More About Me … (continued)

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Here is the second installment of my journey to becoming a pet business owner. In my last post we had come to part of my tale when I packed up my kitty and moved to the USA. I transferred with my day job with oilfield service company to pursue a new job as a design engineer.I met my husband Todd in the first year in my new home and we married in 2002. By then I had another Burmese cat that I bought from a breeder in Dallas in 2001. Her name is Cozzy. Of course Todd is a pet lover too and one of the first items on our agenda after our honeymoon was to find a family dog. We brought Mackie the black Lab into our home - I’d love to report that he fit right in with the cats but we had a 2 year getting to know you period. Mackie was good with the cats but she did like to chase them when they ran from her. It took them a couple of years for the cats to work out that if they stood still she wouldn’t hurt them!

In 2003 I was feeling tired of the 9-5 grind and started searching for a business I could run from home part time that could one day replace my salary. At the bookstore I found a book by Patti Moran - Pet Sitting for Profit: A Complete Manual for Professional Success (Howell Reference Books). It didn’t take me long to decide that working with pets sounded like the perfect job!

I researched pet sitting and joined Pet Sitters International - a professional association for pet sitters that offerred me education, insurance at a reduced rate and a listing for my new business in their pet sitter locator. I then set to work creating tri-fold flyers that I left at the counter of local pet businesses to advertise my service.

It took a few weeks for me to get my first customer but when I did I was hooked. I loved spending time with the pets and also had fun meeting new clients and hearing their pet stories. Slowly I got other customers from my flyers and the PSI online locator.

The next steps I took were to advertise in the local Yellow Pages and hire a service to set up a website for my business. As the business slowly grew I developed systems for managing client keys, created a pet sitting contract, and started to reach out to network with other pet sitters.

I attended a networking lunch with 5-6 local sitters and was very fortunate that one of these women knew a pet sitter in my city that needed help of the Christmas holiday season. Working with another sitter gave me more confidence, helped me learn new techniques and tips, and gave me inspiration. I have been friends with this sitter for the past 3 years and we still support each other when we need additional help.

In my second year of business my husband and I travelled to San Antonio to attend PSI’s annual conference. This was a great experience as we met many other sitters with whom we shared marketing, pet care, and business management tips. We also attended a pet first aid and dog behavior workshop. Attending the conference increased my awareness of the growth of the pet sitting industry and the opportunities that existed to grow my business.

To be continued…



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