What others are saying about
The Dog Walker’s Startup Guide
"Combine business with pleasure-everything you need to know to replace your day job with one that's much more fun."
—Bark Magazine
"The book offers step-by-step plans to guide you through starting your own dog-walking business. As a seasoned dog walker, Antell has plenty of experience and gives helpful tips for newbies, too. From creating a business plan, advertising and getting supplies to interviewing clients, creating a website and walking the dogs, the book offers plenty of information about every facet of the job in a format that is easy to understand.”
—DogChannel.com
"Thank you so much for the information you have in this book and the DVD. This has helped me so much and I am almost ready to start my very own business!!!"
—Emi Matsumoto, Sniff and Go: San Mateo Dog Walkers
"Your kit thus far, has me both fired up and my head spinning."
—Vanna C.
"Thanks for taking the time to put together such a comprehensive model for what I'm expecting to be a very rewarding life-style."
—Phil Byra, Executive Pet Care of Windham
*****
The Dog Walker’s Startup Guide
Create
Your Own Lucrative
Dog Walking Business in 12 Easy Steps
J.D. ANTELL
NM
NOVUS MARKETS
*****
The Dog Walker’s Startup Guide
Create Your Own Lucrative Dog Walking Business in 12 Easy Steps
By J.D. Antell
Published by Novus Markets, LLC at Smashwords
Newburyport, Massachusetts
United States of America
www.novusmarkets.com
This book is available in print from most book sellers and online book stores.
While every attempt has been made to provide accurate and authoritative information the author and publisher assume no responsibility for the information contained in the web sites, books, and other publications, created by others, which are mentioned in this book, nor are they expressly advocating the methods, software, attitudes or opinions contained in them. This book is sold with the understanding that the author and publisher are not engaged in rendering any legal, financial, or other professional service of any kind. Acting upon any of the advice contained in this book or the resources mentioned herein either directly or indirectly is at your own risk, and the author and publisher are not responsible for damages resulting from any action you may take.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, by any means or technology without prior written permission of the author. Please direct inquires to prdepartment@dogzanny.com.
Names used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed to be trademarks and, where known, may be shown in italics. The author and publisher perform no investigation of, and make no warranties or representations regarding, the validity or existence of any trademark right in the names or words used in this book, and no such use should be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or other proprietary right. The publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions with regard to trademarks.
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Copyright © 2008 by J.D. Antell
All rights reserved.
Edited by Marlena Zapf
Cover design by J.D. Antell, photo by Ryan Lane
Smashwords Edition
*****
For Beatrice, my first furry client.
(2002-2008)
*****
Contents
Your journey begins
My story
Learned helplessness
A ray of light
My journey begins
How to use this book
Projecting Income and Defining Your Business & Services
Chapter Summary
How much money do you need?
Customer service
Some ideas for services
Shopping the competition
Figuring out your MTN (Minimum Target Number)
Example
Case Study 1
Case Study 2
Considerations
Take action
The Business of Dog Walking
Chapter Summary
Name your business
Create a legal business entity
Licenses
The Better Business Bureau
Insurance & professional memberships
Your service agreement
Creating your welcome packet
Home office
Recording payments
Tracking your business performance
Keeping track of paper
Take action
Creating a Website
Chapter Summary
How will it function for my business?
Define your business personality
How do you make it happen?
Doing it yourself
Take action
Advertising Your Business
Chapter Summary
Business telephone directory
Newspapers
Direct marketing
Calling script
Mass mail advertising packages
Craigslist
Door knob hangers
Fliers
Car tagging
Promotional items
Google & Yahoo
Take action
Equipment
Chapter Summary
Clothing
Small headlamp flashlight
Treat bag
Reflective vest
Personal safety light
Other visibility equipment
Spare leash
Spare collars
No-pull collars (the new breed)
Mobile phone
Rain gear (jacket and pants)
Key ring with key tags
Map and business directory or GPS system
Citronella spray
Spray bottle / spray gun
Pet first aid kit
Pepper spray
Take action
Client Interview
Chapter Summary
What to bring
Your attire
The importance of the client interview
Meet & greet
Getting down to business
Closing and follow up
Take action
Walking the Dogs
Chapter Summary
Safety for you and the dog
Needs of the dog
Efficiency
Personal pleasure
Encountering thoughtless dog owners
Parks, off leash dogs, and leash aggression
Take action
Understanding and Minding the Animals in Your Care
Chapter Summary
American Red Cross, Pet First Aid guides and classes
Learn basic obedience techniques
How do dogs think?
