If you’ve always wanted to work with animals, you may want to consider starting a pet-sitting business. Pet sitters provide both pet care and home care when the owner cannot be there.
What sort of services can a pet sitter offer?
- Visits to the pets at home (usually between twenty and thirty minutes)
- Walks and exercise for pets
- Transport to and from the veterinarian’s office or grooming salon
- Daily feeding, changing water, and administering any medications
- House-sitting (including watering plants, bringing in mail and newspapers, and turning lights on and off)
A pet sitter allows pet owners to leave their pets in a familiar environment — at home — when they are away.
If you decide to start a pet sitting business, you probably won’t need a formal office, or too much else for start-up. As long as you have a computer and printer, you can make your own forms and flyers. You’ll be going to the client’s home for the initial interview and for pet care, so you can save on office rental fees.
You can expect to keep some unusual hours if you are a pet-sitter. Think about your own pets: how many times does your dog need to go outside (at a minimum) every day? Three? Five? You may want to offer a “basic” package of three or four visits daily, and allow clients to add-on more visits for their pets if they desire. Factor in the cost of gas these days if you’ll be driving to a client’s house several times a day.
Perhaps the most important thing you will need is licensing and insurance. After all, you will be going into your client’s home when they are at work or away on vacation. The safety and security of your client’s home is in your hands. Should something go wrong, licensing and insurance can protect you.