Okay, so I’m going through a little mid-life career crisis. I had the “Office Space” moment where I decided cube life was better served for others. I’m taking a break from that life to be with my 14-month old son and figure out what I want to be when I grow up. It’s becoming more clear that I need to do something on my own and escape corporate life (even if just for a few years). Briefly I considered opening a custom-framing business however upon research that’s going to take a little more time, money, and education so it’s a better option down the road.
The easiest start-up that I have a lot of interest is the dog walking business. I adore pets of all kinds, especially dogs, and have a special knack with most animals, even those that seemingly “hate” everyone. I have 7 years of marketing/business experience and a lot of ideas about how to make this venture “different” from others in my area.
My neighborhood is very suburban/residential, with tons of “soccer mom” families, double-incomes with several kids, etc. Huge dog-walking potential. I also have lots of experience with small animals (hamsters, birds, lizards, fish, snakes, etc.) and would be open to “pet sitting” those kinds of animals at my home as part of the business, or just stopping by someone’s house to feed them, give them medicine, play them some Beethoven, etc.
For those that have gone down this road, what recommendations would you have for getting this started? Any downfalls? Any special tips for making it special? Do I have to register this as an incorporated business or can I just start up? What about insurance? If you were looking for a really stand-out dog walker what would make a difference to you? Extended hours for an extra fee? Weekend visits? Special touches like a birthday card or baked dog treats left? Referral gifts or discounts? Doggie playgroups?
I’d like to get started soon and am working up my flyers, brochure, business cards, etc. as we speak (also have lots of graphic design experience).
I’d just like to point out that my dog’s name is Winnie, and that strikes me as very funny.
My co-worker takes care of dogs as a source of side-income. She seems to enjoy it, and seems to always get tips no matter what. Most of her business is word of mouth, and she’s been doing it for years. She also has business cards she leaves at pet stores, and flyers.
For me, doggy playgroups would be awesome for when I went on vacation or something. Also, someone who promised to walk/play with my dog as opposed to just walking them and leaving them alone at home.
I only have an experience as a customer. All the pet sitters / dog walkers I looked into had “bonded/licensed/insured” in their spiel. I think my pet sitter gets her contract forms, etc. from PSI. I found her through the phone book ad.
When choosing a pet sitter, the most important factor for me would be flexibility/availability. I sometimes need someone to come in on a weekend with less than 24 hours notice. I need a pet sitter who can usually accomodate me.
By “extended hours” do you mean longer visits? I suppose you could offer it as an option, but that doesn’t sound very attractive to me - a standard 1/2-hour visit should be more than sufficient. And how would a “playgroup” work? If you’re going to pick up my dogs and take them to the group, I might be interested, depending on the cost. If I need to take my dogs to the group myself, forget it - that defeats the purpose of a pet sitter.
For extended hours, I meant that by special request (and possibly additional fees) I could accomodate dog walks or visits later in the evening, say after dinner time if it was pre-planned.
For the “playgroup”, I definitely meant that I would bring the dogs to my yard and let them go crazy. I have a large fenced yard and would be open to scheduling a special day each month for people to have their dogs participate in the playgroup, say on a Friday afternoon or something.
Before she went to college, my daughter worked extensively for a big dog walking (and cat and bird sitting) business. Their standard visit was an hour, including walks. The guy who ran it met with the client and walker before the first visit (new customers.) The walker left a note about how the animal behaved at the last visit - good followup advertising. They have a newsletter they send to all clients.
There is also a form about the dog that gets filled out before this visit.
Bonding is very important. One of the dogs actually got attacked in a dog park, where he often went. Insurance is important also - some dogs act differently when the owner is not there.
They also offer overnights, for additional cost, of course, and do shortened visits on major holidays, for a premium.
My daughter got a good chunk of the visit fee. She actually made a lot more than her friends who worked in the mall, and had a bit more flexibility. So, your idea is very reasonable. Good luck!