Take action
Earning Trust
Chapter Summary
Be consistent
How do your actions appear to an observer?
Be ready for anything
Troubles You May Encounter
Chapter Summary
Difficult dogs
Difficult clients
Dog Fights
Chapter Summary
Before we get started…
The causes of dog aggression
Prevention
Them’s fightin’ words
Take action
Keeping in Touch
Chapter Summary
What is blogging?
Why does it matter?
How do I start?
Informational posts
Pictures are worth a thousand words
Extra income
Take action
*****
Your journey begins
I don’t know who or where you are now. You might be a mother contemplating returning to work, an employee trapped inside a dark room (like I was), or someone looking for a supplemental income. In any case, you’ve purchased The Dog Walker’s Startup Guide: Create Your Own Lucrative Dog Walking Business in 12 Easy Steps because you’ve decided to make an important change in your own life. You want to control your destiny and take responsibility for your own success.
It is through your own efforts that success will be yours. Starting a dog walking business is easy and rewarding in many ways, including financially, but it doesn’t happen without personal effort and commitment. In other words, it won’t happen by itself. It seems obvious enough, but when you think about it, how many times have we purchased something in the hopes that it would make our lives better and instead it sits collecting dust in our basement? I can show you what to do, but you have to do the work to make it happen.
You also purchased this book because you want to learn from someone who has done the work, made the mistakes, and learned from them. Congratulations, that’s a great first step! Dog walking services are in great demand these days, but there is competition. You need to set yourself apart; you need to make sure your phone rings. I am going to show you how. You will have the distinct advantage of building on ideas that have already proven themselves, that have been created through trial and error, and have been field tested for the last seven years.
One thing to start doing right now, wherever you are, is to visualize yourself running your company, having satisfied clients, and making money. Visualize yourself enjoying your business and watching it grow. All creation starts with a thought. You started creating your lucrative and enjoyable business the moment you purchased this book. By implementing the ideas it contains and combining them with creative visualization, positive thinking and, of course, through your own best efforts, that success can be yours. Stay positive, and if you hit a snag, do what the truly successful do when they encounter a setback, thank the world for showing you how not to do something! Every setback is a chance to learn something. If the successful treat setbacks like gold, so should you! Remember, “Fortune favors the bold.”
My story
I began dreaming about a new life while enduring a grueling ten hour session in a dark editing room in Denver, Colorado. I was the video editor, and in the shadows behind me sat an advertising executive and two creative directors. Literally every edit I made in that thirty second commercial was decided by the committee of dark shapes sitting behind me. When a decision was beyond them, it was escalated to yet another person on the other end of a phone. Occasionally I would offer a suggestion, but more often than not I kept my mouth shut. Why prolong the torture? One session in particular was punctuated by a comment from one of my clients, “How can you stand sitting in this room every day?” That day I realized my dream of becoming a famous director in Hollywood was exactly that—a dream. I really didn’t want it, I also realized. The price was too high and I suspected that the prize was illusory. I knew without any doubt that if I didn’t get out of that situation it would one day kill me.
There were many options. I could go back to school. I could maneuver for a better and more flexible job within the industry. I could go back to freelancing and perhaps gain the illusion of independence, or I could start my own business. I knew something had to change, but I just wasn’t sure where to begin. So, more time passed with me “grudging it out” as a producer and editor. As luck would have it, six months later my wife received a job offer in Massachusetts and I was all to happy to move, leaving Denver and that editing room far behind. With her job secure, we left Colorado. She began her new job and I began searching for my greener pastures.
