122: Selling your business with Becky Eberly
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Summary:
What does moving on the next phase of your life mean? How do you know when it’s time to make a big shift? Becky Eberly grew her business to over 35 employees in 17 years. Then decided she needed a change. Becky shares what that decision process was like and how she sold her business.
Topics on this episode:
Starting and growing in 2000
Stepping away after 17 years
Starting a brick and mortar store
Advice for others
Main take away? Approach your business with integrity and purpose and remember to have confidence in yourself!
About our guest:
Based in St. Augustine, Florida USA, Becky operated a busy pet sitting & boarding business in NE Florida for over 17 years, managing a team of more than 35 staff. She also opened and operated a gift shoppe in historic downtown St. Augustine. She currently owns BlueStone Business Solutions, LLC (a Bookkeeping & Accounting business) and Becky Eberly Consulting, where she coaches small business owners on pet software and business processes. With an MBA in Finance, Becky is experienced in all aspects of small business from start-up, to strategic planning and operations, to exit strategies. She founded three small businesses, navigated the purchase of a fourth, and successfully sold two businesses. She has also worked in the Finance & Accounting industry for three large investment firms and a CPA.
Links:
Contact Becky: beckyeberlyconsulting@gmail.com
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A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
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SUMMARY KEYWORDS
business, pet, clients, pet sitter, people, becky, pet sitting business, owner, software, process, hire, company, doggy daycare, sale, sitter, gift shop, organized, selling, inventory, dog
SPEAKERS
Collin, Becky
Collin 00:17
I'm Collin.
00:18
And I'm Meghan.
00:19
And this is pet sitter confessional,
00:21
and open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter
Collin 00:24
brought to you by time to pet. Well, hello, everybody, and welcome back today. We're so excited to have Becky Everly on to talk all about her time as a pet business owner and her experience in growing and selling her business and some tips that she has for all of us, if that's the direction that we want to go with ours. So Becky, thank you so much for coming on today. Could you please tell us a little bit more about yourself?
Becky 00:51
Sure. Hi, Collin. Thanks for having me on. I guess I'm Becky abberley. I'm the former owner of Dog Days and cat naps, which is a large pet sitting and dog walking company in Northeast Florida. I'm also the current owner of two other small businesses. One is a consulting business, Becky Everly consulting, I help pet business owners with their software and business processes. I work for one of the leading pet software companies. And I also own a bookkeeping and accounting business, I help other service businesses with their finances, financial reports, taxes, that is called bluestone business solutions. So that's what I'm doing currently.
Collin 01:29
You started back in 2000. Why did you decide to it was time to start your business then?
Becky 01:34
Yeah, I was actually working in the finance and investments field. When I started Dog Days and cat naps. I was working for two different investment companies in operations and also as a financial advisor. And I had also gotten my MBA and finance so I was in the financial industry to begin, but I kind of learned that it just wasn't for me the hard sales of the financial advisor position and also just the corporate work environment in general. It just wasn't really my passion. I really love small business more than than corporate this business. So also at the time, I was volunteering for the Jacksonville Humane Society. So that was a lot of fun. And I was living with my husband and my, the love of my life. My dog, Jake, who is an Alaskan melamine lab mix has about 150 pounds. So we were, you know, busy with him, he had some medical issues. So I was kind of working with my dog, I was volunteering at the Humane Society, I also grew up in a farm in Virginia, we had tons of dogs there. So it seemed to be the appropriate time to start a consulting business. So believe it or not, I quit my, you know, high paying sort of high paying corporate finance jobs to start a consulting company.
Collin 02:57
Yeah, and now you have all this background and this knowledge in training in business and financial sides to which is one of the aspects that many of us struggle to understand. So maybe some high level tips or information, how can we get better at the numbers side of our business?
Becky 03:16
Well, I think that a good software program definitely helps you know, whether you're using a pet software to help with your, you know, scheduling and reservations and revenue, but in addition to that, also just an accounting type software, you know, where you can potentially download your bank transactions, keep it all organized. So I think really good systems and software can help. That will help to generate your financial statements that will help to for you to see trends in your business. And basically, you know, just how are you in terms of your revenue versus your expenses? And what is your What is your profit and maybe even what are you spending money on that you might not need to be spending money on. Of course, if you can cut that then that will increase your profit. So just a bit of organization there software really helps. I know that there are a lot of people who just that's just not their strength, which is totally fine. In that case, you know, certainly I would recommend outsourcing your bookkeeping or accounting or even you know, if you're talking about other aspects of your business, if you don't understand social media, then really consider outsourcing it. You know, your role as the owner of your business really should be to focus on your core business and growing your core business. When your business is small, you sort of can do it all you can do the core business, you can do the accounting, you can do the social media and marketing. But once you get to a certain size, you know I don't feel bad about hiring. hiring a professional to handle the other aspects of your of your business, it will help you to grow your business and focus on your core business.
