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CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
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Before You Realize It,
You Will Have All The Knowledge
And Tools That You Need To Be A Certified Life Coach
And Begin Maximizing The
Potential Of Others
START YOUR OWN
HOUSE CLEANING SERVICE
Costs almost nothing to start up – No special training required – Clients are EVERYWHERE – Get Started NOW!
START A PET-SITTING SERVICE TURN YOUR LOVE
OF ANIMALS INTO A PROFITABLE NEW VENTURE
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
Flexible hours, Promising salary. Holidays negotiable. Be your own boss. No experience necessary.
If you spotted the above ad in the Help Wanted section of your local newspaper would you laugh, "Too good to be true"? But it is true! Have you always said, "I'd never have the money or the skill to start my own business." But you do! One of the easiest businesses to start and operate requires very little money. The only necessary skills are patience, time, and lots of love. The business? Pet-sitting!
Jackie McDonald owner of Jackie's Pals in Houston, Texas, started her pet-sitting business after working eight years in a doctor's office. If you want to do something you enjoy, and if you love animals and find this work is very calming, this could be your career move." Other pet-sitters in many area's are extremely busy. If you feel your neighborhood could support another pet-sitter, this could certainly be your opportunity, especially if you start around a very busy holiday season.
Pet-sitting involves going into someone's home and caring for a pet when when the owner isn't available. The service can include plant watering and mail and newspaper pick-up. The focus, however, is on the animal. Pet-sitting saves a client and the animal the aggravation of dealing with a kennel. Clients expect a variety of services: feeding, watering, liter box cleaner, pill giving, and especially some Tender Loving Care for a lonely animal who misses its master.
ADVANTAGES, DISADVANTAGES
Owning a pet-sitting business has many of the same advantages of owning any business--you are your own boss, you set your own hours (depending on the number of clients you serve per day), and your paycheck will be limited only by your willingness to work. You may especially enjoy the flexible hours. You can also work out of your own home and that's a big advantage. Another advantage of pet-sitting is the opportunity of getting to know some real characters: Missy, the cat that only eats facing north (a real example, believe it or not), or Rufus, the blue-footed Amazon parrot who refuses to stay in a cage. Your list will be endless. You may even enjoy the pleasure in meeting both pets and their owners, Most of the time the people are very nice. Most of them are concerned about their pets or they wouldn't call you. And the animals will love you most of the time, no matter what."
As with any business, pet-sitting has a few disadvantages as well. If the business is to succeed, long hours and hard work are necessary. This is not a get rich-quick scheme. Holidays will be especially busy. Servicing fifteen pets, each two times a day is not an unreasonable expectation. This doesn't leave much time for football viewing on New Year's Day. Unless you're a real animal lover some of the tasks can be unpleasant: Who wants to clean a litter box twice a day for two weeks? But that wildly wagging tail or the purr of a lonely animal that greets you at the door does make it worth the trouble. So do those paychecks at the end of the Christmas holidays. You must truly love animals, or you won't enjoy this business."
ESTIMATED START-UP COSTS
Start-up costs for pet-sitting business are small. Expenses can be divided into three categories: marketing, insurance, and transportation. Initial outlay can be as little as $200 or more if you choose to pay for a visit to an accountant. That isn't a bad idea anyway. An accountant can explain tax laws and policies governing this type of business. In some states, for example, he or she will tell you not to charge sales tax because you perform a service that is not taxable.
Although most clients will come your way by word of mouth, invest in a few marketing tools. Business cards are essential. Costing anywhere from $25 to $50, business cards can be placed anywhere pets are found--pet shops and vet clinics. Because most vet clients have kennel facilities, some may not allow you to place your card with them. Establish a relationship with a vet in your area, though, and he or she will begin to recommend you when the kennel facility is full. Design a flyer and place copies on community bulletin boards, church bulletin boards, at the grocery store, and any other place you can think of. "Welcome-to-the-community" associations may be willing to give your card to new residents, too. Keep trying to get your business known. People will be delighted with this service when they hear that you are a top quality pet-sitter. If you can afford it, buy an answering machine. Once your business is booming, you'll need one to take all your business calls.
Clients will ask if you are bonded. This means that an insurance company finds you trustworthy and is willing to put this in writing. An insurance policy protects the homes you enter. If something is broken while you are there, your policy will cover it. Being bonded, however does not protect against damage to pets while in your care. With this type of policy, your premium increases as your business increases. Initially your coverage cost $100 per year. As you client list increases, you can pay as much as $500 per year. Being bonded, however, is worth the expense. Clients are more likely to use your service if they know you're backed by an insurance company.
Keep a log of business miles traveled in your car. Also keep track of gas and auto expenses. These are all tax deductible.