Learned helplessness
They call it “pounding the pavement” and that’s what it felt like. With every résumé I mailed out or job interview I landed, I felt a persistent feeling of self-doubt—something wasn’t right. I saw in each job, no matter what it was, my inevitable doom. I feared I was headed for another sunless room and a slow but steady slip into depression. I chose to ignore the gnawing feeling a little longer and took a senior editor position for a corporate video production company (think blue plate diners as opposed to four star restaurants). It was a huge step back for me, and I quickly surmised that my employer was “Attila the Hun” in an industry of barbarians.
I still can’t decide what was worse about that job, my boss Attila, or the dreadful odor in the building. One of the offices must have, at one time, housed a dental clinic. Every day as I entered the building I was greeted by the nausea-inducing smell of professional dental products. It’s that sweet, minty, antiseptic odor that in an almost Pavlovian way makes your teeth hurt and your stomach clench. It seemed an appropriate odor considering how unpleasant I found both experiences (the dentist’s office and my job). Each day I would drag my feet up the long flight of stairs to my proverbial “dental chair” in front of the editing station—without the benefit of novocaine or laughing gas.
Indeed, many people experience this phenomenon called “learned helplessness.” Perhaps you can relate to feeling this way in your own life. An example of it is best illustrated by a well known and diabolical experiment on laboratory rats. A rat was placed inside a box with a metal floor known as a “Skinner Box” named after the psychologist B.F. Skinner who invented the test. Randomly and without warning, an electrical current was sent through the floor of the box and the rat received an electrical shock. At first the rat did what you might expect and tried to escape. But, after a while the rat gave up trying despite the relentless shocks it was receiving. It just lay on the floor without moving, not because it no longer hurt, but because it had accepted that there was nothing he could do about the situation. I didn’t need to torture a rat to find evidence of learned helplessness. I needed only to look in the mirror.
My profession had become merely a means to an end—that end was my home and life on the North Shore of Massachusetts. When I was done with my editing for the day, I had an exhausting two hour commute to look forward to, which if I was lucky, would get me home by 7 pm. This new job was wearing me down fast and I was very unhappy. Attila began regularly asking me to stay late to finish “critical” projects and hinted at weekends being the alternative to long days. It was about this time I began to have stress related health issues which required some serious dietary and lifestyle changes. Among other things, I experienced rapid weight loss and difficulty sleeping. On the way home from the doctor’s office I remembered my epiphany in the editing room in Denver just a year ago and wondered, “What am I waiting for—an emergency room visit?”
A ray of light
I talked things over with my wife and she suggested, almost jokingly, that I could walk dogs for a living. But it was true genius, and at that moment I immediately saw the potential of her idea. Neither my wife nor I knew of anyone who did this. Walking dogs for a living seemed outlandishly simple and yet extremely vital. For example, if we were going to own a dog as we had always dreamed—and wanted to continue to work and commute far from home—we could not do it without hiring someone to take him out during the day. Since we didn’t even consider this was a possibility, we had postponed getting a dog for many years. “How many others like us could benefit from a service of this kind?” I wondered.
I started to work on the idea in the evenings, and a plan for how to make it happen began to emerge. This was a business I knew I could create, and it didn’t require bank loans, investors, and lots of capital. It would take some creativity, desire and determination, which I had in spades. My health problems were the tip of an iceberg that had only begun to surface after years of ignoring the warning signs. If I was going to turn my life around, it was up to me!
It is commonly said that when you have a dream and take decisive action to bring it about, the universe bands with you to make that dream a reality. Well, I can tell you it does. This is not some useless platitude, it’s the truth. The famous psychologist Carl Jung called it “synchronicity” while others call it serendipity. Whatever you want to call it, a week later it entered my life. I received a phone call from a family member and heard about a producer who was looking for a part-time freelance editor to help her edit her documentary. This turned out to be a wonderful project, and it provided me with the free time and money I needed to develop my dog walking business. I was giddy the day I walked into Attila’s office and tendered my resignation.
