If you love animals and would like to own and operate your own business, professional pet sitting may be for you. And with this book, it isn't difficult or expensive to get started.
Starting your own business is not as difficult as you may think. You can painlessly do it with the most practical, informative, COMPLETE Professional Pet-Sitting Book available! Rather than learning by trial and error, this book helps sitters get started quickly and correctly, and to operate their businesses efficiently and successfully.
Table of Contents
- Some Background
- What Exactly Is Pet Sitting, And Who Needs It?
- Is Pet Sitting For Me?
- Getting Started
- Stuff You Will Need
- Getting Organized, And Staying That Way!
- Forms And Other Paper Materials
- Step By Step: From The Call To Completing The Job
- Advertising (includes examples)
- House sitting
- Other Variations On The Pet Sitting Theme
- Keeping Customers Satisfied
- Difficult Animals
- Difficult Customers
- Growing Your Business
Appendix I: NAPPS & PSI Codes Of Ethics
Appendix II: Sources Of Information
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Excerpts:
"...50% of all American families have household pets. There are more pets in this country than cars, and more pet food is sold than baby food. This makes for a very big market, no mater how you slice it! And whether for business trips, once or twice a year vacations, emergencies, the occasional weekend outing, or holiday visits to relatives or friends, many of those people need their pets taken care of when they are away from home for a period of time...."
"Many recent books and magazines describe pet sitting as one of the best small service businesses to start and operate. It is often specifically touted in these publications as an excellent home based operation, and/or one which can be started very inexpensively (I started mine with about $750, which included insurance and bonding!). Some examples of a few books I quickly found in a local bookstore which include pet sitting, are: 1101 Businesses You Can Start From Home, by Daryl Allen Hall; 101 Best Home-Based Businesses For Women, by Priscilla Y. Huff; and The Best Home Businesses For The 90s, Profiles of 95 Top Businesses, by Paul & Sarah Edwards. And there are many others. Not only that, but pet sitting is also being very favorably talked about more and more on radio and TV. CNN has even aired reports on it!"
from, Start Your Own Professional Pet-Sitting Service, A step-by-step guide to inexpensive startup and successful, profitable operation, © 1997, 2002 David A. Grass
Professional Reviews:
"Start Your Own Professional Pet-Sitting Service by David Grass, in my opinion is one of the most complete guides to pet sitting I have read in a long time. There is a lot more to this business than just putting a leash on a dog and walking it. There are many aspects that David covered very well in an easy to read format."
Lorraine Zdeb, President of The National Association of Professional Pet Sitters (NAPPS)
"This book offers a ray of hope to many of those unemployed out there by giving a step-by-step guide to starting one of the hottest home businesses of the decade. If you are a cash-strapped pet lover then reading this book may get you started on your dream job-just like the author who dealt with his unemployment by starting his own pet-sitting business.
David Grass enumerates every practical detail from the stuff you will need to start your business to ways to handle difficult animals and customers. He scores in easing the process of embarkation for the greenhorns. Speaking out of his experience as one of the pioneers in compiling the data on pet sitting, Grass underscores the growing demand for pet-sitting business. It is startling to know from him that, “There are more pets in this country than cars, and more pet food is sold than baby food.” The low-risk factor involved in taking up pet sitting as a business makes it, according to Grass, a potentially profitable proposition.
Grass’s e-book is a hit with many professional pet sitters and their associations for its printable business forms. With its vast informational material and helpful business tricks the book is definitely a handy guide to starting and managing a professional pet-sitting service."
Rating: 4 out of possible 5
Comment: Recommended
Reviewed by: Suman Mudamula, BookReviewClub.com
"I am impressed by your book - very comprehensive and better than others I have seen."
Ian White of Pet-Sitters.Biz
"This looks like a great resource. I will include your e-book as a text reference for the class. Thanks."
Katelyn Thomas, who teaches a pet-sitting course at Universal Class
Reader Comments:
"This book is INVALUABLE!! Thanks!"
