It’s summertime, the kids are out of school and you want to do something fun with them.
But what do you do when all the parent-related anxiety questions start swirling: what if this activity isn’t safe for my child? What if it’s too far away? What if we can’t afford the activity?
Chatham neurologist Dr. Zachary Potter knows the feeling. That scenario has occurred time and time within his household, and it led him to develop Zuzu For Kids — a free digital platform to help parents find activities for their kids.
“You can look on Google, or you can look on Tripadvisor or other websites, but there didn’t seem to be a website that was dedicated wholeheartedly to all aspects of entertaining kids,” Potter said.
Potter has two boys of his own: a 5-year-old and a 3-year-old they’ve traveled extensively with. The family, however, frequently struggled to find a simple way to choose safe and fun activities.
When he took matters into his own hands, Potter began by compiling data from local blogging sites about children’s activities in and around North Carolina or near his family’s next vacation destination, comparing the popularity of different activities. Overly tedious, maybe. But it worked. Potter said through his process he was able to have better trips with fuller itineraries — then decided more people should have access to his methodology.
After two and a half years of data collection, the website — zuzuforkids.com — officially launched in late January. Now, Zuzu For Kids is growing with about 1,000 new users per week. The majority of users, about 60%, are from North Carolina, but as the company acquires more marketing funds to purchase ads in other areas, Potter expects to grow it at an accelerated pace.
Potter said he’s thrilled the business has taken off because it shows belief in his idea. He said even more important than proving it to himself has been showing parents what’s possible and what’s available.
“My goal is to really help parents find things to do with their kids and create meaningful and lasting memories,” he said. “Putting information in front of parents about how to spend high quality time with their kids is a really valuable investment.”
The website has a fairly simple concept. Users type in where they want to find family activities, a radius they’re willing to travel outside of that destination, and the age range of their children. The search reveals a list of activities that fit those criteria and provides ratings and reviews for parents, all in one place.
The site also includes filters to look at nearby playgrounds, specific events or games. If families are planning a trip, they can also generate a whole itinerary for their trip full of a mix of all types of activities.
Current data on the website shows about 25% of users are utilizing Zuzu for travel purposes to venture to other cities, while the other 75% of users are finding activities closer to home. Potter said this was surprising given that the idea came from traveling, but he said he believes the reason is because of the functionality of Zuzu.
“We have filters and radius maps that a lot of other sites don’t have and so that makes us a unique experience,” Potter said. “We also show people maps of playgrounds, which aren’t widely available, and also events in a very simple way.”
Along with activities and events, Potter said the site has aggregated the locations of more than 120,000 playgrounds across the country on the site.
As Zuzu grows, Potter says it will only keep getting better because user data helps other parents find better activities. If more people are trying to find things to do within a 20-mile radius of Pittsboro this summer, the site, then, can generate trending pages to show what people in the area have been doing most.
Users can also make profiles on the site to share their experiences through written and video reviews of their activity.
Potter works as a neurologist at Duke Health. It may seem like an odd progression to go from neurology to developing web- and mobile-based applications, but the way he sees it, the two passions are connected. He views much of his work as a neurologist as helping to improve family dynamics, so developing an app that does the same thing was only fitting.
“This is a natural extension,” Potter said. “It’s giving people a tool that they can access with a click of a button and provide them with a meaningful experience.”
Mandi Biondi helps with product management and marketing for Zuzu. She has worked with Potter as his medical assistant for several years before assisting with his startup idea. She said there were several iterations of Zuzu before settling on what it is today, and believes Potter’s unique background made the final product unique.
“Zach also has a business degree from Duke University, and so I think the business perspective is something that’s different than a lot of other physicians who are only in medicine,” Biondi said. “That background helped [him] realize the gap in the market and apply that.”
Biondi said she and Potter both grew up in very close families, which served as part of the inspiration for the app.
One of the ways the website was able to grow was through the Andrews Accelerator Program at N.C. State University. The program provides startups access to funding, human capital, resources and guidance to help take their startup to the next level. Out of hundreds of applications, Zuzu was one of just five startups to be accepted in this year’s cohort.
Biondi and Potter both said getting accepted into the accelerator was a shocking and validating experience. They also said it helped them grow the business by creating networks with other entrepreneurs, teaching them marketing tips and giving them more access to capital.
“Right now we are focusing on developing a real user base,” Biondi said. “As we keep growing, we hope to be the number one website out there for kids activities and family travel.”
She said user feedback and analytics will play a major role in the future developments of the site and help them in reaching that big goal. Potter said the path forward appears both inevitably surprising and challenging.
“It’s like being in a cave without a flashlight and you’re trying to feel the walls around you,” Potter said. “You’re just kind of seeing where the users are taking it, instead of us driving the product.”
He said the goal will always be creating fun and meaningful family memories, and doing that means listening to what families want rather than forcing them in any direction.
“I thought I was just going to have a great idea everybody comes flocking to it that’s the end of it now it’s like a living thing that changes over time,” Potter said.
For more information about Zuzu For Kids visit zuzuforkids.com or follow them on Instagram and Facebook.
Reporter Ben Rappaport can be reached at brappaport@chathamnr.com or on Twitter @b_rappaport.