My journey begins
Starting this business was a trail blazing experience for me. There were no books or information about it at the time, for it was still in its infancy. I went at it from the perspective of an advertiser. My first steps were to identify the demographic (who might purchase my services) and then build my business identity based on what would appeal to these folks. From there I developed an image that suggested that identity. For Newburyport Walks Dogs it was a bright, friendly, professional image that exuded hope and happiness. The website design reflected this image very well with its clean appearance and the bright happy colors of a sunny day.
I started my advertising efforts with fliers, targeting areas near my own home. Folks who saw my fliers went home and checked out my website. This got me a couple of calls. My first meetings were somewhat awkward, but I got through them. Much to my relief, I found it easy to talk about something that genuinely interested me for a change. People love to talk about their pets, and if you love to talk about animals these conversations flow naturally and easily without much effort. I gained two clients from the fliers and one from a referral. This was a good start but it wasn’t nearly enough. I decided to call the city clerk and find out about obtaining a mailing list of residents. It was from that initial call that I learned I could obtain the list of licensed dog owners.
This was a bit of a scary time for me with all the changes in my life and the lost income from leaving my editing position, so getting my hands on this list was really a great thing at the time. I knew if I put my heart into it, I would be able to drum up some business. I dedicated myself to calling 25 people from the list every day. The first 5 were the hardest by far, but the more people I called the better I got at it. As it turned out, making those calls became easy and productive. Each conversation I had with a prospective customer clarified what Newburyport Walks Dogs was going to be and what services I would sell. I compiled a list of frequently asked questions (FAQ) and included it on my website. So many people wanted me to send them information that through a naturally evolving process “the welcome packet” was born (you will read about it in this book). This packet eventually evolved into a sales tool at client meetings. Soon my schedule began to fill up with dog walks, and as a result my anxiety ebbed. If I had had what you are now holding in your hand—this book—it would have been a lot easier and taken much less time.
So, things were looking up. I still had work to do, but my little business venture was working pretty nicely. I was starting to make good money and best of all: I had escaped Attila the Hun, the dental chair, and four hours of daily commuting. That autumn as I walked down a leaf covered path with a black Lab puppy named Beatrice, I thought about how much my life had changed. How it was not just an idea or a dream anymore, but it had finally happened! The stark contrast to what my life is now, as opposed to then, is astonishing, but it also makes a lot of sense. Having been trapped inside a dark room, the logical answer was to get outside into the sunshine. I created my own dog walking business, and I never once looked back.
How to use this book
As I wrote this book I realized it was going to be important to keep all the suggested resources current. That is always a challenge in publishing, especially when referencing online resources, as links often become outdated or obsolete. I decided to circumvent this issue by referring readers to a “companion site” (http://www.dogzanny.com), which will contain links and references to other resources. This way I can keep the information current and add new resources as they become known to me. Each chapter will reference the relevant resources available on the companion site.
I also reference The Dog Walker’s Companion (DVD), which I created to augment The Dog Walker’s Startup Guide. Though the book alone provides you with everything you need to start your own business, purchase of the DVD provides additional resources to make your journey even easier. These include: a 20 minute full client interview; basic dog training lessons using reward-based training techniques for commands such as sit, down, sit-stay, down-stay, not jumping up, and leash manners that are particularly useful to dog walkers; business materials including forms, agreements, sample letters, example advertisements, and scripts (you must have a DVD-ROM drive on your computer to access these files). For a complete description of what is contained on the DVD please visit http://www.dogzanny.com. Again, you will be reminded of the DVD resources, when appropriate, throughout the book.
The chapters are organized by the order in which they should be read and acted upon for best effect. Fully read each chapter before moving on to the next. Investigate the resources that are recommended and/or find other similar options. At the end of most chapters there is a section called “Take action.” Action is the key to making your dream a reality. I have included this section specifically to distill the necessary steps you must take to achieve the goals set forth in each chapter. Before moving on to the next chapter, make plans for when, where, and how you are going to address each of the action items listed.
