Become a Pet Sitter

Pet sitters have a variety of responsibilities. While a pet's owners are gone away on business trips, vacations, or just for the day, pet sitters take the time to play with pets, feed them, take them for walks, clean up after them, or simply spend some quality time with them for a while. The specific duties that will be required of you will vary according to each client's requests, so you should be prepared to be somewhat flexible if you decide to pursue a career in this field.

You must have a genuine love of pets in order to be a successful pet sitter, of course. However, there are other things involved in operating a pet sitting business, and you must be prepared to handle them if you are considering this as a full or part-time business.

Getting Started

First of all, you need to check in your county, city, and state to see what type of business license(s) you need. Even if you are going to operate solely out of your home, you will still need to have the appropriate licenses in order to be compliant with your local laws.

In addition, you should also obtain some liability insurance to protect yourself in the event something should ever happen to one of the pets you are watching, or a pet owner who happens to be on your property at the time of an accidental injury. Depending on where you live, you might also need to be bonded, so make sure that you find out all of the legal requirements involved in operating this type of business before you start accepting clients.

If you are not already familiar with the different types of animals that people generally want someone to sit with, spend some time conducting a bit of research. The more you know about these different animals, the better prepared you will be for taking on a variety of different types of clients.

Marketing Your Business

To get your business started, you will need to have some business cards created that accurately reflect the image that you want your business to present. Carry your cards with you everywhere and hand them out wherever you go. Word of mouth is an excellent way to generate interest in your new business, and once you have people recommending you to their friends and family, you will be surprised at how quickly your business takes off.

You might also visit pet stores and veterinarians in your local area and ask them if you can post flyers or brochures in their facilities. This will help you to advertise your business for very little money, and it just might create enough interest in your business to start you off with several customers.

When you meet with potential clients, always carry a standard form with you containing a list of important questions that you will need to ask concerning the person's pet and that pet's needs. You will need to put a great deal of thought into creating your standard client questionnaire, but once you have it done you can simply make copies and use it for all of your clients. If you think of additional questions along the way that you should be asking, simply revise your form from time to time. Such improvements will only serve to improve your business and make you look more professional, as it will give clients the impression that you really know what you are doing.

Pamella Neely writes about how to start a dog walking business, including how to find dog walking jobs.