Six Tips for Your Animal Energy Work Startup

Anyone can start an animal energy therapy business. Being an animal lover and talented healer may not be enough to become a business success.

Consider these 6 tips from my twenty years of experience with animals and their human caregivers:

(1) Verify Your Business Idea Is Legal in Your Chosen Workplace

Not all states or provinces allow healers without a veterinarian degree or government license to help animals, even via emotional release modalities. Some locations may forbid therapeutic massage for pets and livestock.

Before you write your business plan for your desired business location, explore the legalities of this work. Ensure you have the proper credentials to use massage, energy work, emotional release methods or any modalities on animals.

(2) Create a Niche for Your Animal Services

Do you have a passion for all animals, or are you more of a dog-lover who’s afraid of getting close to horses or reptiles? Remember that animals can sense energy shifts and smell human fear. They may run or attack if they feel threatened when you approach them.

If you adore cats but aren’t fond of other animals, consider specializing in feline energy work so you, the pet caregivers and the animals feel comfortable. The animals and humans will feel your passion, sense your dedication to your specialty and refer your work to others.

(3) Gain Experience via Volunteerism

When I was a practitioner, prospective clients often asked me how much experience I had with their particular type of animal or animal problem.

I eventually accumulated a large mental library of success stories to share to put them at ease, but I didn’t have much experience when I first started.

I obtained my experience with horses, goats, dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, birds, fish and mules by working on the pets of family and friends, volunteering at a local animal shelter and two horse rescue ranches.

Volunteering at an animal shelter or rescue group is a fun, effective way to quickly gain a lot of experience. You can then tell prospects, for example, that you’ve worked with over 100 animals, sick and healthy, well-behaved and ornery, all ages AND you will be prepared for a variety of animal issues as you’ve encountered them while volunteering.

(4) Identify and Capitalize on your USP: Unique Selling Proposition

Who is your competition and what will make your prospective clients choose you over them?

Maybe you specialize in wellness therapy for horses and livestock but not house pets, or you can communicate with animals to find out why they’re feeling bad and then help them heal?

My USP was the use of surrogate muscle testing aka dowsing to identify any animal's distress. Over the years, I’ve gained the ability to hear and share communications that some animals wanted their owners to receive. During my 20-30 minute "Get Acquainted" sessions with prospective clients, I'd tell them about these unique skills, then share a free sample of my work. They'd often request their first session appointment after noticing positive changes in their pets after our complimentary mini-session.

Your specialty is your USP: Unique Selling Proposition. You must be sure that your prospects know WHY they should select your services over the competition.

Most people consider their animals to be a part of their family or even their children. They want the very best for their furry, scaled, and feathered friends, and will pay for it to relieve their pets’ distress or misbehavior. It’s up to you to gently let them know what makes your services the best choice for them and their loved ones.

Video samples of how I helped animals are on my YouTube Pets Playlist.

(5) Keep in Touch with your Client Base

As you build your prospect and client base, encourage them to subscribe to your free newsletter. Provide animal health tips or success stories and weave in some advertising about your products and services in your newsletter. Everyone is very busy and somewhat forgetful these days. Newsletters (at least monthly) subtly remind your clients that your stellar services and products are still available and may prevent them from straying to the competition.

If newsletters aren't your thing, consider starting a social media page to market your business, attend local pet care events or be a guest on pet-related podcasts.

(6) Learn from Others to Create a Fun, Profitable Career!

American humorist and prolific author Mark Twain advised, “The secret of success is making your vocation your vacation.”

Working with animals can be an extremely rewarding career, but your business needs nurturing and care to be healthy and grow strong, like any pet does. Put aside some time each week to learn new successful business practices. Use one or two to determine if they work for your business. If not, move on to something else.

For example, many practitioners insist their new clients read, sign and date an agreement that states the session fees, any guarantees and referral bonuses, or late cancellation penalties. This document may also reiterate that the client understands and accepts that the practitioner is not a licensed veterinarian, but holds certain certifications or other degrees.

Conclusion

I'm now retired from doing client sessions, but will always look back on my times with the animals as some of the most fulfilling and educational of my life.

Yes, you CAN create a thriving animal energy work business. Hopefully my above tips will lessen your time to get up and running. Animal caregivers are often kind, generous folks and are happy to spend money for quality help for their beloved pets.

The rewards are multi-faceted and endless for you, the pets and their families.

Thank you for reading my article, BLESS YOU for helping our animal friends!