How to start a dog walking business

According to ASPCA estimates, dog ownership in the United States exceeds 78 million, with the vast majority of them left on their own or in the company of other dogs while their owners or “parents” are at work. Of course, most owners don’t have a choice in the matter and do not relish having their dogs stuck inside all day. In fact, they would gladly pay to give their dog some human interaction while they are away. And that is where a dog walker comes in.

With such a vast swath of dog owners around the country, the dog walking business is starved for utilization. If you are a dog lover looking for an entrepreneurial venture, a dog walking business might be the right avenue for you.

Starting a dog walking business is like starting other types of businesses, but also unique in certain ways. We have put together a 10-part guide for you to follow to facilitate your dog walking business dream into reality. If you have a great business idea, it’s time to take the next step, but it isn’t just a matter of registering the business with the state that will get you moving. To find out the essential next steps, read on.

HOW TO START A DOG WALKING BUSINESS

Step 1: Planning Your Dog Walking Business

Every successful entrepreneurship starts with a clear and precise business plan. It is a roadmap for business specifics, as well as a tool for recognizing particular unknowns. In a business plan aspects including startup and operational costs, target market, customer charges for products, and business name are considered, among a host of other important factors.

Dog Walking Business Start-Up Costs

By comparison to various other business ventures, starting a dog walking business is inexpensive, relatively speaking. Most owners reported spending less than $10,000 to get their business off the ground. Some of the investments required reliable transportation, insurance, chew toys, treat dispensers, dispensing bags (along with the treats themselves), slip leads, and the services of an attorney that would put together a contract that each client would need to sign.

Additionally, there is the cost of setting up an informative, intuitive website that permits clients the ability to schedule dog walking appointments online.

Dog Walking Business Operational Costs

Similar to start-up costs, the expenses of operating a dog-walking business are mostly nominal. Your initial purchases should be able to last multiple years, though you will need to resupply the dog treats regularly. The biggest part of your business’s budget will be dedicated to insurance costs, fuel expenditures, and maintenance of your mode of transportation when it is required, with all of these varying in price depending on the area of operation.

Rather than securing a full dog-walking staff, most dog-walking business owners offer jobs to freelancers. It is important to set a portion of the business’s budget aside for background checks of those freelancers your business employs. Without performing these, there is a risk of sacrificing a vital component of your business’s long-term success.

The vast majority of your business’s marketing will be done through social media for free, but some money must be set aside for additional marketing of your business. While you may not be an expert in the marketing sphere, there are lots of marketing firms that can offer basic packages for entrepreneurs for as little as $50 a month.

The Target Market Of A Dog-Walking Business

The target market of a dog-walking business is any individual who has a dog but works outside of their home. Many such customers express a lot of concern about their dog being left alone and are willing to pay for the services of someone who can keep their dog company regularly. The prime target audience in this case seems to be a mix of baby boomers and millennials, the most likely to spoil their furry family members.

Making Money With A Dog-Walking Business

Every dog you walk for your business will be a source of income. Aside from simply taking dogs for walks, many professionals in dog-walking ventures order additional services, which we will provide examples of later in this guide.

How Much Can A Dog-Walking Business Charge Clients?

Fees charged by a dog walker vary based on what each client needs them to do and what is required by each dog they walk. Typically, a 15 to 20-minute walk can garner between $15 to $17, though longer walks of 30 to 40 minutes can collect $18 to $22. Some clients want their dogs to have very lengthy walks, of up to an hour.

Walks that fall between the 40 and 60-minute mark can typically have an asking price of $22 to $27. Many dog walkers also charge clients $5 extra per dog if the animal requires walks in the early evening or at night.

How Much Profit Can A Dog-Walking Business Generate?

To simplify matters a bit, let’s use the nice round number of $20 per dog for a dog walker who is asked to walk 4 dogs an hour. If the dog walker works 5 days a week and can walk 16 dogs per day, it is calculated to have an annual salary of $83,200 annually. That is, of course, based solely on the walking service and the assumption of consistency.