Oh. I’d consider that a standard service. If I’m going away for the weekend (i.e. leaving Saturday morning and coming home Sunday evening), I’d need 4 visits: Saturday mid-day, Saturday evening, Sunday morning, Sunday mid-day. If a sitter can’t do all that, I’d have to find someone else.
I’m satisfied with the pet sitter I use now. I was impressed by her attention to detail when she came over for the “interview” - making sure the spare key works, checking where I keep my leash, etc. She also leaves a detailed note after each visit, including the vital information on whether my dogs performed their bodily functions or not.
This is one of those careers I toy with alot. My own time and hours and just walking da dogs.
I think it is an awesome idea!
Bonded and insured is important to me even though I don’t fully know what bonded is.
Word of mouth and referal discounts are key, too. Find out from your local paper how much to run a continous classified ad ( or regular ad). Product placement is key. Even though I never use our pet sitting service in the area, I know from 12 years of reading our weekly free paper that it is Burney’s Ark.
Another plus I thought of is offer poo picking up services. ( And kitty litter changing services.) That alone, while disgusting, doesn’t seem so bad when there is a little greenback to do this lamented job.
Maybe even making courtesy calls for " Hi it’s Winnie…I was at Joe’s Independant Pet Store I do my best to support my local microscopically small pet shop and thought of Fido. Do you need a bag of his food or catnip for Boots.?"
Possibly offer to do regular vet appointments (shots or a well puppy visit.) for the animals you know real well and can handle.
I would definately consider getting either a window cling made up or a magnet sign for your car.
Find out the dogs birthday and leave a ribbon wrapped Milk Bone in the mailbox for him. Offer free walks on the dogs birthday.
Offer to take the dog to your house if there is a Big Family Event going on and Rover might have issues with dry humping or crotch sniffing. (Say $10 for a couple of hours.)
I would definitely get insurance. I used to work for a pet-sitting business and it’s pretty important to have, in case of injuries either to yourself, someone else or a dog.
If I was going to employ a pet walker, I’d want one that would offer me a discount if I contract with them to walk my dog on a regular basis. The sitting service I used to work for was normally $20 for a single visit, but for people who had daily or every-other-day walking service that fee was reduced.
I really like Shirley’s idea of being a pet taxi too - taking a pet to the vet for shots or to the groomer. When our dog JC had cancer, he got chemo treatments a month apart and needed to have a blood test taken the day before to make sure his white cell count was adequate before administering the chemo. Needless to say, for a working person who doesn’t work close to home this was giant pain in the butt and it would have been great to have someone provide a service like that.
I strongly second this motion. I bet you could make a lot of money offering this service.
You could perhaps also offer to bathe the dogs in their own home environment. (Smear some penut butter on the rim of the tub, and most dogs have no problem with bath time.)
When I take my dog to the kennel, I pay for Puppy Playtime. They play fetch with the dog for an hour (and only charge two bucks extra!) While you’d probably want to charge more, a dog owner coming home to a tired, happy dog would definately be a plus.
I thought about this business venture as well, but gave it up because I didn’t think this was a dog walking state. They don’t even have dog parks here.
Here are some of my ideas, which may or may not work, because I never tested them out.
Start the business by going to the dog park with your dog and a stack of business, and doing a soft sell.
Invest in a polaroid camera and take a picture of the dog having fun during the outing. The picture would reassure your clients that they were actually taken somewhere, and having a better time than being cooped up in a yard/home. And who doesn’t like pictures of their dog having fun with their tongue hanging out.
Don’t be afraid to turn away business. If you have any doubts about a dog, take a pass. I think the universal mistake that all entreprenuers make starting out is taking bad business just to stay busy. One dog bite early on, could ruin your company.
Play dirty. We dog owners seem to be very sentimental. Get a bunch of postcards of sad looking dogs, and send them to clients who have dropped you. “We missed you last Friday” from your pack family at Dogs Just Wanna Have Fun.
What does that mean exactly? Cleaning up after the dog while walking them is standard procedure, isn’t it? Maybe you meant dogs who are kept outdoors and poop in the yard, but I think most people who use pet sitters have indoor dogs.
