Tags |
|
|
Member You - Start Your Own Pet Sitting or Dog Walking Business
Have you ever felt like your career is going nowhere? Perhaps your job was once very fulfilling, and you had this dream that you were on your way to the top. You kept climbing the ladder and it seemed you were on the right track, and then suddenly, something pulled the ladder out from under you. You came crashing to the ground. You felt hurt, bruised, ticked off, even downright mad. You were afraid that life was going to pass you by. Now crazy thoughts fill your head. You are afraid that you may lose your house, the car; you may have to move in with the in-laws or even a van down by the river.Many people feel like it’s just not fair. You had life and career figured out, and now you are starting over. “Why me! It’s just not fair”.I wish I could help you with the “why”, but honestly, I can’t. Things in life just happen sometimes. We don’t always get to know the “why”. But I can offer you this thought… Choose to Rebound. It is simply a choice, and it’s yours to make. In fact, if you don’t make a choice, you’re "choosing" to not make a choice. So either way, a choice is being made. You may as well be in control of the choice that attracts the outcome for which you are searching.So, now that you have made the decision to choose an outcome, what is the outcome that tak
What makes one logo better than another?Simplicity.A good logo works in the simplest form. It is a memorable representation of your brand and inspires confidence in your customers. It should be fresh and original -- without visual cliches or amateur effects. A logo is well-designed when it looks as good on a business card as it does on a web page or a billboard. To be functional, a good logo must reduce well to simple black & white or grayscale for use on faxes or in newspaper ads. The best logos are elegantly simple.Why do you need a logo?In a way, a logo is a visual shortcut to who you are. Your logo will establish your corporate identity and credibility. It builds loyalty among your clients and employees. You invest in your brand image every time your logo is displayed on a Web page, on a sign, or in an advertisement.A professionally designed logo enables you to be immediately recognizable and must be unique, memorable and simple. Such a logo will become one of your most valuable corporate assets over time.How does your current logo stack up?Run down our logo quick test: • Does the logo have immediate impact? • Is it good to look at? • Is it distinctive? • Does it create or evoke a positive image? • Does it accurately represent the orga
Decide what sort of services you would like to offer. Many will start out offering pet sitting and dog walking then will branch out as suggestions from current clients roll in. Once you are secure with the pet sitting and dog walking end of it, start branching.
If you have a lot of competition in your area, offer something to set yourself apart from others. One thing I offered in my business was coming home service. I would charge a small fee to run to the grocery store and pick up some milk, bread and any other fresh item for my client so they do not need to bother with that. I did that because I know how much I hate coming home and having to stop at the supermarket.
Once you know what you want to offer, it is time to set up the business.
First, you need to set up a business name before you can get a license or go any further. Your name should be catchy. You want your potential clients to look over all the other "common" and "cutesy" names and go straight to yours. The trick to being at the top of the list is to start your name with the letter "A". Having a name that ties you to the community works best, in my opinion. For example, if you live in Westtown, you can call your business, "A+ Westtown Pet Care". Just make sure no one else took that name first. Try to get creative as well. There are tons of Pampered Pets and such. They have been played out enough. Move on to something else.
Now that you have a name, you can get licensed. Here is a link to the SBA, to see if you need a business license in your state. Just find your state and click on it. Many will just need to register with the state and will not need a license, but it varies....http://www.sba.gov/hotlist/license.html . After you check with your state, try your local, township office. Sometimes, they want to know about your business as well and you may need approval. Just make sure all ground is covered so you don't run into any surprises. I actually went to a township meeting this month and they discussed another individual wanting to start a business selling cars on Ebay. He said the cars would be in a garage and never seen by neighbors, but he still needed to get approval. This surprised me. I never thought about township approval.
Once you are licensed, it is time to set up the paperwork part of your business. You will need a service contract for your clients to sign. You will need a report card to record what you did during visits. You will need a way to track medications you may need to administer, you will need instruction sheets on how to take care of the pets and the home. Those are the most important and "necessary" forms you will need. Sound overwhelming? Do you have the time and skill to develop these forms? Don't fret. Go to http://www.businessformsstore.com/ . All these forms are there for you as well as more you may need. The kick with these forms is that they come personalized. They will come with your business name and logo if you have one. They also have many flyers to choose from which will also have your business name and phone number on it. When you are ready to hire employees or independent contractors, you can get those forms there as well. When I developed my forms, it took me, literall
Buyers Don’t Rely on the Yellow Pages Like They Used toCustomers’ buying behavior has changed - for good. If your business depends on most categories in the Yellow Pages to attract new customers, you’ve probably seen a decline. Traditionally, people headed to the Yellow Page directory precisely when they were ready to buy. They’d check the listings to find their options, or "let their finders do the walking." Now they’ve got more choices.New research by The Kelsey Group in March, 2005 found that 70% of US households now use the Internet as an information source when shopping locally for products and services. These buyers aren’t going to the Internet for online purchases, nor to find distant providers. They intend to spend their money in their own community.The Kelsey Group also found that interviewed individuals felt the search engines were a "better source of purchasing information than Yellow Pages, newspapers and magazines." The trend is being driven entirely by Internet users. Related data from other sources show that consumers who search online for purchases spend more than those using the printed directory.Demote the Yellow Page Ad to a Smaller Portion of Your BudgetThe Yellow Page industry is a Fifteen Billion Dollar industry in the US. While there are mo
Once you know what you want to offer, it is time to set up the business.