OPERATIONS
What are the mechanics involved with pet-sitting? When a client calls, arrange a meeting before his departure. This gives you an opportunity to see the pet, familiarize yourself with the routine, and get a key. The client also gets to check you out and give instructions. Appear professional. Have a printed instruction sheet ready for the client to complete. Include space for emergency phone numbers and vet information. Also include a section on pet preferences. A pet whose routine has no disruptions is a much happier one when his master returns. The master will be satisfied and you'll reap the benefits by gaining a repeat client.
Suggest that clients limit changes to a pet's routine. The pet will be happier and easier to care for. Provide references to all clients who ask. When you're just starting out, ask a neighbor whose cat you've fed once or twice if she'll be a reference. Most clients won't call references, but will be wary if you've got no one to vouch for you. An important note here: ask clients to be specific about when they'll returning. Have them call you when they do get home. Avoid the disaster of one pet-sitter who clients was three days delayed and whose cat went unfed for that time. When you return your clients key you pickup your payment.
WHAT TO CHARGE
Determining a fee is a personal matter. Consulting with other pet-sitters in the area can help you determine an appropriate charge. Fees range anywhere form $5 to $10 or more per visit. Some pet-sitters charge more for initial visit and less for subsequent visits. The fee will also depend on the number of pets involved and the amount of trouble they will be. Obviously the household with three cats, a turtle, two birds, and a hamster should be charged more than the one with a single dog. Decide in advance what your limits are, too. If you don't care to feed, water, and brush a horse each day be prepared to say no. Once your business takes off, one turned down request won't affect you.
A wide variety of people will use a pet-sitting service. Certainly vacationers will be a number-one market. Therefore, holiday times will be extremely busy. Some people own pets but have little time to spend with them--couples who both work fulltime, and singles who travel.
A few words of advice and notes of caution:
Be prepared for a mess. Bored animals are messy little things. They knock over plants, break vases, and chew furniture. Although yours is not a house-clenaing service, your clients will appreciate your efforts to tidy things up.
Follow your client's instructions to the letter. Even if no one but you knows Fido ate exactly at 6 P.M., do what is asked. Owners can detect when a pet's routine has gone wary.
Pregnant women should be aware of a condition known as toxoplasmosis. caused by a parasitic organism found in cat feces, toxoplasmosis can cause severe damage to a fetus. Pregnant women should use extreme caution when disposing of cat feces or else wait until after the baby is born to start a pet-sitting business.
Expect a few complainers. Most clients will love you. Some, however will be annoyed that Fifi's nails grew too long while she was in your care, or that Bucky seems listless since their return.
A pet-sitting business is an easy one to start. The only requirement is a real love for animals. You will find that people are quite interested in your service and are more than willing to pay for it. It can be summed up this way: it is a very time consuming business. But you can enjoy it and learn from it. You're certainly compensated and it is very satisfying."
Three Steps to Your Career Plan
"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail"
You have heard this before.
This saying is especially true when it comes to career and professional development.
Unfortunately most people just "go with the flow" with their jobs. They don't have goals, purpose and direction.
One day they find themselves trapped in an emotionally draining and unsatisfying job. This is the harsh reality for many professionals.
The good news is that "you can control your career path."
With the advancements in the information age, globalization, and the current economic development there are more opportunities than ever to get the career you are passionate about.
Think of career planning as you would if you are planning a trip.
First you would decide where you want to take off from, where you want to land at. Then you would work out the schedule, the timing and the intermediate stops.
If you don't like planning trips, "relax" you can hire a travel agent. If you don't like planning your career you can hire a career coach to guide you through it (I recommend trying on your own first, because it makes your career coaching session much more efficient and beneficial).
You can draft your Career Plan in three easy steps; I use the acronym K.D.OTm (pronounced like kido) to remember it
Step -1- (K) Know where you are now.
Step -2- (D) Decide where you want to go.
Step -3- (O) Organize a plan to get you there
K - Know where you are now.
The ancients knew it best when they said "know they self." You can know yourself by looking at your surrounding and knowing where you are now. Take a real look at your career now; what do you like about it? What don't you like?
Make sure you take what you like now with you when you go to where you want to go!
D - Decide where you want to go.
Based on the information you gathered from where you are, Decide your destination now. Write it down and get excited about the possibility (everything is possible).
O - Organize a plan to get you there.
Winners have plans. Planning happens by back-tracking from your desired destination all the way back to your current place and position. Step-by-step work your way backward till you have a completer path.
If you are visual person chart it out, if you are logical outline it, and if you are creative mind-map it. And if you are like me you would do it in all the previous forms discovering different insights with every way.
The important thing to learn is this: to get ahead with your job and get far more satisfaction with your career you need to create a career plan that will get you smoothly from where you are to where you want to be.
Jot down the KEDO steps and start your career plan 'today', it is easy and straight forward, and notice how excited you are when have that plan in your hand.
