Want to Have a Business That You Can Be Around Dogs All Day?

Most pet lovers' dream is to have your own business or have a job where they can be around dogs all day long. Well, it's not very far out of reach. Take me, I'm 16 years old and I run my very own dog breeding, training and boarding business. And I make good money doing it. It may have been easier for me due to the fact I have an entire summer break off, and lots of days off from school. But, it's definitely not impossible to do with a job (or without one). See, as soon as I get home, I go work for my business, it starts out 5am every morning, I get up, let the client's dogs outside, feed them, water them, and then put them in their respective kennels for the day. And then, repeat as soon as I get home. Luckily, I have parents that work from home and they can fix any problems the dogs may be having during the day. And I am super grateful for that. But, in the beginning, it was me by myself doing this on the summer break.

Getting Started

Getting started is the hardest part of this business. And that's what usually turns people off from doing this sort of business. It took me about a week to get my very first client, for dog boarding and walking. Which was paying me $35 a day for about 1-2 hours of work per day, and best of all, all the dogs I board here on my property, they are all dog friendly so I can have them along with my personal dogs on walks and other exercises. Getting back on topic, depending on where you're starting from, it's going to be a very different experience. When I started off, I got a grant from the government for $3,000 as a summer company grant meant for people under the age of 18. With this $3,000, I went and purchased kennels, insurance, leashes, toys, cleaning supplies and other essentials while caring for dogs. Some of you may need a loan from the bank to do this, but I've been doing this for about a year now, and I can say, it's going considerably well and I could pay off a loan if need be.

Getting Your First Clients

This is another thing that is difficult for many people. Too many people just expect for clients to come to them once they set up a Facebook page or Instagram page, or Twitter, or any other social media. But, that's not how it works. It took me a whole week of grinding and extreme marketing to get my first client. I spent a total of $4.91 CAD on Facebook ads to reach about 12,000 people in my area. And out of those 12,000 people, one responded to my Facebook ad wanting some dog boarding for their beloved pets. And of course, I made sure the dogs were dog and people friendly, which luckily, they both were. So I accepted the client and started to get paid. I bill clients weekly, and I'm happy when they hand me cash or send an e-transfer to my bank account. After I got my first client and gained a few day's experience of caring for stranger's dogs, I started advertising on Kijiji which is kind of like Craigslist, but in Canada. I got many more replies on Kijiji than I did on Facebook. So I focused more energy onto Kijiji and promoting on Kijiji then I did on Facebook or Instagram.

Maintaining a Steady Flow of Clients

Now, you must look at which place online is generating the most amount of activity for you and your business. As soon as you can identify that, I would stop looking at the other platforms and focus 100% of your marketing energy on your particular platform. This will generate a greater number of replies and get you more clients. Have clients leave reviews on your website or Facebook page, this usually helps a lot when gaining other clients.

Conclusion

You know, I can't really imagine myself doing anything different in the future than this, and this is something I truly love doing. I hope my mini guide here can help you get your business off the ground, and maybe some day, we'll be competing on the market against each other. If you want, you can check out my business page on Facebook or Instagram.