“I’m just going to quit and walk dogs!”

I used to think that every day as I languished in office hell. That single thought kept me going and gave hope. As stupid as it sounded, there was a way out of my dead-end job.

But honestly, I had put the numbers to the test. If I had walked x amount of dogs per day, I could actually make more than what I was bringing home currently. Plus no more getting berated on a daily basis by my manager.

I mentioned this to people and it was the same reaction.

“You’re going to give this up to pick up dog shit?”

You know things are bad when you actually consider this. At the end of my tenure in hell, I was that desperate.

I walked out of my office with no plans other than taking a break from the office drama. I was emotionally battered and needed to get away. Nothing like sunny Florida to collect your thoughts. It was there where I figured I could actually do this.

Most of you think, “How hard is it to start a dog walking business?”

I was in that mindset too. I figured I could just post a few well-placed flyers in the neighborhood and voila!

As I learned, nothing is easy!

There were a ton of factors involved in starting this business. First, I needed to find insurance. Not just for injuries against me but in case the little furballs decided to get lost or hurt. That took a good chunk of my start-up money. It was a huge expense for someone who didn’t have any potential clients lined up.

The second was advertising. How are people to know about your company if they don’t know you exist? That meant buying business cards and other promotional materials. Part of me hated this because I knew half of this stuff would only get tossed in the nearest trash can. It was a necessary evil of the job.

You Are Not Alone

Just finding the clients in itself was difficult. I greatly underestimated the number of people who were already in the industry. In my town alone, there were over 20 different pet sitters. It was going to be a long and hard uphill battle. I visited pet stores and veterinary centers, advertised through social media and… nothing. There were zero calls, zero inquiries and zero interest.

Part of me started to panic! What was I to do? I knew the dog walking business wasn’t to replace a full-time job but to not have any responses. I was beginning to worry.

Don’t people want Fluffy or Fido to have a nice, relaxing afternoon stroll during the day?

Do you not care about the welfare of your pets?

C’mon people, what’s wrong with you???

I started to “bid” on jobs through several job boards. It was the type of deal where a potential client contacted you and then you would send a quote back. Many of those went unanswered. Everyone seemed to ghost on responses or my emails were going to the Land of Lost Customers. I learned to never get hopes up when I sent a request back to someone.

Then it finally happened! A response! A legit customer!

But there was a catch. The client was putting out her “feelers” to get someone lined up for service… 5 months from now.

Ugh! Are you kidding me?!

Well, it was better than nothing. Little did I know, in the next few weeks my luck changed and found myself tossed into the world of dog mommies. You know the types. I had clients who dressed up their pets and provided organic meals. One person even sent their pup to a doggie psychologist.

I walked into a bizarro world. But I was ready… or not?

 

Ruff-in’ It is a series depicting my adventures in the dog walking world. I take you behind the scenes of crazy doggy mommies and obsessed pet parents. If you thought watching children was difficult, think again!