As energy costs rise, I see more and more pet sitters struggling to keep afloat while we cruise along much the same as always. Granted, pet sitting business startups pay as much for fuel as everyone else, but it’s not all about fuel. Fuel costs will not ruin a well-run and organized pet sitting business – it’s only one small piece of a larger puzzle. When I decided to start a pet sitting business, I focused on visit density (how close together your customers are). I found that this makes money for more than one reason and should be a corner stone of your existing or pet sitting business startup.
Visit density is essentially having many customers in a fixed area. Now, if you sit around hoping a lot of customers will call from the same area, you’re going to be waiting a long time. After 19 years in the dog walking business, I can clearly say, as an expert, that this will not happen on its own. You can, on the other hand, make it happen just like I do in the course of regular business. Not a day goes by that I do not leave brochures, business cards or flyers at homes in neighborhoods where I am already working.
Get out and start walking the neighborhoods right around where you live and hit every house – do not skip even one! Always ring the bell so you might get a chance to actually speak to someone. Introduce yourself and hand them a brochure. With some luck they might even have a few questions, which is a golden opportunity to promote your pet sitting business startup. If you see someone walking a dog, introduce yourself and give them with a business card.
Okay, it’s leg work, but here is the payoff of visit density: you will use significantly less gasoline than your competitors and spend much more time with pets which, by the way, is how you get paid. Your utilization numbers will be high and your fuel cost low, a very profitable scenario. There is no rocket science here – it’s all about the knowledge of how to run a pet sitting business startup correctly without spinning your wheels and wasting your time with unsuccessful ideas that cost you money.
Spend some time developing visit density and your efforts will reward you handsomely for many years to come. It only takes a little desire and a pair of sneakers. Another perk is that after you get several jobs on a street, you and your pet sitting business will own the street with word of mouth, so always do a great job to get another job.
John A. Corey created his own highly successful pet-sitting business, Critters Choice and is the author of Pet Sitting Success: The Critters Choice Way. His goal is to share the hands-on knowledge he has gained over the last 19 years, which makes it possible for others to avoid many of the common pitfalls all pet sitting startups experience and quickly move on to achieving success.
www.critterschoicepetsittingsuccess.com
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