Share This Page

Tweet

There’s great truth to the statement, “There’s strength in numbers.” Pet sitting can be lonely. And whether you are just starting your pet-sitting business or are a pet-care veteran, you have questions—and there’s no one better to help answer your questions and share in your daily challenges and joys than a fellow pet sitter.

PSI members have a network of nearly 7,000 fellow PSI members and pet-sitting business owners, and PSI is always looking for ways to help our members connect with one another. From PSI’s annual conference to the private Facebook chat group, PSI is always seeking out new avenues to allow our members to find support, advice and new ideas from fellow pet sitters.

PSI’s Pet Sitter Spotlight series has that same goal. Each month, we’ll feature a different PSI member. The blog post will help you get to “know” this pet sitter and provide you with some tips and advice for your own pet-sitting business. You can view past Pet Sitter Spotlights here.

PSI members, if you are interested in being considered for a PSI Pet Sitter Spotlight, send an email to meghannevans@petsit.com.

Meet Allison Waldron, owner of Irish Rover Dog Walkers and Pet Sitters LLC, Fairfax Station, Virginia.

Allison Waldron developed her love for animals when she was a child in Ireland, spending most of her summers on a farm. But it wasn’t until 2013, when she was back home in Ireland for Christmas, that she really started to contemplate pet sitting as a career option.

“Somehow it just dawned on me how much I enjoy being around animals, and that I could really turn this into a career opportunity,” Allison says. “When I returned to the United States, I started researching and opened my LLC two months later.”

In February 2014, Allison started her business, Irish Rover Dog Walkers and Pet Sitters LLC, in Fairfax Station, Virginia. The company name was a perfect fit and marketing strategy for Allison, who was born in Dublin, Ireland, and has lived in the United States for 17 years.

Allison’s business is insured and bonded. She currently has six part-time employees and hires more to work during the summer and for major holidays.

Her company serves dogs, cats, lizards, birds, guinea pigs and hamsters—providing shots for diabetic dogs and fulfilling other client requests in addition to offering the standard services of pet sitting and dog walking.

Opening a pet-sitting business was “definitely a career switch,” Allison says. The Georgetown University graduate previously worked overseas in Germany as the managing director of a shipping company.

“I knew I wanted to go back into the workforce, but knew that I had no interest in being back in a 9-5 office type environment,” she explains.

The skills Allison developed in a corporate setting have helped her in the pet-sitting world. In the shipping industry, she was responsible for general coordination between vessels, agents and suppliers worldwide. Some of her tasks included managing schedules, bookkeeping, preparing payment orders and invoices, and working with authorities and companies overseas to manage licenses and insurance. Now, on a smaller scale, she applies those skills to her work running a professional pet-sitting business.

Building business

It took Allison about two years to build up clientele in her suburban service area, and now her company has a portfolio of more than 150 clients. In the off season they have about 50-plus visits a week, with more than 90 visits a week during the summer season.

“Our key to success is that we have 100 percent repeat business,” Allison explains. “We work for many professionals who are home. On any given day, 50 percent of our clients are actually home, but they still request our service.”

Allison walks only the most challenging pets, such as senior pets or pets that require extensive medications. Her staff sitters handle several midday walks. Allison says she hires people who have a direct connection to her—those she has known for many years in her social circle.

When Irish Rover was a new business, Allison found that word of mouth was the best advertising method. Now Facebook is the main driver of her business, and they are working on a website. Her business has also sponsored local community events and advertises in local community newsletters.

Accessing the right tools

As a new business owner, Allison joined PSI, which enabled her to learn about insurance options and to access a wealth of information to help her get started in business. She says the private Facebook group has been a great resource for learning and for growing her business, and PSI’s webinars are very informational.

Allison is trained in Pet CPR and First Aid and she also plans to obtain the Certified Professional Pet Sitter™ (CPPS™) designation through PSI.

She likes to keep abreast of trends in the industry, especially related to pet nutrition and diet. She has found that this information is very helpful to know when speaking with pet owners.

There are a number of resources or tools that Allison says her business could not do without: a lawyer, PSI, Paychex for outsourcing payroll and organizing compensation, Time to Pet for scheduling, cell phones and apps, and the domain name for a future website.

“Like most traditional pet-walking companies we wrote extensive reports in the beginning,” Allison shares. “Within six months, we became virtually paperless and environmentally friendly. With all the technology, our updates became live feed with texts, photos, and videos which our clients truly love.”

Her business uses What’s App and Viber to update clients traveling overseas.

Allison describes her company as “client-pet focused.” They are devoted to pets, but they also want to know their clients’ expectations and what is important to them.

“I read many pet sitters say they like working more with animals than people,” Allison says. “However, an important aspect of our daily job is to keep people as well as pets happy. If you don’t take care of the owner as well, I believe your business will suffer.”

Sharing important lessons

She has experienced many proud moments as a pet sitter and business owner—from a client asking to leave a dog to Allison in a will, to her reuniting two stray dogs with their owners.

The most difficult things about running her business have included staffing and managing the balance between number of walks and available employees; convincing clients that she doesn’t have to be the one who walks their pets—that an employee would be just as good; and deciding when to launch a website, since Facebook is their main driver.

At the start of her business, Allison did not take time off, which she says was a mistake. By the second year, she allowed herself a vacation, and now she is “getting better at saying no and planning more family time.” She recognized that she could not keep on walking by herself, and she also learned to be more strategic about the size of her service area.

To prevent staff burn out, Allison focuses on acknowledging her employees and looking for ways to keep them motivated, whether it’s as simple as sending a text that says “Job well done” or giving a gift card for coffee on a rainy day. Her summer staffers receive bonuses, which she gives to foster a good working relationship and encourage them to come back the following year.

Allison offers several pieces of advice for new pet sitters: “Invest in scheduling software right from the beginning. Keep track of your mileage. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.”

“Ask people in various fields with small businesses for advice,” she continues. “I found this to be very beneficial. Whether you are starting a pet-sitter business or starting a commercial kitchen (two entirely different businesses) some fundamental systems need to be in place.”