Pet Sitting Service
A Third Age Small Business Opportunities feature
by our Small Business Editor

Are you an animal lover looking for a Small Business Opportunity in your Third Age? Then perhaps offering a Pet Sitting Service could be the ideal business for you!

Only an animal lover could appreciate how much pets mean to their owners. It would be no exaggeration to say that for many people, their pets are like their children. And just as the vast majority of parents would think it inconceivable to go on holiday without their children, pet owners feel the same.

Although pet-friendly holidays do exist, they are fairly limited. The solution? A Pet Sitting Service!

For a pet lover looking for a home-based Small Business Opportunity, what sounds better than doing something you love and getting paid for it. It’s the stuff of dreams for the vast majority of people.

So how do you go about establishing a Pet Sitting Service in your area? Well, checking out the local competition would seem to be a good place to start. Check out who does what and what they charge. Perhaps there is no such service currently operating in your locality. Even if there is, researching exactly what services they offer and how much they charge for those services might well reveal a gap in the market. You might be able to compete by offering a different service or by delivering a better service. Or it might be that you meet the local competition head on but compete with them on price.

Better still would be by learning from professionals – Pet Sitters who make their living by offering a Pet Sitting Service. Husband and wife team Lori and Scott Mangold have been providing loving, in-home pet care since 1988. Their business was inspired by their love for animals and the desire to develop a fun, home-based business.

Now their book The Professional Pet Sitter, teaches step-by-step how to organize a Pet Sitting Service, how to price it, market it, run it day to day and provide consistent, disciplined perfect service.

The authors say: Pet sitting is booming because lifestyles are changing. People today are career-oriented, travel more for business and pleasure and depend increasingly on domestic services. Pets are an important part of our families and finding proper care for them can be a problem. That’s where the professional pet sitter comes in! Pets stay in their own homes where they are safe and happy, travellers no longer need to worry about their pets or homes when they leave, and those who love animals can earn an income caring for them.

At the same time, more and more people are looking for income opportunities. Some have lost jobs, others seek more pleasant work and some need to supplement their earnings. Animal lovers should consider professional Pet Sitting for: (1) the pleasure of caring for animals, (2) the satisfaction of running a successful business and (3) profit.

A reader who bought this excellent book said:

“I wasn’t sure about Pet Sitting when I ordered this book, but now I’m convinced this is the right field for me. I can do what I love and earn an income too! This book did all the hard work for me. It helped me organize and set up the basic business, decide how much to charge and find effective ways of marketing (without paying for advertising). It also comes with all the business forms for my home office, and a sample service agreement to share with my clients.

In addition to professional bookkeeping advice, the Professional Pet Sitter offers tips on how to avoid common mistakes when watching other people’s homes (I wouldn’t have thought to “wear” the housekeys in order to avoid locking myself out!). There is an 18-point service routine that walks you through the time you arrive to the time you leave. I’m sure I’ll learn a lot as I actually begin to build my client base, but the Mangolds’ book is getting me off to a wonderful, informed start. I’m very, very glad I invested in this guide.”

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