How to Start a House and Pet Sitting Business

Get a Background in Pet Care, Advertise, Determine Business Angle

Nov 14, 2009

Starting a house and pet sitting business is a great option for someone who loves animals and needs extra money or a full-time job.

Many people need trustworthy, responsible house and pet sitters when they go out of town. Starting a house and pet sitting service can be lucrative and fulfilling for someone with a background in pet care who is willing to advertise and will learn about the competition.

To be a trustworthy pet sitter, one must have a background in pet care or have extensive knowledge about cats and dogs. This would be someone who has volunteered at an animal shelter, worked at a veterinarian’s office, read books about caring for dogs and cats or has had many pets. Someone who loves animals and wants to start a house and pet sitting business but does not fit the above criteria, should call the local animal shelter and volunteer and stop by the local library to get a few books on pet care.

Advertise for House and Pet Sitting Services

When someone wants to begin a new business, he needs to consider how he’s going to build up his clientele. For a house and pet sitting business, one can start with his friends and family members that live in the area. Word of mouth is one of the best forms of advertising for a job that requires trust. Let friends and family members know about the new business, give them business cards to give out to their friends and coworkers and talk about the business when someone mentions going out of town.

If someone has knowledge of the internet, especially creating blogs and websites, or a desire to learn about it, then advertising through a website and blog can be the most successful and inexpensive form to get one’s name out. Many people go straight to Google when they want to find a referral for services, so it’s a great way to get new customers. Starting a blog can be done with a day’s worth of research and hard work.

What makes this business different from other pet sitting and house sitting businesses? Why should someone use this business instead of taking her dog to the kennel? Someone starting these services should determine what he is good at and consistently mention it in advertising. For example, someone starting a pet and house sitting service may discuss how it is better for pets to stay at home in their own environment while their owners are out of town and how they won’t be subject to contagious medical issues such as kennel cough and mange.

Dog Walking Business

Start with a dog walking business to forge new relationships and meet new clients. Then mention the pet and house sitting service to those clients and let them know who to contact if they’re going out of town. Once a person builds positive relationships with her clients, she’ll be more likely to get hired for more services in the future.

Learn about Local House and Pet Sitting Competition

Find out who the local house and pet sitting competition is, how they advertise and what services they offer. Try to use different angles when advertising, offer more personalized services and reach clients they aren’t reaching. Don’t bad mouth other businesses to get ahead. Just learn as much as possible about them and figure out how to improve services.

Always make sure customers are happy and try to address any customer concerns. Every business wants their customers to speak highly about them, so they refer even more customers in the future. This is an inexpensive, necessary way to promote one’s business and gain new clients.

Start a successful house and pet sitting business by getting a background in pet care, advertising, determining the angle of the business, starting with dog walking services and learning about the local competition.

The copyright of the article How to Start a House and Pet Sitting Business in Small/Home Business is owned by April Bowles. Permission to republish How to Start a House and Pet Sitting Business in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.