First, you need to set up a business name before you can get a license or go any further. Your name should be catchy. You want your potential clients to look over all the other "common" and "cutesy" names and go straight to yours. The trick to being at the top of the list is to start your name with the letter "A". Having a name that ties you to the community works best, in my opinion. For example, if you live in Westtown, you can call your business, "A+ Westtown Pet Care". Just make sure no one else took that name first. Try to get creative as well. There are tons of Pampered Pets and such. They have been played out enough. Move on to something else.
Now that you have a name, you can get licensed. Here is a link to the SBA, to see if you need a business license in your state. Just find your state and click on it. Many will just need to register with the state and will not need a license, but it varies....http://www.sba.gov/hotlist/license.html . After you check with your state, try your local, township office. Sometimes, they want to know about your business as well and you may need approval. Just make sure all ground is covered so you don't run into any surprises. I actually went to a township meeting this month and they discussed another individual wanting to start a business selling cars on Ebay. He said the cars would be in a garage and never seen by neighbors, but he still needed to get approval. This surprised me. I never thought about township approval.
Once you are licensed, it is time to set up the paperwork part of your business. You will need a service contract for your clients to sign. You will need a report card to record what you did during visits. You will need a way to track medications you may need to administer, you will need instruction sheets on how to take care of the pets and the home. Those are the most important and "necessary" forms you will need. Sound overwhelming? Do you have the time and skill to develop these forms? Don't fret. Go to http://www.businessformsstore.com/ . All these forms are there for you as well as more you may need. The kick with these forms is that they come personalized. They will come with your business name and logo if you have one. They also have many flyers to choose from which will also have your business name and phone number on it. When you are ready to hire employees or independent contractors, you can get those forms there as well. When I developed my forms, it took me, literal
The recruiting industry has changed dramatically since the mid-90’s when the Internet began to catch fire as a networking tool. Prior to the advent of online job boards such as CareerBuilder and Monster, your local newspaper had a monopoly on “help-wanted” advertising going back pre-Industrial Revolution (I remember a few years back being quoted $450 to run a 3-line ad over the weekend--for $50 more I could add a black border around it). Resumes came to you via mail or fax and the ones that got your attention arrived on expensive paper with signed cover letters--the presentation gave you as much insight into the candidate as the resume itself did. As an independent recruiter you were only as good as your database of candidates (which for most recruiters consisted of a Rolodex of business cards or a drawer full of resumes). You actively sought out individuals to network with, collecting every resume thrown at you regardless of the positions you were working on at the time. "Got a cousin in advertising sales? Have him give me a call!"I think employers were more willing to take risks with less qualified candidates then (let’s say, pre-1998) than they are now. Hiring managers and recruiters recognize that online resources can provide them with exponentially greater access to candidates today t
Now that you have a name, you can get licensed. Here is a link to the SBA, to see if you need a business license in your state. Just find your state and click on it. Many will just need to register with the state and will not need a license, but it varies....http://www.sba.gov/hotlist/license.html . After you check with your state, try your local, township office. Sometimes, they want to know about your business as well and you may need approval. Just make sure all ground is covered so you don't run into any surprises. I actually went to a township meeting this month and they discussed another individual wanting to start a business selling cars on Ebay. He said the cars would be in a garage and never seen by neighbors, but he still needed to get approval. This surprised me. I never thought about township approval.
