How to Start a Pet-Sitting Business
Within the United States alone, more than 70% of all homes have at least one pet. As an industry, animal-care raked in over $14 billion during 2005 alone. Where do you come in? Think about your local neighborhood – just the closest 5 blocks in any direction. How many of these homes do you know have a dog, a cat, or even more exotic pets like birds and reptiles?
Pets become part of the family, loved ones that will need care and treatment – and many times throughout the year, pets are left “unattended”. It’s during these times that most pet owners will require the aid of a Pet Sitter.
Start Pet Sitting
Getting started as a pet sitter takes very little effort. To be responsible both as a business owner and as an animal lover, there are a few things that you should do before you open your doors.
First, decide how you will operate. If you own your own home or have a very lenient landlord (make sure and speak to them first!), you can run your business fully from your own home. This is the more attractive option, because it will put you more at ease and leave you time to devote to house chores while you care for the pets you are watching. For one reason or another, you might decide it’s better to operate away from home. This would basically be a set-up where you would stay at the pet owner’s residence and care for their pets while they’re not at home. Think of yourself as a baby-sitter of furry friends.
Once you have decided how you want to operate, you will want to do several things:
1. Pet-Safe Areas – If you are operating from your home, you will need to set up proper areas for the pets you are caring for. You don’t want pets interacting with your own – this can cause fights, unwanted breeding, and the spread of fleas and diseases. On a much more loving note, it’s better for the pets you’re watching to be in small, secure areas because they will be in unfamiliar surroundings. This unfamiliarity can cause the pets to behave in ways that they wouldn’t normally – suddenly dogs “forget” that they’re house broken, just because they’re scared and nervous, or cats will become aggressive toward anyone that approaches them. Think of the well-being of the animals you are sitting first and foremost, and their owners will appreciate you all the more – and probably be much more likely to return to you the next time they need a pet sitter.
2. Insurance – At your home or sitting at the owner’s home, you will want to explore your insurance options. If you’re working from your own residence, look into home owner’s insurance that will help you recover the losses of any damage caused by an unruly pet you’re sitting. For those who decide to sit at the owner’s residence, you’ll want to look into becoming “bonded”. This will assure pet owners that you are reliable – you can’t become bonded if you have a criminal record. Also, if something is broken or stolen while you’re at the owner’s residence, you have help paying back any damages. You will also want to have personal liability insurance – and you’ll want written proof of all of this.
3. Education – Take a few trips to your local library and spend some time online learning about the pets you intend to care for. You’ll receive a lot of tips about pet care that you might not have thought of before. Once you are sitting for a new pet, learn specifically about the breed of animal you have on your hands. Some dog breeds, for example, have specific grooming needs that as a pet sitter you are responsible for knowing. In general, you want the level of knowledge you have about the pets you are watching to show that you care. This is your best bet toward growing and succeeding in your business.
4. Routines – Once you’re aware of what needs the pets you’re watching have, create a loose “routine” or “schedule” on your computer and print it out. All pets need sleep and rest time, daily activity and exercise, basic life necessities like food, water, and warmth, and some pets will require medication at specific times of the day. By typing out a schedule that lists what time specific activities need to be done and including emergency phone numbers like the pet owner’s cell phone and their veterinarian’s number, you will be able to breathe easy, confident that the pets you’re sitting are receiving all the patience and love their owners would want for them. You can “check off” the activities as you complete them – list a time that they’re done – and then when the pet owner returns, they will have that much more “proof” of your dedication to your work and their beloved pet.
Being a Good Pet Sitter
To become a good pet sitter, you have to do much more than just give a pet food and water while its owner is away from home. You need to spend real quality time with the pet, give them exercise, and know how to tell if the pet needs any veterinary attention. All of these things go right back to education – you need to know what’s required before you can offer it.
How can you make your service even more valuable? Consider these elements of being a “good” pet sitter, and brainstorm ways that you can incorporate them into your service – these aren’t strictly “required”, but will result in your business being much more successful:
1. Recommendations – If you have friends or neighbors who are well aware of your loving passion for animals, you can often get them to recommend your services to other people who might need it. In addition, you will want to consider becoming accredited by the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters (1-800-296-PETS) or Pet Sitters International (1-336-983-9222). These organizations will help you take a home study course and offers recommendations to pet owners based on your professional experience and the fact that you abide by a code of ethics they have set – all of which adds up to a pet owner being far more likely to hire your services.
2. Written “Benefits” – Keep your original copies of the insurance policies you have obtained (namely commercial liability insurance and bonding) in a safe place, but make copies available to any customer who requests them. You will also want to make copies of certificates you’ve received for training activities you’ve taken available to pet owners.
3. Pre-Sitting Records – Before you take a new pet in, you will want to record a number of things about them. Create a “fill-in-the-blank” worksheet that you or the pet owner can fill out in advance, containing notes about the pet’s likes, dislikes, fears, habits, medical conditions, medications, and established routines. This information can then be plugged right into the “schedule” that you create for the pet, and it will make pet owners feel much more confident about your service because they can see that you care.
4. Associations – Develop some professional associations with people like veterinarians, pet trainers, and groomers. These associations will become invaluable to you over time, and often a pet owner will feel better about leaving their pet with you if they know you can get immediate help if necessary.
5. Contract – A written service contract can help protect you, and will again boost a pet owner’s confidence in your services. The contract should clearly spell out what services you will provide, the length of the stay, and all fees that are associated with the pet’s stay. Include extra information about what happens if the pet owner is a day or more late, what responsibilities you assume as a pet sitter and what responsibilities are expected of the pet owner. If you are providing a “live-in” service, you will want to clearly detail the specific times you agree to be with the pet at the owner’s residence.
By doing everything you can to assure pet owners that you are an honest, caring individual who will watch over their pets as dutifully as they would themselves, you can practically guarantee success in this business