If your business employs other dog walkers, then you will be able to collect a portion of their earnings as well, which could net another $15,000 to $17,000 per walker. These figures will vary based on how much you charge, how many dogs are walked daily, and if you offer additional services.

How To Increase The Profits Of A Dog-Walking Business?

The toughest part of a dog-walking business is building up a set of clientele and retaining them. The former takes time, the latter takes good relationships, promptness, and dedication. Some dog-walking business owners have used a number of strategies to increase their business’s profitability. These include offering dog running when dealing with high-energy animals, especially in larger metropolitan areas, 30-minute runs can charge $30 per run, while 5 45-minute runs per week can collect a solid $200.

Additional services that include giving the dog food and water, as well as additional training (obedience, agility, exercise, etc.) can collect additional fees. If you include boarding or overnight care services for dogs, you can certainly bolster your profits.

Choosing The Right Dog-Walking Business Name

It is important to choose a great name for a dog-walking business, but also to make sure that the company is not too closely named to another business. You can use various dog-walking business name generators online to come up with a great name. You will need to verify that it isn’t in use already and that nothing is too close, especially locally, to cause clientele confusion. Those owners who operate a business as sole proprietors should make sure that the business name they choose is not their own name.

To register the business’s name you will need to check state business records, along with trademark records on a federal and state level. It is also important to make sure that your business has a social media presence, alongside a web domain which you should secure as quickly as possible once you have the name.

Step 2: Set Up A Legal Entity

There are a host of business structures, including sole proprietorships, partnerships, corporations, etc. But an LLC is the most common project choice that people starting up a new business, including dog-walking as it protects you from being personally liable in case of lawsuits against your business. LLCs are cheap to register, and if you are not sure how to go about it, a small fee paid to an LLC service can have the firm take care of the process for you.

Step 3: Tax Registration

There is a variety of state and federal taxes that need to be registered for before the business can be opened. You will need to apply for an EIN. The application process is free of charge and simple. Your taxes will also vary based on the business structure you choose. For instance, LLCs can benefit from being taxed at S corporation rates. Your state may also have taxes specifically applicable to your dog-walking business.

Step 4: Secure A Business Bank Account And Credit Card

To protect your personal assets, it is imperative that you open a new bank account specifically for your business, along with opening a credit card that funds from which will be used specifically for the needs of your business. The one thing you never want to do is to mix your personal and business assets since the effect on the latter can have a negative impact on the former, putting at risk personal valuable assets like your home and vehicle.

By securing a business credit card, you not only secure a financing lifeline but also help to build your business’s credit history. Be careful to open the credit cards for your business in the account of your business’s name, rather than your own. When you open a credit card for your business, not only do you get better interest rates, you increase potential lines of credit.

As noted, a business bank account walls off your company’s assets from your personal ones, protecting your assets and making accounting, as well as taxing, easier. Net-30 accounts, or ones where the company can spend credit, then pay it off to the vendor 30 days later, are very popular for utility in small businesses as well as in building a credit history. They also get reported to major credit bureaus which makes future credit acquisition easier.

Step 5: Business Accounting Set Up

To understand your business’s financial health, as well as simply taxes at tax time, it is imperative to keep a detailed record of the business’s expenses and all sources of its income, so make sure you put a lot of care and effort into setting up your business accounting aspect.

Step 6: Licences And Permits

Not obtaining all of the necessary licenses and permits can result in substantial fines and potentially cause you to go out of business. Though dog-walking businesses typically do not require any type of permit and licensing obtainment, there might be some local ordinances that are called for. To find out if this is the case, check with the clerk’s office at your local town, city, or town government facilities, or refer to the US Small Business Associations directory for any pertinent local guidelines.

Dog walkers generally supply their clients with a dog-walking contract to promote transparency and decrease the likelihood of legal liability. If you aren’t sure how to craft a contract applicable to a dog-walking business, you can use Rocket Lawyer’s premium membership program ($39.95 per month) for necessary information, with members having access to a slew of free agreements, as well as the directory of multiple attornies on-call who are ready to provide complimentary legal advice.

