Pet Sitting as a Side Hustle
If you’re looking to make a little extra cash, there are quite a few ways to go about it. It’s always easiest if you turn to your own hobbies and interests, because then you can find something that will not only earn money, but something that you enjoy as well. Pet sitting for your neighbors, friends, or even family is a great and easy way to earn extra cash, especially if you're a responsible animal lover.
Before you get involved in trying to establish yourself as a pet sitter, you’re going to want to read up on information so that you’re knowledgeable. If a potential client asks you a question, you want to be able to answer it in a professional manner. Look around online to see what other people are charging so that you’re sure that your rates are competitive and fair. Look into pet care as well. Pets are usually very low maintenance, as long as you have the right instructions on what to do. Be wary, however, since there are some pets that need to have more attention, or have more medical needs than others. Usually, if you’re about to pet sit a high maintenance animal, your client will tell you. Just make sure that you’re well informed, so that you know about anything and everything that might come your way. The last thing that you want is to run into health problems with an animal that isn’t your own.
After that, the first thing that you’re going to want to do is establish yourself as a business. There are always pet grooming salons and daycare centers that hire people for their pet sitting positions, but you can do this on your own as well. Start with your friends and family. Pet sitting is a simple job, you don’t need to buy any fancy equipment to get started, so your entire budget can be spent on getting your name out there. Make business cards or flyers and hand them out. Once you’ve exhausted the resources that your family and friends can provide you, start handing out flyers to strangers. You can put them up on college campuses and ask pet store owners if they’ll let you put one up in their store. Word of mouth is the best business though, so make sure that you talk to as many people as possible. Your possible future clients are going to be more likely to trust you than they are your flyer.
Once you’ve put your name out there, people should start calling you. Remember to remain professional, and remember that you want to sound approachable and informed. Let the client tell you what they want, and remember that you’re there to make sure that they get what they want – but don’t forget that you’re there to get paid, not walked all over.
It’s best to remain organized, once you’ve got everything set up and people start calling in. That way you can be sure that you don’t double book yourself. It’s fine to have more than one pet at your own home on the same day, if you’re pet sitting in your own home, but it is not okay to bring another animal to a client’s home.
All in all, pet sitting is one of the best ways for an animal lover to make a little extra money. It’s so fun that it can hardly be considered work at all.
