How To Start A Pet Sitting Service

Pet owners are a great market to cater to because they're willing to do just about anything to make sure that their pets are adequately cared for.

Going out of town? They need a pet sitter to attend to their beloved friend, and a home based pet sitting business is often more appealing than dropping their pet off at a kennel where their pet is often boarded without personal care or exercise, while being crowded in with other animals for days on end.

So, how can you start a successful pet sitting home-based business?

It's easy! If you have a love of furry creatures and you don't mind long walks, a dog sitting business might be your true calling.

When creating a pet sitting business, you can choose to offer "in house" sitting where you visit your clients home and care for their animals while they are away at work or on a trip, or you can offer to care for their pets at your own home, which is often the more preferred option.

Pet sitting involves a number of services including:

- Overnight care

- Walking

- Grooming And Bathing

- Feeding

- Playing

- Giving pets medications and creams

The start up costs are minimal as the only supplies you'll need will be a leash, collars (in multiple sizes), food and play toys, although most pet owners will prefer to provide all of this to you as they'll want their pets to stay on a consistent meal plan with certain brand name foods that they are used to.

Furthermore, for safety precautions it's always best to ask the pet owners for play toys, chains, collars and walking leashes so that you are using their own supplies and equipment, suitable for their pet.

When developing your business, you will want to thoroughly evaluate your options, keeping in mind that there are many different types of pets you could offer care for.

For example, if you are fond of cats, you could offer a cat sitting service instead. There are also people looking for someone to drop by and feed and care for their birds, rabbits, and fish as well!

Whatever you decide, be careful not to offer sitting services for different animals on the same day. Certain breeds don't play well together, and you need to keep this in mind when developing your business.

If you plan to attend to pets at your home, you may want to consider investing in proper fencing so that you are able to let dogs run and play without concern of them getting out into traffic or being lost.

And finally, make sure to communicate with local pet owners who are your potential clients. You want to know what is most important to them, what type of services are in most demand as well as what they don't want you to do (certain owners may not want you to provide treats, walk dogs in certain areas, etc).

Pet owners are very protective of their furry friends and they want them to be cared for by service providers in the same way that they would personally care for them, so it's important that you understand the mindset of your clients by taking the time to discuss their concerns and questions before developing your business.

If you listen to what future clients want before going too far into preparing for your home based business, you'll be able to use this valuable information to create a tailor-made pet sitting business that is bound to be a hit!

Note: If you keep pets in your own home, your local area may require some sort of licensing. Be sure to check your local laws before you begin to see if you need any type of special licensing.