Offering dog-walking services is an excellent business. It can bring a steady flow of income, which can help maximize your cash flow. And with ownership of pets in the United States is at an all-time high with more or less 80 million dogs all over the country, the need for dog-walking services is greater than ever. Before starting your dog-walking business, or add a dog walking services to your pet-care business, here are some tips that can help you offer dog-walking services successfully.
Educate yourself
Understanding dog behavior is very important when walking a dog. Staying up-to-date on what is new when it comes to pet first aid is also pretty important. People also need to be knowledgeable about leashes, harnesses, and collars. Collars come in different types, and dog owners may not always have the best collars for their dogs.
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Knowledge of leashes, harnesses, and collars will help business owners recommend the dog’s right product and make sure that they walk these furry pets a lot easier and safer. The right leash, harness, or collar, depends on the pet, the situation, as well the person walking them. Whatever leash, collar, or harness business owners use, pet owners should be approved and appropriately used.
Set rules and regulations, and stick with them
Establishing a dog-walking service will require entrepreneurs to set up rules, regulations, policies, and procedures in advance. Of course, entrepreneurs can modify these regulations and policies as needed, but it is imperative to have some basic guidelines written in black and white and established beforehand. It will prevent them from having to decide guidelines on the fly when clients ask a simple question.
If the business has staff walkers, they must make the staff aware of the company’s regulations as well. Rules and regulations owners will want to include business hours, the service area, dog-walking hours, as well as how they will handle customers’ keys. Entrepreneurs will also want to determine cancellation policies, policies for walking pets in bad weather, as well as how they will handle pets with behavioral problems.
For more information about licenses, bonds, and insurance in this type of business, visit https://smallbusiness.chron.com/become-dog-walker-licensed-bonded-insured-14517.html for more info.
Know every risk associated with this industry
As entrepreneurs set their policies, they also need to be aware of every risk associated with this type of business. For instance, some clients have dogs that need to walk without a leash. But it can pose serious liability problems and risks. Some states have laws regarding leash, collars, and harnesses. These laws don’t permit pet owners to remove the leash off their dogs, while others allow pets to be off their leash in designated places only.
Some pet walkers who accommodate requests for walking pets with no leash will have dog parents sign a waiver. According to insurers, pet-care service providers need to be alert when walking these pets. Some costly insurance claims result from bites, and some of these accidents happen when sitters are on their walks and allow third parties to get very close to the pet.
Make a solid plan to market the dog-walking service
When starting a service, for instance, a business for pet sitters in Raleigh, entrepreneurs will want to get a lot of clients in the shortest possible time. The good news is that there are a lot of ways to market this type of service to pet owners that cost almost nothing. The first thing you need to do is to know the target market. Why would owners want a mid-day walk?
Owners with puppies who cannot hold it until their person comes home can take advantage of these services. Dog parents with adult pets can use walkers to help them control their pet’s overweight issues with additional exercise. Old canines usually become incontinent; that is why mid-day walks can help them prevent serious accidents in their houses. Essentially, all canines can take advantage of the extra “Tender, Loving Care” that mid-day walks provide.
Issuing press releases to local media and papers, announcing the opening of the canine-walking services is an excellent way to increase media coverage for the new business – and it is free. Depending on the budget, you can also consider advertising on a local community newsletter or paper. Marketing using the Internet from your website to social media platforms like YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook – offers a lot of ways to get the word out to pet parents in the area.
