A pet day care business can be a great way for an animal loving stay at home mom to earn money. Cat and dog day care services are often in high demand, and your children can even help care for the animals if they want to. If you're interested in starting your own animal day care service, these tips may help you get started.
Tip 1: Make Sure Your Home is Suitable
Take an honest look at your home and ensure it is the kind of place where people would be comfortable leaving their pets. It should be clean and approachable. Ideally, you would have a large back yard or live near a park so any dogs will be content. Make sure you have a designated area for the pets to play and many fun toys readily available.
Tip 2: Consider the Animals
Before starting a day care business, you should consider the species of animals you're willing to watch. Does "Pet Day Care" mean a free-for-all, as long as the animal in question is a pet? Or, perhaps you'd prefer to limit the species to cats and dogs, just cats, or just dogs. This is a matter of both personal preference and what your home can accommodate. If you don't have much room for animals to run around either inside and out, you'll probably want to say no to large dogs. If you or your children have a fear of spiders, pet tarantulas are out (and so on).
Tip 3: Consider Your Costs
The prices you charge for pet day care can depend on a number of factors, including but not limited to: demand for your services, species, size and activeness of the animal, any special needs the animal may have and so on. You should also consider whether you want to charge by the hour or for a half or full day of care. Your prices may also vary depending on whether you're opening a pet day care for fun (and supplemental income) or if you actually need to make a living off of it. Take all these factors into consideration before deciding whether or not you should open a pet day care.
Tip 4: Don't Forget Your License
Depending on where you live, you might need a business license in order to legally open a pet day care. Call or visit your local small business office to inquire about any necessary licenses before you open your business.
Tip 5: Know How to Advertise
Once you have your services, limits and prices hammered out, you can begin looking for clients. If you are acquainted with neighbors who are pet owners, you can offer your services - perhaps offer a special neighborly rate. To expand your client base, try taking out an ad in the local paper, putting flyers on telephone poles or even going door to door locally with a pamphlet and a smile. Consider talking to local veterinarians, animal hositals and groomers to see if they can help pass on your services as well.
By following these 5 tips, you can ready your pet day care for business and begin finding clients (and pets to sit)!