Step 7: Insure Your Business

To facilitate legal and secure operations, a business must be insured. Business insurance is a safeguard for your company in the case that losses result in substantial financial hardship. A variety of insurance policies are available to businesses that vary based on the nature of the business and the risks involved in it. If you are not sure what applies to yours, it is advised that you start with General Liability Insurance. This is a great option to start and it is the most common insurance coverage type used by new businesses.

Worker’s Compensation insurance is another important insurance consideration to make to protect you from liability in the case of an incident or injury to an employee, not an unreasonable scenario in a business that deals with taking care of animals. In almost every instance, the state you live in will require your business to carry Worker’s Compensation Coverage to operate lawfully.

Step 8: Branding Your Dog-Walking Business

Your business’s brand is its corporate identity. It speaks to what your business stands for, how it’s perceived by the public, and how you can separate yourself from competitors. A brand is generally tied to a visual aid which is a logo. If you aren’t confident about the type of logo you want to represent your brand, check out various logo design guides for beginners. These will provide a lot of helpful advice and key tips for crafting a logo that works ideally for your business. (you can use Fiverr or Canva)

Promoting And Marketing Your Dog-Walking Business

Online marketing is an absolute must for any modern business. Your website should include all the pertinent contact information and a clear description of your offered services, but also a blog that provides value to pet owners on various types of advice, tips, and tricks about raising and caring for a dog. You should add your service to a Dog Service Search so prospective clients can find your business, especially if you are local to them. The blog can be shared on social media, and you can even invite guest bloggers from reputable industry blogs to come in to help supply helpful content.

When you open your business, you should issue a press release to local media announcing your grand opening. You should establish partnerships with other pet stores in the area, dog grooming services, and even veterinary clinics in the area. These businesses often cater to owners of brand-new puppies or even elderly dogs, two categories of canines that require the most walking. Beyond anything else, you need to be able to display your services as standing out among the competitors.

How To Retain Customers In A Dog-Walking Business

The way your business succeeds is not by just acquiring new customers, but by retaining the ones you have. Remember that your clients are looking for someone who cares about their dog and wants to help their canine in any way possible. They want to be able to feel that their four-legged family member is secure and receiving optimal care. You can ease their concerns by sending them email or text updates about their dog throughout the day. Some dog-walking business owners even have a template for a dog report card that lets their parents know how they have been throughout the day.

Step 9: Build A Business Website

Once your brand and logo are secure, the next step is to set up a website for your business. Every modern business must have a website. While this online marketing vehicle is essential to a business’s survival, many hesitate, fearing that the technological scope of building a website is far out of their capabilities. However, this isn’t pre-2015. Website builders, including GoDaddy, WIX, Weebly, Squarespace, WordPress, and Shopify, have come a long way and are now simple and intuitive enough for even the least techy person to be able to put together an effective web presence in under 3 hours.

To put it bluntly, a website is what legitimizes your business, and while social media accounts like Facebook pages or profiles on LinkedIn are good supplements, they are by no means a substitute for a business website.

Step 10: Setting Up A Business Phone System

It is important to keep your personal life and your business life separate. One of the best ways to divide the two is by setting up a phone system for your business, rather than tying it to your private line. This helps to automate a business, along with making it easier for prospective or current clients to contact you. Overall, it also gives a business greater legitimacy.

Many entrepreneurs turn to specialized services responsible specifically for setting up business phone systems, so contacting such a firm can help get everything up and running easily, and at an affordable cost.

Is The Dog-Walking Business Right For You?

Whether a dog-walking business is a full-time job for you, or if you are simply looking to supplement your monthly income, if you love dogs, then dog-walking can be a very dynamic and fulfilling job. If you are ready to be your own boss, this is a great business to get into.

What Is A Typical Dog Walker Business Day Like?

