If you own a pet sitting business with one or more employees, you’re probably in the midst of losing your mind while you try to accommodate everyone’s last minute requests for holiday pet sitting. While you can’t force clients to do better about planning ahead you can make things a little easier on yourself. Here are three things you can do as you prepare for the onslaught this holiday season.
#1 Set boundaries
About a year ago I started setting a deadline for when people could book Thanksgiving and Christmas trips. I typically cut booking off around 1-2 weeks before the week of the holiday. This doesn’t seem like much but it will go a long way to reducing the schedule churn created for your employees with last minute requests. I find that even if I have the capacity to take on additional visits at the last minute, I owe my sitters some measure of stability. I’m just not willing to ask a sitter two days before Thanksgiving who’s made plans to squeeze in that one more visit. Pet sitters know it’s a busy chaotic time but if you can give them some measure of control, they will appreciate you for it.
#2 Hire extra help
I’m doing something this year that I haven’t done in past. I’ve hired and lost sitters in past. Some I was happy to see the backside of but some of them were great sitters who left simply because their life circumstance changed. I keep their information and I plan to reach out to them for the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years week to enlist temporary help. We have a history, they’re trained in company policies and who doesn’t need a little extra money around the holiday.
#3 Don’t be afraid to say No
This might be the most important thing to remember. Clients will push the limits. They’ll say please and pretty please and continue to make last minute requests. It’s hard as a business owner to turn business away but try to keep in mind the bigger picture of your employee’s happiness and your own needs to minimize the holiday chaos.
Another great article you might enjoy
Pet sitting business insurance questions answered!
https://www.thepetbusinesscoach.dog/pet-sitting-business-insurance-questions-answered/
About Eliza
Eliza is the owner of two successful pet related businesses; Preferred Pet Partners, a pet sitting and dog walking company, and The Pet Business Coach, offering coaching and resources to aspiring or current pet related business entrepreneurs. She maintains two awesome blogs. One for pet parents https://preferredpetpartners.com/blog/ and one for pet business owners https://thepetbusinesscoach.dog/blog-page/. Eliza also supports various animal rescue and shelter organizations. Eliza and her husband have a growing animal family including kitties, goats and chickens. Visit her websites: www.preferredpetpartners.com or www.thepetbusinesscoach.dog.
give, Give, GIVE to Grow Your Business!
Why did you start your business? Was it a desire to be independent, to manage your own time, to make piles of money? Maybe, but I’m guessing there was more to it than that. Most entrepreneurs go down this road because they want more in life. Not necessarily more money...
Writing the Perfect Client Update (or your dog pooped, again)
Let’s face it, there are only so many ways to tell a client that their dog pooped. Even those of us that are super creative will, at some point, run out of ways to make an update to a client on a pet sitting or dog walking visit interesting. As a professional pet...
How to Handle Rejection (or it’s not me, it’s you)
I received the following note from a new client the other day. We were one week away from doing the first visits for them. “Eliza, I wanted to let you know of a change as soon as possible. One of my son’s friends will be staying with the dogs while we are gone so I...
My Client’s Pet Hates Me! What do I do?
It was my very first meet and greet. I had launched the business nearly three months earlier. I had excitedly hung out my social media shingle, switched the website on and prepared to greet clients. I had waiting and waited and waited for a client. Now finally, one...
My client wants a specific sitter, and only that sitter, what do I do?
I recently came across a familiar situation. An existing client was going out of town, needed a sitter and called shortly before her trip to inquire about availability. I explained that we were happy to help and that the sitter she wanted was not available but that...
5 Things that you should ALWAYS ask a Pet Sitter before you hire them
We’re accustomed to asking a ton of questions when shopping around for a baby sitter but we’re less inquisitive when shopping for a pet sitter. Why is this? They are, after all, our furry children! Here are five things that you should always ask a potential pet sitter...
