Design Your Dream Pet Sitting Business by Answering These 3 Questions

Ready to start your dream pet sitting business? Or, if you already have, are you ready to explore different ways to grow it?

Let’s skip the major growing pains that can sometimes creep in when trying to form a lucrative pet business. You’ll want to answer some questions early on so you can determine how to grow your pet sitting services into a business that benefits you and the life that you want!

Here are three big questions to keep in mind when starting and growing a pet sitting business:

1- How should you decide what you want your pet business to look like?

First things first, imagine how your life would look as a result of your business.

Then, use that vision to help you create a roadmap for a successful pet sitting business — including the potential challenges you might need to tackle head-on.

What sacrifices have to be made?

Are these sacrifices helping you progress toward your goals?

The bigger picture should help you look at these issues with a glass-half-full perspective. Remember, it’s tough to build the perfect pet sitting business immediately. It will evolve over time, and doing the hard things now to get you there will pay off in the end.

Pro-tip: Listen to the success stories and challenging circumstances of other pet service providers to help you visualize what your pet sitting business might look like.

Start here:

📌 Episode 69 of the Boss Your Business podcast– Candace interviews Collin and Meghan Funkhouser of Funky Bunch Pet Care, a multiple six-figure pet care company.

📌 Pet Sitter Confessional Podcast– Not only do Collin and Meghan run a wildly successful pet care company, but they also host this very well-known podcast and speak to hundreds of pet sitting business owners in various stages of business!

How will you expand your business?

Once you’ve established your pet sitting business and made traction, you’ll start to wonder if it’s time to expand.

Before making the move, contemplate your goals, resources, and the market you operate in. How would you envision a pet business expansion? Look at these key factors. 🔑

Relocation options. If you’re offering pet services in a new location, is it an option to relocate? Is that something you should explore?
Urban vs. rural environments. Weigh the pros and cons. Densely-populated urban areas have a smaller radius and require less travel time, making it easier to cover more ground. But there may be little competition in rural areas. You could also potentially charge even more than urban pet sitters due to travel costs. Check your demographics and do your market research!
Other pet care businesses. See if what works for them can help you grow your pet sitting business, too. There are so many roads to success, and while you don’t want to copy anyone else’s map, you can definitely draw inspiration!

What other markets do you have your eyes on, and do you need clients before you move into those markets?

When you’re expanding your pet sitting business into a new market (or moving to a new market entirely), there are strategies you can implement to make the transition smoother — even when you have no clients, no market share, and no branding experience in that area.

One option is to hire a pet sitter who lives in the new area to build up your clientele until you are ready to make the move and hire more pet sitters.

But don’t forget:

If you’re not able to provide direct supervision, your new pet sitter should have a lot of experience and be highly independent.
If there are no guaranteed number of hours while growing your pet services in the new location, be upfront about it.

Building a presence takes time, effort, and a lot of marketing and community building, which is why the market research phase is so important to your expansion decisions! Make sure that the area you are expanding to serves your end goal — what you want your life to look like once your pet sitting business is as profitable as you want it to be.

The pet sitting business of your dreams isn’t far-fetched — it’s very much within your reach! What does your vision look like? Take the time to reflect on your ideal career aspirations and how they can align with the needs of your clients and their pets. Work your imagination and visualize the life and business you desire, and while you’re dreaming, planning, and doing, make sure you find the support you need from like-minded petpreneurs! You can start with our free Facebook community here!

Learn more with us!

Need 1:1 support to make massive action now? Book a discovery call with us to see if working 1:1 with Candace is the right fit for you.

Get on the waitlist! You’re passionate about pets. It’s time to have a business that supports the life you want, too! Learn the specific techniques to find new customers, to increase sales and to build a better team for ANY kind of pet business by joining the Pet Boss Club! Get on the waitlist here.