If you love dogs, you will really enjoy running a dog walking service. In this article, find out about the huge business potential that a dog walking service business has.
What could be better than being paid for leisure walks? Not only do you get fresh air and a bit of exercise but also get paid for doing so. If you like going for leisure walks, you will really love this business. If you are not enthusiastic about leisure walks, you will start loving it when you see the green bucks flowing in.
A dog walking service is what we are talking about here. If you love dogs, you will really enjoy running this service. If you do not, you might actually start loving them when you find the huge business potential that this business (dog walking service) has.
You don’t need much skill for starting a dog walking service. However, you do need some equipment (i.e. multi-lead dog walking collars and leashes) which can easily be bought for less than $100. Such equipment will allow you to walk 3-5 dogs at a time without any problem of leads being entangled. This would make dog walking even more convenient and profitable enterprise.
You can offer a morning ‘dog walking service’ and/or an evening ‘dog walking service’. You can keep flexible timings initially; and as your business grows, you can fix the time slots if you want. You can keep the length of each walking session at one hour and cover 0.5-1 mile (back and forth) during that time.
Tip: Give a ‘gift guide’ on dog care tips to each dog owner who hires your services. This can be a simple sheet (of colored paper) folded in the middle and printed on both sides with tips. Do not forget to print your contact details and a synopsis of your dog walking service on the guide also.
Effective marketing/advertising is the key to the success of your dog walking service. Print attractive flyers/ pamphlets on good quality colored paper and stick them to the bulletin boards at kennels and veterinary clinics. Distribute your pamphlets at dog shows, pet stores, and other dog care facilities. Also, inform your friends about your dog walking service. Stock your customers and friends with enough pamphlets so that they can hand some over to other dog owners and hence help in spreading the word around.
Tip: Once you have sufficient regular clients, you can also organize dog socialization events where various dog owners come with their dogs and see them participate in group activities/ games. Supply your customers with several event description pamphlets and encourage them to bring along more friends. You can charge a small registration fee for the event and give away small gifts e.g. dog food packets (do not forget to attach your business card to any gift you distribute). You could also issue a press release of such events and hence get automatic (and free) propaganda for your service. Do not forget to include pictures of such events with the press release.
You can carry out this dog walking service as a part time job initially. However, you could later take it further and start a dog day-care facility too (a full time job). So, you could operate a dog walking service in the morning and evenings and a dog day-care facility during the day.