7 Essentials for Starting a Pet Sitting or Dog Walking Business
1. Have Pet Sitting Forms and Contracts It is essential that you have the correct forms and contracts for your clients to fill out and sign before leaving their dog with you. These will include a reservation form, a veterinary authorization form, a telephone reservation sheet, a customer invoice, a dog or cat information sheet, a dog walking report card, a medication record, a service contract , a pet accident and illness card.
2. Get pet care insurance, we are very lucky in the UK that you can get pet care insurance from just £6.00 per month depending on the service you offer. It is essential to have pet sitters insurance to cover unforeseen events.
3. Get a pet sitting CRB check, if you offer a dog walking service, pet sitting at the pet home or an emergency service and you have keys, you will need to get a CRB check to show customers that you He does not have a criminal record.
4. Have a document storage system, ideally a pet sitter database, storing your clients and pets information is a must as they are very likely to come back to you again and again, so a good Filing system is essential, they should contain information such as vet details, medication and behavior notes for pets, service required, booking dates, cost, etc.
5. Write a business plan for a pet sitter. A business plan is a document that summarizes your business: its objectives, strategies, market and financial forecasts. It will help you assess exactly what services you will offer to pet owners. How much to charge and how well your business is doing. You need to make sure it is short, clear and well presented, and review it regularly as you go about your business.
6. Run a marketing campaign, having a good brochure is key to attracting new customers, these should be distributed to local veterinary clinics, pet stores and beauty salons. Having a website and a Google AdWords campaign is a great idea and shows professionalism. Some well-known membership organizations offer pet owners a zip code lookup feature that retrieves the details of the member pet sitter, which will also bring you more work.
7. Join a pet sitting membership organization, if you really want to run your own pet sitting service, you should join a membership organization that will give you help and advice when you need it, but more importantly, It will give your customers peace of mind. since it gives credibility and professionalism to your business.