Collin 05:08
Yeah, those two big aspects there, get organized and get help. There's so much, just get it off of your plate, and especially if somebody is going a professional at it that is going to be able to focus purely on that. Yeah, that's really, that's really great. And you mentioned, being able to focus and grow your core business, you grew your business to over 35 staff. But how did that happen? What was that an intentional process? Or did you just kind of wake up one day and go, Oh, wow, there are 35 people that work.
Becky 05:40
Um, you know, it did happen gradually, I would say that I started the business with the vision that I wanted it to be a pet sitting company. I mean, nothing huge taking over the world or anything, but I didn't want it to only be me. So I knew that I wanted that. And so I started out in October of 2000. And I went through my first holiday season as a solo pet sitter, which was a lot. And that was enough for me to understand that I needed help. So I did hire my first pet sitter in March 2001. So after that, it was just gradual, but it was intentional. So you know, I hired somebody in a certain area, I would do targeted ads in that area to help drum up more business for that particular pet sitter that I just hired, I would always be the backup for that sitter, in case there was some sort of scheduling or availability issue. But after that, it really was just an intentional process of, you know, looking at my service areas. Where is my service needed? You know, where are the clients and pet owners calling in from and where do I need to get a new person in place? I would hire the new person and then just try to drum up more business in those particular areas. So yes, gradual, but intentional,
Collin 07:07
right? Like that of going, Okay, like I'm getting a lot of calls or a lot of connections over in this area. Does it make sense to hire somebody just specifically over there. And then, as you said, once you have somebody in that area, you can focus marketing, you can start drumming up more, because you are able to take on those people in that new area?
Becky 07:27
Yes, absolutely. And I really made a point to not say no to any clients, especially in the beginning, unless, of course, it was just an obvious, you know, problem, or if they were not going to be a good fit for the company, you know, a very aggressive dog or something like that. In it, I guess, in addition to just hiring in those areas, and saying yes to the clients, you know, I also talked to everybody, I lived in an apartment complex at that time, I, you know, put pamphlets and flyers in these newsletters that go out to the hundreds of people who lived in, you know, lived in my apartment complex, and also the complexes around where we live spoke to vets, you know, to see if I could get on to like a referral program with the veterinarians in the area. So just speaking with people going to different events, you know, getting vendor booths at different events, believe it or not, and this is going to age me a little bit, but I did start the business in 2000. So my first advertisement was in the Yellow Pages. And if you remember what the yellow pages were,
Collin 08:36
I believe we're pages that were yellow in nature.
Becky 08:39
Yes, yes. That's right. That's right. And businesses place to have in them so so I remember the, like the phone book person came to my apartment, my place the yellow pages that so that's a little funny. There was no social media or anything at that time. You know, but as the business grew, and as the years went by, of course, you know, I had a website promoted the website as much as possible, got online, did social media, Google AdWords, Google AdWords is nice, because you can target it to certain zip codes or parts of town and also different demographics. And the conferences, you know, many of the pet sitting organizations have these conferences, psi and naps, I really found those to be invaluable. And just because you get to network with other petsitting companies, you get to meet other pet business owners, network with them, just talk to them about what they're doing. But there are seminars, you know, at these conferences, just with tips and tricks about how to do this or how to do that. So that was really invaluable to me to help grow the business and get my processes down.
Collin 09:49
Now as you're adding employees, did you have a set structure of of organization of people in the company or was it did they just all report to you or were they did they have their own groups of employees that stayed together and communicate with each other?
Becky 10:04
Well, I did have two different managers. So you know, I guess in the last five or more years of owning the business, the sitter's mostly reported to the managers, you know, I had a scheduler, reservations manager. So they were more in direct contact with the pet sitters, I was always available, you know, always had an open door policy, if there are any issues, certainly, you know, they could come to me or, you know, I might reach out to them. So. But yes, it was kind of it was the pet sitters, and then the two managers and then myself and I would, you know, try to focus more on the high level, growth of the company systems, processes, marketing, things like that.
