1178 - A Unique Digital School Dismissal Automation Solution with Pikmykid's Pat Bhava

Apr 28, 2022

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In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to the CEO of Pikmykid, Pat Bhava.

Pikmykid provides dismissal automation solutions to schools so that children and parents don’t need to wait longer than necessary to be picked up from school. Their solutions make things easier for parents and kids and allows teachers to spend more time focusing on what really matters.

Pat explains that he doesn’t have a background in tech, but he is a serial entrepreneur. He shares that when he was between business ventures some time ago, he would spend that time helping out with his kids, especially picking them up from school. This was when Pat really saw the chaos that is after-school dismissal in America. Worst of all, when he finally picked up his daughter, he realized that they put the wrong child in his vehicle. This was when it hit him; there had to be an easier way to approach this. Teachers and Principles are left to their own devices, without any outside support to tackle these issues. Pat explains that he was an outsider initially, and he had to do a lot of research and trial and error in order to find an appropriate technical solution that would actually solve the problem at its core.

Another realization Pat had as he and his team developed their solution was that they needed to avoid relying on expensive hardware. Pat was clear on the direction Pikmykid needed to take; they needed to not rely on hardware, not use biometrics, and not involve the children in the responsibility of the platform – all while keeping the children the core focus of it. What they came up with was a unique solution that utilizes digital geofencing software that allows the parents to utilize an app that communicates with the staff at the school. This allows parents to remotely inform school staff and administrators where they are in a carpool line so that things operate as a conveyor system. This unique solution took a lot of time to perfect, but was well worth the effort.

Pat explains that when he first started his business, they tried a B2C approach with parents. However, this failed, he shares. They pivoted to a B2B approach and began offering their solution to schools, and this is where they started to gain traction and success. Pikmykid is driven by their mission to make kids safer and to help teachers spend more time doing their meaningful work.

Want to learn more? Check out Pikmykid’s website at https://www.pikmykid.com/.

Check out Pikmykid on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/pikmykid/.

Check out Pat Bhava on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhava/.

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