Most days for a dog-walking business will be pretty regimented. You will pick up the dogs you are in charge of, and take them out for walks, bringing them home afterward. Which dogs you walk and on which days may vary, so it is important to have an organizational system. How long you walk the dogs, what time of day, and which clients you are working with will all be factors in what the activities of that particular day entail.

Aside from purely dog-walking duties, you will also be responsible for a variety of administrative tasks on a daily basis. When your business has grown, you might want to look into hiring an administrative assistant to take care of these duties for you so you can focus on the canine-related work.

What Types Of Skills Are Helpful In Building A Successful Dog-Walking Business?

Fundamental to any organization’s success is a strong marketing and business acumen of its management and ownership. Organized, detail-oriented individuals are best suited for running a business, but those with great interpersonal skills thrive even more. While you are dealing with dogs as your primary job, it is important to keep in mind that your clients are still human. That means you need to be good with dogs as well as with people. The clients should feel that your visits with their animals prove their value in order to retain them.

Though dog training is not a mandatory element of dog walking, it does help to have some experience in that regard. Your clients are entrusting you with their dog’s safety, so assuring that you have a basic understanding of dogs, as well as the mannerisms of most breeds are certainly a big plus. By knowing a dog’s characteristic behaviors, you will be able to better head off potentially dangerous moments.

Is There Growth Potential In A Dog-Walking Business?

There are many opportunities for growth in a dog-walking business, though the competition tends to be fierce. On average, the pet industry revenue grows at about 5%. In 2016, it surpassed $62.75 billion. If your business provides great service to customers and you can promote your offerings over those of others more suitably, your business is likely to have leverage over your competitors.

What Are The Next Steps?

If you have your heart set on starting a dog-walking business, then you might be wondering what are some effective next steps to take. First and foremost, a high-quality mentor is pivotal to you gaining ground in planning and running your business. Making connections with other business owners and using their experience to guide your own is pivotal to your success, and it is how most new business owners achieve their success.

Resources For Businesswomen

Many resources geared specifically at women entrepreneurs are available, providing guidance across many spectrums of business venturing including (but not limited to) establishing starting funds, events, support, and guides. Women looking to get into the dog-walking business, or any business for that matter, should check out the Women in Business series from Startup Savant.

Are There Any Insider Tips For Starting A Dog Walking Business?

We have gathered a list of tips for starting a dog-walking business from people who have established this as their profession. Aside from being passionate about working with animals, these owners also offered the following suggestions for aspiring dog walkers:

• Be educated on various canine behavior and mannerisms of different breeds
• Stick with a regimented system of procedures and policies
• Always know the risks of a dog-walking profession
• Make sure you are familiar with safe dog-walking areas in various locations that you work
• Dog parks are prime spaces for aggressive canine behavior, so it is best to avoid them
• For your safety, carry a citronella spray canister on you at all times. It will spray 10 to 12 feet in distance, is safer than pepper spray, and will repel or deter nearly any animal that chooses to approach
• Get certification in pet first aid from a professional organization
• Make sure that your energy and your schedule can accommodate working a demanding job that requires you to work inconsistent hours
• Be patient when it comes to growing your business, it is never a quick process

Building A Dog-Walking Business Team

In the beginning, your business will start on a small scale, so be prepared to handle all of the duties on your own. As the business starts to grow, you can recruit members to your team, potentially each covering a different part of your local area or town. If you have grander aspirations, you can focus on setting up a national dog walking service which requires the recruitment of individuals around the country who are trustworthy and great with dogs.

The latter will require quite a bit of effort, not the least of which is a complex, interactive website and potentially, a complimentary mobile app. Whether you are hiring nationally or locally, make sure that you invest in background checks of every new team member, which includes driving and criminal reports. You will also want to verify that your prospective team members have basic knowledge about dogs and canine behaviors.

Think of yourself as running a babysitting campaign, as people will want to entrust their dogs with you much in the way that parents would be apprehensive about trusting anyone with their children at first.

Frequently asked questions: