I have used independent contract sitters in my Dallas Fort Worth based pet sitting business Protecting Max for the past 5 years. Today I couldn’t run my business without them. Well… I guess I could, but without my contract pets sitters I would only be able to service a fraction of number of clients, I would have to service a smaller geographic area, I would be out pet sitting every night and weekend, I wouldn’t have the freedom to travel and take family vacations, and I wouldn’t have any back-up to look after my business when I’m sick or have other commitments.
Having contract sitters gives me a lot of flexibility to grow my business, a lot more time to work on marketing and help other pet sitters grow their business, and peace of mind that comes with having a business support team. One of my contract sitters even took over the reins of the business for a full month while I travelled to Australia and China earlier this year.
I know that many of you have fears around hiring your first contractor staff members. I had all the same fears - in fact hiring my first pet sitter was a really nerve racking process. It was the first time that I had to put my pet sitting business reputation in the hands of another person and trust that they would take care of my customers pets just as well as I did. I also had to work through contract issues and uncertainty of IRS rules, working out where to find people and how to advertise, and learn how to screen and interview sitters to determine if they would fit into my business. Much of this was a trial and error process for me. Some of the first sitters I hired didn’t work out but over the years I have learnt from my mistakes and improved my hiring processes.
In the last year I have written several articles here on the blog about hiring and managing ICs’s and have recognized the need for a product that would help take the trial and error learning out of the IC hiring process for new pet sitting business owners.
This week Josha of Petsittingology.com beat me to the punch and has released just such a tool. His brand new product - Pet Sitter Independent Contractor Toolbox takes all the guesswork out of finding and hiring contract pet sitters. As soon as Josh released it last week I bought my own copy as I wanted to update my own IC contract and also learn from a guy who with his wife Alita built a six figure pet sitting business in just one year and works with 30 independent contract sitters.
I love the toolkit and think it is the perfect tool for any pet sitting business owner who is ready to expand and hire their first IC sitter. I wish this toolkit has been around 5 years ago for me - it would have certainly saved me a lot of time and worry.
The toolkit includes:
Fill in the blanks Pet Sitter IC Agreement - which clearly eliminates the worry of IC sitters stealing your clients, makes sure that the new staff member understands their role as an IC sitter, and keeps you within the IRS rules for using contract staff. It also comes with a step by step guide that explains every section of the IC agreement
IRS Form W-9 that you use to collect tax info from your sitters
IC Time Sheet Template - which simplifies the process of paying your sitters
IC Contractor Interview Checklist - to make sure you ask the prospective sitter all the right questions and ensure they fit your needs
Background Check Authorization Form - to make it easy for you to collect the right info and get your candidates screened
The Pet Sitter Contractor Manual - that explains everything you need to know to find and hire the best contract sitters
28 Really Effective IC Job Listing - which gives you the exact ad copy that 28 other pet sitting companies have used to find and hire their independent contractors
This toolkit is very detailed and Josh has obviously put a lot of thought and hours into putting this information together.
Until December 31st Josh has the toolkit on sale for $67 (a 30% discount). I can’t believe that the price is so low. The information makes the process of hiring IC sitters so easy - and a product like this for pet sitters just isn’t available anywhere else. Plus - how often do you get a sneak peek at what is working for other pet sitting business owners?
Take a look for yourself - you can learn more about the toolkit by clicking on the link here :
Pet Sitting Independent Contractor Toolkit
As I have my own copy I am more than happy to answer any of your questions about the toolkit - just post a question on my Facebook page or leave a comment after this post.
(PS. The links in this post are affiliate links and I do earn commissions from my referrals of this product. I only recommend tools that I own myself and think will help you as my readers grow your pet sitting business)
