founders across all the stages of building a business"

The demand for parents to have mobility and ease of use will remain. Enriching activities with quality providers are valuable, not only for parents but companies as well. So, Sit-a-Bit wants to be the go-to solution for all these needs. As for Slidebean, Carleen still watches all the videos and plans to keep doing so. 

"I'm just so impressed with the company and the way that you support founders across all the stages of building a business," she added. 

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