Once you are licensed, it is time to set up the paperwork part of your business. You will need a service contract for your clients to sign. You will need a report card to record what you did during visits. You will need a way to track medications you may need to administer, you will need instruction sheets on how to take care of the pets and the home. Those are the most important and "necessary" forms you will need. Sound overwhelming? Do you have the time and skill to develop these forms? Don't fret. Go to http://www.businessformsstore.com/ . All these forms are there for you as well as more you may need. The kick with these forms is that they come personalized. They will come with your business name and logo if you have one. They also have many flyers to choose from which will also have your business name and phone number on it. When you are ready to hire employees or independent contractors, you can get those forms there as well. When I developed my forms, it took me, literal
Summer is here! It’s time to bring out your summer attire, take a vacation and reflect upon your achievements thus far this year. Look back at the past few months of your sales production . . . are you on target for all your sales goals for 2005? Are you making the sales from all your sales presentations?You may be far ahead in some areas or behind in others. No matter what your sales production is today you certainly should have another look at what targets and goals you have developed in your game plan for 2005.Are you using your strengths to their fullest potential? To improve your sales results, determine what has been working or not working. Then define where to concentrate your productive energies for the next two quarters in 2005 or the remainder of your compensation period.The statistics say that 90% of the sale is made in the presentation. Many sales professionals need to be more innovative and prepare for every presentation. When planned and executed well, your presentation is the most effective method of winning more customers. The most important point of a presentation is that the objective of communication is not the transmission, but the reception. The whole preparation and content of presentation must therefore be geared to the customer with a clear objective th
Once you are licensed, it is time to set up the paperwork part of your business. You will need a service contract for your clients to sign. You will need a report card to record what you did during visits. You will need a way to track medications you may need to administer, you will need instruction sheets on how to take care of the pets and the home. Those are the most important and "necessary" forms you will need. Sound overwhelming? Do you have the time and skill to develop these forms? Don't fret. Go to http://www.businessformsstore.com/ . All these forms are there for you as well as more you may need. The kick with these forms is that they come personalized. They will come with your business name and logo if you have one. They also have many flyers to choose from which will also have your business name and phone number on it. When you are ready to hire employees or independent contractors, you can get those forms there as well. When I developed my forms, it took me, literal
I was helping a friend to get a visa to travel to a foreign country when I encountered some of the worst customer service within memory.The “dysfunctionary “ behind the bullet proof glass took a look at the application materials and started to criticize them, harshly, making it sound as if they were woefully inadequate.This triggered a back and forth cycle of defensiveness, each party justifying his or her opinion.At one moment, I remember thinking: “If this country doesn’t want your travel business, to heck with them; then go somewhere else!”But a few minutes later, in bumper to bumper traffic, it hit me:A person may represent a country, and do a very poor job of it, but he or she isn’t the entire country!”Logically, this is obvious. Countries have thousands, and millions, and even billions of citizens. One person is statistically insignificant.But emotionally, well that’s another story.As customers, we generalize. Call it “The Tip of the Iceberg” theory: If one representative of a class is problematic or irritating, the rest, the ones we have yet to see, lurking in the depths, will be that way, too; or so we infer.Resisting this temptation is difficult, but we have to do it with companies, as well.If we reach the “bad apple” w
Alright, now you have a business name, license and the paperwork. You are getting closer...
Next you need insurance. Insurance is a MUST. There are so many things you can run into and you should be protected. You may think you can get away with it, but, Murphy's Law, something will happen when you are not prepared. Insurance is pretty cheap, running less than $200/year. You can get insurance from your local carrier if offered or you can get from a specialist. Most pet sitters will go through organizations to get there insurance, like PSI or NAPPS. I used PetSit, LLC. It skipped over all the bureaucratic nonsense I didn't want. It is strickly insurance. They say it is a membership, but never got hassled with anything, so I liked it. PSI and others have a test to take and more, I think. I never signed up for any of those, so can't really tell you much. I do know most do, so maybe they offer some great things. I would definitely check it out and decide on your own. Here are the websites: PSI: http://www.petsit.com/ NAPPS: http://www.petsitters.org/Insurance/insurance_index.htm PetSit, LLC: http://www.petsitllc.com/ . Napps and PSI use Insurers of the Carolinas. You can check them directly at http://www.petsitterinsurance.com/ .
Next is bonding. Now, bonding is not necessary if you are working alone. If you have employees, you would want it. Bonding is there to protect your company against employee theft. Some bonding companies, however, will include the owner as an employee and, therefore, you will be covered. Make sure you check on this. The way bonding works is if your client accuses you or an employee of theft, the police are involved. If you or an employee are convicted of the crime, the bond pays out and you then repay the bond. Some clients want you to be covered and people will get it as a marketing tool. It is up to you if you want to purchase it. PetSit, LLC offers a special additional coverage which will cover theft and accidents. It is around $90/year. The special part of that is it is like bonding, only you don't have to pay it back and don't have to get convicted. Check out http://www.petsitllc.com/ for more information.
Okay, you are bonded, licensed, insured and physically ready to start. Now you need to get clients...
Marketing is the trickiest, most frustrating and time-consuming part of this business. Once you get some clients, the ball will start rolling more by word-of-mouth, but for now, you need to advertise...
Flyers are the cheapest and are bes
HTTP = HTML link (for blogs, profiles,phorums):
<a href="http://www.memberyou.net/article/41089/memberyou-Start-Your-Own-Pet-Sitting-or-Dog-Walking-Business.html">Start Your Own Pet Sitting or Dog Walking Business</a>
BB link (for phorums):
[url=http://www.memberyou.net/article/41089/memberyou-Start-Your-Own-Pet-Sitting-or-Dog-Walking-Business.html]Start Your Own Pet Sitting or Dog Walking Business[/url]
Related Articles:
Workplace Melodrama--A Flair For The Dramatic
The Power of Thanking People With Handwritten Notes --Show Gratitude
Security Cooperation-A Business Opportunity For IT and Defence Companies
Bookmark it:
|