When you tell people that you are a Pet Sitter or a Dog Walker there is often the misconception that you just hang out with cats and dogs all day, and that it’s not really a ‘proper job’.
I suppose many people see it as a profession for the local neighbourhood kid or maybe a retired person – but not something people do as a real job.
People would however be quite surprised that the pet industry is a 59 billion dollar industry and growing.
Now they would be right that we don’t work in a cubicle every day and that yes we do get to hang out with people’s pets -but there is a lot more to running your own pet sitting and dog walking business than just pets.
In order for you to have a successful business you need to treat it like a business. You need to build your business so that it runs just like any other business – with procedures and policies that you (and your customers) follow.
So, YES you can make money Pet Sitting and Dog Walking.
Here’s how:
- Decide how you want your business to work for you. What are your long term goals?
- How big do you want your business to be? Do you envisage having a business that will include hiring staff at some stage?
- What is your plan? Who will your advisers be? Where are you going to get your information from to grow your business?
If you have the answers to those 3 questions then you are off to a good start. You see if you have good people around you, if you have a plan and you know what you want – then that will be the key to designing a business model that suits you.
If you don’t get these things in place, then yes you will make money, but at what cost? Maybe you will be making money – but not profit. Maybe you will be making money – but you will be burnt out with the hours you have to work.
So my advice would be to get started on figuring out the answers to those 3 questions and you are off to a great start!
Tell me what’s your plan?
