It is all about starting a pet walking business for women who need extra income or have some free time. It is such a popular business idea since you will barely invest anything.
Of course, you should be someone who loves dogs. There is really no shortage of people who would want to avail of this service since almost everyone has dogs.
However, not everyone has the time to walk their dogs. It would be unfair for your pet to stay at home the entire day. In order to start this business, you must love pets.
Business model
Customer Segments
The target market is people who own dogs but don’t have time to walk them. Clearly, dogs need to be walked outside in order to do their business. Additionally, they need exercise. It is also possible pet owners can walk their dogs but they don’t know where. If you can propose a place for you to walk their dogs then they should be all ears on that.
Value Proposition
Imagine the expertise that pet walkers have. If customers realize how long you’ve been walking pets then they should be willing to pay top dollar for your services. It is important for pets to get the right amount of exercise.
The last thing you would want to happen would be your pets to look bloated because you feed them all the time but forget to take the dog out for a walk. Surely, being in the same place for a long period of time would give the dog some mental health problems. Thus, those who don’t take their dog out would be committing a mistake. Basically, anyone who owns a dog should be willing to pay for this type of service.
Channels
You should definitely post on social media especially Facebook groups. There will definitely be groups for people who are dog walkers and looking for dog walkers. It is also normal to put posters all over the neighbourhood about your dog walking services. Besides, your target market must be the people in your neighbourhood as it is known as a side gig for people who are close to you.
Customer Relationships
The dog must be happy at the end of the hour or how many hours the customers availed. It can be seen from the dog’s reaction if the pet enjoyed it or not. Thus, the dog walker must know how to please a dog. Yes, it is important to bring tons of toys and treats during the walking session. it is no secret dogs love treats especially bacon as the smell of it would usually drive them a bit crazy.
Partners
It would be best to partner with people who are experienced with pet walking. After all, they can teach you some things to remember when it comes to walking dogs. At first, it could seem pretty easy. A few days later, you would suddenly realize that it is a lot harder than you originally thought. It would be important to partner with people who love animals. If you don’t like animals then a pet walking business should not be the right option for you.
Key Activities
If it is possible to teach the pet new tricks other than the usual ones, then that would be fantastic. Don’t forget to take the dog to new places all the time. Just like humans, they tend to get bored if you take them to the same old places.
If they drag you to a spot, that means they need to pee or poop. It is normal for the dog to do its business as part of the activities. Hence, you must be prepared for that to happen by bringing the right equipment to clean the poo and pee in public places. It would be immoral to leave those things even if nobody notices them.
It would be ideal if jogging is also inserted into the session so that the dog would do a little bit of cardio training.
Key Resources
The right knowledge of playing with dogs and teaching the pet some tricks would do the trick. After all, the entire time won’t be all about dog walking. There will be points when you would need to entertain the dog so that it would not get boring. Believe it or not, you don’t need to have the right background for this. Just being passionate about this would be something that you would be proud of.
Revenue Streams
The payment for pet walking should be a one-time payment. The pay for it is usually after the dog gets walked. The entire session usually lasts for just an hour since the dog would also get tired. In fact, there is a possibility of scheduling several dogs in one day as that would also make you lose some calories at the same time.
When the business is doing well and you have loyal customers, you can offer those people a monthly subscription. They can save on your rates if they enter into a long-term deal where you will walk their dog three to four times a week. As a matter of fact, walking a dog preferably should be done at least twice a day.
Cost Structure
This is an awesome business idea due to the fact that you won’t really spend much to start it. Perhaps, the only thing you will spend for is marketing strategies in order to get the word out about your business. If they don’t realize that then they could be wrong. For example, spending for a Facebook ad would be wise since it does not cost much and you will already reach the people you want to reach. When you perform well, then word will spread around regarding how good you are. It won’t be long before you would get a ton of new customers.