There are people who are making good money cleaning up poop left by your dog in your yard.
I think most people have yard dogs, or indoor dogs that they let out to do their business. I get the sense that in a lot of places people dont walk their dogs.
I think this was meant more of in the yard – of course you’d clean up after the dog on a walk.
I know at my house, my husband gets home from work first and he’s got our toddler in one arm and random laptop bag/lunch box/grocery bags in the other. The first thing he does is let the dog out into the yard so she can do her immediate business while he gets settled with the kid to then go take her for a walk. After a few days of that it gets a bit yucky and we fight over who has to go clean it up on the weekend, especially in the summer. My mom was telling me about her co-workers daughter who tacked on yard and litter box cleanup services onto her home dog grooming business and really starting being able to upsell that service. People were relieved to not have to do that on their free time. Especially if the weather is crappy, so to speak.
Okay, I’m bumping this because a lot has happened in a week.
I’m really doing this. My last day at my soul-sucking corporate job is on October 14th. I anticipate to be up and running with the dog walking business in mid-November at the latest. I’m finishing up my business plan this week, visting the Commissioner of the Revenue for Loudoun County in 2 weeks to get all my business paperwork set up, and am finalizing my services/prices/offerings as I do all this.
Yes, it happened fast, but you have to understand this is something I’ve dreamed of doing for years. Well, I did do it at one point but I was 13. For 3 summers in a row I fed cats, walked dogs, cleaned bird cages, checked on iguanas, fed fish, and just “sat with” an elderly tabby cat once a day who needed the company. For the little bit of money I was charging I brought in a killing. So it’s always been this dream at the back of my head to just put my life into it.
I have a few names in mind, I didn’t want something cutesy (although it’s kind of difficult for this business) but here are a few I’ve thought of:
Dog is My Co-Pilot
Noah’s Bark
My Shadow
Follow The Leader
Flying Fur
And the services I’m going to provide are regular and one-time dog walks, pet sitting, pet chauffeur service, yard and litter box cleanup, and a doggie playgroup once a week. I’ll be doing some “guerilla marketing” to my entire neighborhood which is actually an incorporated town and home to nearly 7,000 people) with flyers and business cards, as well as to a few smaller neighborhoods on our outskirts. I’m also going to start running a small regular ad in our local paper and canvas the small local shops to see if they would be willing to keep business cards on their counters.
Wish me luck! It’s funny, because the job I’m leaving caused me so much stress and anxiety, that the stress I’m feeling about opening my own business is only a fraction of the stress I brought home every night from this old job about ridiculous mundane stuff.
My dog goes to school at a place that’s a Doggie Daycare during the day. I know the owner and the place quite well. She’s a dog breeder and trainer and has been for years.
I’m sure you’ve thought of this but…you can’t just put a bunch of dogs together and hope they play nice. Dogs are animals, no matter how sweet. You have no way of knowing which dogs are not going to get along with eachother, or not get along with any dogs, or not get along with more than 1 dog at a time.
At our daycare, new dogs stay caged. The trainer has to assess each dog and how it gets along with EVERY dog that is there that day. So she will usually take time to have a new dog play with her dogs or clients’ dogs that she knows will get along with every dog, and see how they all play.
Some dogs end up getting caged most of the day, with their own “only dog loose” playtimes (of course they all get potty breaks 2-3 times a day). She also has groups of dogs that can play together, but she has to leave out a few of the dogs during this time.
It’s a tricky thing. You need to put alot of effort into assessing the dogs that will be playing together and how they all work together. You will be wise to make sure the owner is present for 1 or 2 initial playdates in case things don’t work out - they can see for themselves why their Snickers isn’t allowed to come back. Snickers might be a great dog but perhaps not raised in a way that would allow him to play nice with the other puppies.
Winnie just wishing you the best of luck. We are almost neighbors since I live in Culpeper. last year I quit my job working for The Man and started working on a horse farm. Email me (its in my profile) if you ever want to get together and talk about chucking the corporate life.