*****
Projecting Income and Defining Your Business & Services
Chapter Summary
This chapter explores the economics of dog walking and how it relates to your unique financial situation. You will also define what services your business is going to offer and how you will compete with other dog walking businesses in your area. This will require some research into your personal finances and also within the dog walking industry in your area. An honest assessment of your financial situation and needs, as well as how much potential income you can expect from starting your dog walking business, is critical to your success. Knowing exactly how many clients you are going to need to survive doesn’t just make good business sense, it will also provide you with peace-of-mind. The following subjects will be covered:
How much income you need to meet your lifestyle needs
The importance of customer service
Some ideas for services
Pros and cons of particular services
Shopping the competition
Figuring out your MTN (minimum target number)
Examples and case studies
Special considerations
How much money do you need?
There are as many answers to this question as there are people reading this book. Everyone has a unique financial situation that must be considered. In order to arrive at this elusive figure, you’re going to have to dig—not only into your financial records, but into your soul as well. How much do you want to work? What are you willing to live without? Can you temper your lifestyle to grow with your business? All these questions will need to be analyzed and answered individually. Being self employed doesn’t necessarily mean you get to keep more money! Yes, you get to write off business expenses, but you will need to in order to pay for things like health insurance, liability insurance, and other expenses that are unique to business ownership.
We will be talking about gross income in this chapter for simplicity’s sake, but gross income is not the same as net income. Net income after taxes is the money you receive after taxes and all other business expenses have been paid. It is your take-home pay and/or profits. It is the money you have left over to pay your personal bills, mortgage, and other expenses. Gross income is the money the business earns before paying its expenses and taxes. You can expect your net income after taxes to be anywhere from 20%–50% less than your gross income. When figuring out how much gross income you need per month to pay personal expenses you will need to adjust that number to account for taxes and business expenses. For example if you require $2,800 per month to pay your current personal expenses you will probably need to earn at least $4,000 dollars in gross income per month. It is impossible to give you a precise number or percentage as there are many factors that determine how much you will need to set aside for taxes and expenses. Businesses with more write-offs pay less tax but pay more in expenses. To get a better idea of what to expect you will need to discuss your situation with a CPA (Certified Public Accountant). A local CPA can be found by searching online, browsing the phone book, or better still, asking a business owner you respect for the name of their accountant!
Putting your financial picture into perspective is easy for some, and hard for others. There are many books on personal finance that will help you get a handle on money, what it is, what it isn’t, and how to take control of it instead of being controlled by it! My recommendation is Your Money or Your Life, by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin. This book suggests looking at your life, assets, and finances in terms of the “life energy” you spend acquiring them—and at the end of it all, what real value they actually have. It is the perfect book for those contemplating starting a business like dog walking.
Customer service
This is what your business really is. You need to understand that although “dog care” is the product you are selling, the success of the business will boil down to customer service. It has been my observation that quality customer service has been on a steady decline. Consumers have become complacent and willing to pay for inferior service in favor of a low price. This complacency has been rewarded with cheap products, unacceptable service, and companies that really don’t give a damn. Fortunately for you, many businesses are operating with this mentality which gives you a great opportunity to dazzle your clients with five star services! Your service will far surpass what most people are accustomed to and you will soon have far more clients than you can possibly handle.
What exactly is customer service? Simply put, it is responding to customers’ needs either proactively or reactively. Proactive service anticipates a customer’s needs before there is a problem, while reactive service responds to a problem or direct request from a customer as it occurs. Proactive service is arrived at through intuition, creative thought, your past customer service experiences, and feedback from customers. Proactive service is something high-end hotels are famous for. It’s why a five star hotel can charge big bucks even though the rooms themselves might not be much different than a three or four star hotel. To define your customer “services” you must put yourself in the customers’ shoes, and you must also ask your customers what they want from a dog walking service. Dog walking has its own unique set of challenges for fostering a sense of quality service.
