Dogs Love Running! - the blog for pet owners and pet professionals
How to start a dog walking company (part 1)
So you're thinking of starting a dog walking company, huh? Well, you're probably wondering where to begin.
The good news is that being a dog walker is not rocket science. The bad news is that, like anything, being truly great can be really hard. There may be a lot items that you never even thought of to do or would be necessary. But without considering those things - and if you can't do them very well - you may have a hard time being successful.
So, with that said, let's talk about the #1 thing that you need to think of first. Without an answer to this first question, you'll have very little direction on where to take your business and how to get there.
The first question is... drum roll please...
"What makes you special?"
Yep, that's it. What makes you, as a dog walker, special? This is Busines 101 and, yet, it's this first step that many people forget about.
Here are the 3 basic things that can make a company special (there are more, but this is the basic framework that you can start with for now):
- Are you continually the least expensive option? (Walmart)
- Are you continually the most reliable and "customer service" oriented? (Amazon, Zappos)
- Do you continually offer a unique, hard-to-get, and/or innovative product? (Apple Computer)
This should get you thinking for now.
Subscribe to our blog feed and keep an eye out for "part 2" when we discuss why trying to be more than just one of the above 3 options doesn't work...