Should I Try This Surprisingly Profitable Side Hustle?

Last night on my side hustle quest, I came across an article, “Six Realistic Side Hustles.”

I skimmed through the options. I’ve read so many of these articles now and they’re all the same. Then I came across option number four: “Dog Poop Pickup: The Surprisingly Profitable Side Hustle.” I love that this wasn’t even at the end as an afterthought, it was smack bang in the middle of the article! That makes it a serious side hustle option.

Apparently I can make up to $4K monthly (USD), by going to people’s houses and picking dog poop up from their yards. All you need is a scoop and a bin (and maybe to lower your standards), and you can get started! I was a veterinary nurse for 13 years, so I’m no stranger to dog poop. My mind started racing with ideas to get my dog poop pickup service up and running.

First, I need a company name:

Sandy’s Scoop Service

I’ve already got my mascot, Brown Nose Billy, in the image above. He’ll need a slogan:

They poop ’em, I’ll scoop ’em.

Now I’ll need to get the word out about my new side hustle. I’ll start by making a flyer I can leave in all the letterboxes in the area. Maybe I can even leave one on the noticeboard at the library. After more hours of yelling and swearing at Canva, I designed my flyer.

I’ll need a company car. Then when I drive around the area people will know there’s a new dog poop pickup service in town… or who knows, maybe I’m the first one?

I could take my van to the nearest park and hang around, waiting for potential customers to bring their dogs.

Wait a minute.

Would it be weird if I hung around parks where children play, with my van containing a slogan that could be mistaken for an ice cream pun?

Maybe I could approach parents at my son’s daycare instead.

“Hey there, do you have a dog? Does it poop? What do you currently do with that poop?”

Once I’ve got my customers, I’ll rock up for my first poop scooping job and start picking up poop from the yard. Hmm. I’ve just realised something: if I’m charging per poop I pick up, I’m also going to need some kind of poop tally sheet to keep track of how many poops per yard. This also means I’ll need a pen and probably a clipboard. Hey! You need way more equipment than a scoop and a bin! In the beginning, I can see this costing me more than I’m earning with all this equipment I need to buy to get started!

At the risk of sounding very Australian, we have a lot of kangaroos in our area. Do I charge for kangaroo poop removal from people’s front yards as well? Where do I even start with pricing for that? It comes in pellets, so $1 for five pellets, bulk discount: $1.50 for 20?

Also, once my son starts school, can you imagine his face when Mum comes to pick him up in the Scoop Mobile.

On second thought, maybe professional poop scooper isn’t the side hustle for me after all. It may eventually be profitable, but after I have to fork out for all the gear, have weird conversations with parents at daycare, and embarrass my son in front of his friends… will it really be worth it?

Oh well. For now, my side hustle quest continues. Back to the drawing board! Stay tuned for more side hustle questing from me.