The thing about the dog walking business that makes customer service a bit of a challenge is that you rarely interact with your dogs’ owners. The dogs you care for may think you are #1, but your clients don’t know that, do they? So, your challenge as a business owner is how to provide your customers with a very personal high-quality service that they are both aware of and can participate in.
Today’s international and national companies can’t offer the kind of personalized service your small business can. Most folks’ expectations of customer service have been diminished by the kind of one-size-fits-all service they receive from these billion dollar giants. A truly sustainable business is one that provides a service of the highest quality and that says to the consumer: your hard earned money has value to us, and we respect and want to earn that money. The cost-cutters may survive if they are selling nothing but simple quality goods, but service industries whose motto is “lower cost at the price of service” will not survive. That is where you come in. Be the Ritz Carlton of dog walking businesses and wow your clients with five star services!
Take two dog walking businesses, for example. In business ‘A’ they offer a 20 minute walk, nothing else. Business ‘B’ offers a 20 minute walk, a weekly blog, a monthly call to “check in” and an à la carte basic obedience training program. Which business would do better? Business B directly benefits the customer and will breed loyalty, generate referrals, and foster a sense of trust and community. The following items are some ideas for impressing your clients with professionalism and thoughtfulness:
Always answer the phone when it rings, never let it go to voice mail. Always answer your email within a day. Show your customers that you are grateful for their business! Get to know your customers and remember what’s important to them.
If a customer tells you in passing that her favorite flowers are daffodils, make a note of it. Then buy her a bouquet of daffodils for her next birthday.
Don’t forget the holidays either, a card at the least. If your clients celebrate Christmas, think about a great dog-related gift THEY will enjoy!
Take a Dale Carnegie seminar (I did) if you want to learn the secrets of outstanding customer service skills! http://www.dalecarnegie.com/
Some ideas for services
The Dog Walk: This is the staple service for most dog-walkers. It doesn’t require a group of dogs, or a vehicle capable of carrying them. This service lends itself best to the noontime period from 10:30am-2:30pm and serves those looking for a service that gets their dog some fresh air and relief while they are at work. In this service you decide the duration of the walk based in large part on what other dog walking services in your area are doing. You may add services such as plant watering or feeding fish or a cat for an additional fee. It’s always a good idea to do a little something extra for your clients at no charge. It could be as simple as taking in a package or the mail. Once you get customers, it will help you to keep them.
Dog Safaris: This service involves picking up a dog, or preferably several that are social and get along well, and bringing them somewhere fun for dogs, such as a park, beach, or obstacle course. This service can be scheduled any time and works well for early mornings and late afternoons. Be sure you know the rules and regulations regarding dogs for the areas to which you plan on taking them. The focus of this service is mental stimulation and enjoyment. Dog Safaris can include exercise, but the focus is on locations and novelty. This should be a service that older dogs would benefit from as well as young active dogs.
Dog Boot Camp: This service involves anything that gets the dogs’ heart rate up. It could be playing ball in the owner’s yard, hitching the dogs up to a sled and tearing down a trail, or maybe just going to a park or an active doggy play group. The focus of this service is exercise, so you need to create a safe and lawful environment for dogs to run and get a good workout. This is a great service for adolescent and adult dogs and fits well into the early morning and late afternoon time frame. This service has a lot of potential as not everyone is capable of exercising their own dogs. The sick, disabled, or elderly dog owners could really use this service!
Play Groups: This works well if you happen to have a bunch of dogs that all get along well together. Play groups are a lot of fun for dogs, but they do require you to be on your toes and very careful in your supervision of play. It is your responsibility to make sure play doesn’t get out of hand and turn into a dog fight. The focus of this service is dog-dog socialization and play. In this service it’s a good idea to offer separate groups based on the dogs’ ages and sizes. For example, a small dog group, puppy group, or a rough and tumble group of adult dogs. This service is a great adjunct to a training program and can be scheduled any time.