"I would like to thank you for creating such a helpful stepping stone to break into the Pet Sitting business. I have found the set up that you created perfect for reading and understanding. I have used your forms and they are working great!...I have been Pet Sitting since August and have had a great start!"
"Thank you soo much. By the way pet sitting has always been what I have wanted to do for a living. Your book is inspirational. Thanks."
"I bought your books and forms and love them - thank goodness for you. I am so glad that you were willing to share all of your hard work and feedback w/the world!"
"I just wanted to let you know that I'm using your book and enjoy all of your ideas and suggestions. I also want to say that while I thought the price for your forms was too high, they have helped me immensely and I now think they are worth every penny. I’m not sure what I would have done without them, as they have led me in the right direction. In trying to create or customize my own, I found that the time in effort to get everything right is very tedious. I thus now understand the reason for the cost of the forms. I already have 2 clients and excited about the future. Thank you again for helping me with Macintosh problems and being able to open the PDF forms."
"About a month ago or so, I ordered your disk on how to set up my own pet sitting business. It's been invaluable! I now realize I need to order the forms you've made....I'm really excited about starting this business; I would have been lost without your book. Thank you."
"I just wanted to write and thank you for the copy of your book. It has been very helpful in helping me set-up my business. I really appreciate the check list of needed supplies that you included....And once again, your information was EXTREMELY useful!"
"...your service agreement puts together three forms that I was reviewing from another source."
"Enclosed is my check for $50 to order your Forms & Book. I was overwhelmed at the prices in Patti Moran's catalog. I read her book and it encouraged me to start a Pet Sitting business, but after seeing her catalog I said 'Whoa' wait a minute, this looks too pricey for me. Then after reading your ad on your Web Site, I feel much less overwhelmed. In fact your book sounds much more direct and more complete than hers."
"I debated for weeks about whether your book would be of any help to me in Canada. But like starting my own business, I decided that buying your book and paperwork would give me the push in the right direction. I found the material in your book very helpful indeed. Although I've been
running my business for over a year, I was not very organized with my
paperwork, from keeping a schedule straight to my contracts. Your chapters on Getting Started, What You will Need, and Keeping Organized, turned by business around. Up until one month ago, I had been
struggling with just about every new client that I signed on and the wording of my service agreements. The very first client I went to after changing my paperwork around commented at least three times about how well organized I seemed."
"I enjoyed your book immensely and found it very thorough.......I think you covered just about everything...thanks again for all the valuable info!"
"The step by step instruction was VERY helpful!! MANY things that I never knew were covered and it was interesting and indepth to read about all I need to do!!"
"Your forms look great and I am using them to fit my needs. Thank you very much."
"The book is just what I needed. I look forward to reading about starting my own Pet Sitting business (I've already gotten a few calls)!"
"Thanks for developing these very practical tools!"
"...straight forward, no fluff, is the way I want to do my business, too. Thank you!"
"I enjoyed reading your book, and I also liked your service agreement and schedule, they seem to be well thought out."
"Thanks for making this information available. I like your practical approach."
"Hi Dave, we have received your book and package of forms. We certainly agree with the simplicity you promote!"
"I am doing research getting ready to start my own pet sitting business, and the forms you offer are just what I was looking for."
"You are right, this is a great deal. Thanks again."
"Thank you for all of your help. It [the book] has been extremely useful in setting up my business."
"It's very well written..."
"The lady who is going to hire me won't even meet with me until I have read the book..."
"I have followed your book step by step, and I am happy to say that I have gotten off to a great start. I couldn't have done it without you. I even designed and printed my own brochures using microsoft Publisher, and I spend a few hours a day putting them in doors and visiting animal related businesses, as you suggested. And it works!...I bought the bookkeeping material you suggested. It is a Godsend. Thank you again."
"I did get your book and I have been enjoying reading it. It is filled with good information and answers all my questions."
"I just received your book and could not be more thrilled. I received it in today's mail and I was amazed at how quickly you shipped the book to me. I have already read to page 118!"