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Many pet lovers have toyed with the idea of opening their own pet sitting business, but few realize just how much work goes into turning pet sitting into a profitable business. Unfortunately, it requires a little more work than just putting up flyers. If you're looking at upgrading your pet sitting services from something you do for friends and neighbors to a full-blown business, consider the following tips and suggestions.
1. Research
Before starting your own pet sitting business, take the time to research other petting sitting businesses in your area. How much are other pet sitters charging? What services do they offer? What services can you offer that will make your business stand out? There are more and more options available to pet owners today when it comes to finding pet sitters, so it's important to determine from the beginning what makes your services unique and worth choosing over another pet sitter.
2. Establish your services
Not all pet sitting services are the same. It's important to clearly establish what your services will be from the beginning. Will you offer overnight pet care? Will you care for all kinds of pets - like horses and reptiles - or just dogs and cats? How many clients will you be able to serve at a time? How much time will you be able to devote to the animals? Some pet sitters stop in just to check food and water while others spend time socializing with the pets, as well. Taking time to establish your services is an important step prior to announcing your pet sitting business. Clients will have a lot of questions for you about how you will be caring for their pets, and you need to have the answers ready.
When establishing your services, don't forget to be realistic. Don't offer any services you aren't skilled enough to provide. If you have no experience grooming, for example, don't offer grooming services to clients just to give yourself an edge over the other pet sitters in the area. You are better off offering a few high quality services over many low-quality ones.
3. The business side
When it comes to starting a pet sitting business, it's easy to just focus on the fun "pet sitting" part and ignore the "business" side of things. The business side, though, is critical. At a very basic level, your pet sitting business at least needs to be insured. You'll also need to look into whether your town requires you to register your business or have a business license. This is also a good time to create the paperwork for your pet sitting business. Set up a contract that you will use with your clients as well as a way to keep records about each pet sitting job. This is when you cover all your bases.
4. Funding
You've got to spend money to make money. Starting a business is an investment, so you need to be prepared to cover the cost of things like paper, ink, insurance, leashes, and any other supplies you may need. Plan ahead by budgeting out the cost of starting your business plus your anticipated monthly expenses and make a plan for how you will be covering these costs. You don't want to have to shut down your business before it has even started because you ran out of money.
5. Marketing
The first thing you'll need to do before marketing your business is come up with a name and logo. Be creative! Look at the other pet sitting services in your area and choose something unique to you. After you've chosen a name, you need to spread the word about your services. If you want to create a profitable business, you can't rely on your friends and family to supply you with pet sitting jobs. And while word of mouth is great for business, it can't be the only way you market yourself. A website is ideal, but another easy - and free - way to attract clients is to create a business Facebook page. Brochures, business cards, and flyers are also beneficial as they provide easy takeaways for people who want to learn more about your services. They are also easy items to display at local vet offices, shelters, dog parks, and pet supply stores. If you want to reach pet owners, you need to display your materials at places where pet owners frequent.
Pet sitting can be a great business, but it definitely requires more work to establish than simply hanging a few posters. Investing time into developing a business plan will help you have a truly successful business that involves doing something you love with animals!
Alaina Goodnough is the Promotions Coordinator at Cocheco Valley Humane Society in Dover, NH. She lives in Sanford, ME with two parrots, a cockatoo, a cat, a bearded dragon, and two dachshunds. She can be reached at CVHS at devassist@cvhsonline.org. To learn more about Cocheco Valley Humane Society, go to www.cvhsonline.org or call 603-749-5322.
1. Research
Before starting your own pet sitting business, take the time to research other petting sitting businesses in your area. How much are other pet sitters charging? What services do they offer? What services can you offer that will make your business stand out? There are more and more options available to pet owners today when it comes to finding pet sitters, so it's important to determine from the beginning what makes your services unique and worth choosing over another pet sitter.
2. Establish your services
Not all pet sitting services are the same. It's important to clearly establish what your services will be from the beginning. Will you offer overnight pet care? Will you care for all kinds of pets - like horses and reptiles - or just dogs and cats? How many clients will you be able to serve at a time? How much time will you be able to devote to the animals? Some pet sitters stop in just to check food and water while others spend time socializing with the pets, as well. Taking time to establish your services is an important step prior to announcing your pet sitting business. Clients will have a lot of questions for you about how you will be caring for their pets, and you need to have the answers ready.
When establishing your services, don't forget to be realistic. Don't offer any services you aren't skilled enough to provide. If you have no experience grooming, for example, don't offer grooming services to clients just to give yourself an edge over the other pet sitters in the area. You are better off offering a few high quality services over many low-quality ones.
3. The business side
When it comes to starting a pet sitting business, it's easy to just focus on the fun "pet sitting" part and ignore the "business" side of things. The business side, though, is critical. At a very basic level, your pet sitting business at least needs to be insured. You'll also need to look into whether your town requires you to register your business or have a business license. This is also a good time to create the paperwork for your pet sitting business. Set up a contract that you will use with your clients as well as a way to keep records about each pet sitting job. This is when you cover all your bases.
4. Funding
You've got to spend money to make money. Starting a business is an investment, so you need to be prepared to cover the cost of things like paper, ink, insurance, leashes, and any other supplies you may need. Plan ahead by budgeting out the cost of starting your business plus your anticipated monthly expenses and make a plan for how you will be covering these costs. You don't want to have to shut down your business before it has even started because you ran out of money.
5. Marketing
The first thing you'll need to do before marketing your business is come up with a name and logo. Be creative! Look at the other pet sitting services in your area and choose something unique to you. After you've chosen a name, you need to spread the word about your services. If you want to create a profitable business, you can't rely on your friends and family to supply you with pet sitting jobs. And while word of mouth is great for business, it can't be the only way you market yourself. A website is ideal, but another easy - and free - way to attract clients is to create a business Facebook page. Brochures, business cards, and flyers are also beneficial as they provide easy takeaways for people who want to learn more about your services. They are also easy items to display at local vet offices, shelters, dog parks, and pet supply stores. If you want to reach pet owners, you need to display your materials at places where pet owners frequent.
Pet sitting can be a great business, but it definitely requires more work to establish than simply hanging a few posters. Investing time into developing a business plan will help you have a truly successful business that involves doing something you love with animals!
Alaina Goodnough is the Promotions Coordinator at Cocheco Valley Humane Society in Dover, NH. She lives in Sanford, ME with two parrots, a cockatoo, a cat, a bearded dragon, and two dachshunds. She can be reached at CVHS at devassist@cvhsonline.org. To learn more about Cocheco Valley Humane Society, go to www.cvhsonline.org or call 603-749-5322.
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