Collin 10:49
Looking back, maybe what's one of your biggest takeaways or lessons that you've learned when, when you were hiring people,
Becky 10:56
I think it's so important to have a hiring process. So I would never just have open interviews, I would always have a process where you know, it would start with the initial Help Wanted ad for the pet sitters. In the Help Wanted ad, I was, I would always have next steps, you know, here's what I need you to do contact me and gives me this. XYZ information. So that was almost my first two that they had to jump through. So I would really only respond back to the people who basically followed the instructions in the advertisement that I placed for staff. And once I replied to those people, I you know, I would be very professional, say, thank you very much for getting back to me, here's what I need you to do next, and I would have a task in there. Oftentimes, it would be something along the lines of, you know, write a handwritten note about an experience you've had with a pet, scan and upload this to me and return it back to me. So my husband always says that he would never work for me, because he would not jump through all these, these hoops. However, you know, I did it for a reason. Because as you know, in petsitting, the pet sitters have to be able to follow directions, and oftentimes, you know, it could be a life or death situation, you know, if you're giving the wrong medication to the pet, I mean, that could be a life or death issue. So they have to know how to follow instructions. At the time, we were leaving handwritten notes in the client's home. So I did want to make sure that they could, you know, write legibly, I mean, I'm just kind of pretending that I'm the client, and that I would be receiving an handwritten note from this person. Later, of course, in the business, we we used a pet software with where we could do that online, we can email, the pet sitting notes, the pet care report to the clients. But the part about just scanning and uploading and emailing that paper, the handwritten note back to me that demonstrated their technical abilities, you know, if you don't know how to I know, I understand that not everybody has a scanner, but with a little bit of, you know, research, you can find out that there are lots of apps where you can just take a picture of a document and it turns it into a PDF and you can send it to somebody so I want it to just test out their technical abilities. So you know, once I received that and the communication was professional, then that's when I would schedule the interview. So I had a bit of a process for that it was really a weeding out process. In the early years, I did just interview anybody who applied and I just found that I wasted a lot of time. So you know, trying not to waste my time any longer I came up with the process and you know, the interview itself, I really focused on the open ended questions and also just the situational questions. So of course open ended questions really get the applicant the other person to you know, talk about themselves. situational questions you know, you can ask Okay, well what would you do if you were pet sitting and and something happened you know, this happened to the pet or what would you do if there's an emergency and you can't get in touch with the client or you know, just things that come up in pet sitting you know, ask what would they do and that's just kind of a scam for some just so critical thinking and some common sense on their part which are crucial to you know, being successful.
Collin 14:37
Yeah, and I love that you that that process because you mentioned that being a pet sitter means being having a high attention to detail and many times we struggle with Well, how do I get them to answer a question whenever face to face that gets to me their level of detail oriented ness without saying, No, describe a time where you had to be detail oriented. Well, you know, you can you can Get that by having these, these hoops. And it's very intentional, you know, the interview starts the moment they apply as affect what's going on here. And you're watching for all these little things, and looking for those red flags that are going to come up of going, Oh, they didn't include this or, you know, this wasn't done professionally. This is a core of my business is communicating to clients in this way. And they didn't do that. Well, as you mentioned, if they didn't have a scanner they have they've got a problem solved. So then you're starting to see, how are they? How did they overcome this? Were they able to do some research and be a little bit independent on this? Because that's also really important having a pet sitter out in the field, they're going to come across situations where they didn't expect it, or it's new? How are they going to respond? What are they going to be able to do on their own without always reaching out?
Becky 15:45
for help? Exactly, exactly. So I know that it must have seemed like a bit of a pain. Just crucial issues that I need to make sure that pet sitters that I hire, have, you know that they're going to be capable, they're going to be on their own, they're going to be, you know, entering the client's home by themselves, I'm not going to be there, you know, they can call me if they need to. But yes, it's just a test to make sure that they have these critical thinking skills, so that that really worked for me.
Collin 16:18
Yeah, well, and it sets them up for success to work for you, as well. Because then you know, you're getting people in, that you're going to get along with or you're going to be able to have set standards for and they're going to be able to meet those. So all those expectations are kind of out there and pre screened before before they even start. Absolutely. Now, you were in the business for quite a long time. How did you keep showing up day after day?
Becky 16:46
Yeah, that's a good question. It is a long time. And first, I think that it really comes down to just a fundamental love for the pets that you're taking care of. And also just a love of helping others. You know, it's, it's really a caregiver position, you know, you really just have to enjoy the pets that you're taking care of, and also how much you're helping out the pet owners as well. But also, you know, pet sitting business can be extremely flexible. So it's really not the same tedious job day after day, you can really make it yours, you can, you know, add services that you enjoy, you can not provide services that you don't want to provide. And I'm a big advocate of firing your ad clients. So if they're not a good fit for your business, and, you know, then don't don't work for them don't provide service for them, of course, you need to be a professional in that conversation. You know, you don't want to have them get their feelings hurt, you know, you need to have an explanation for that, but they probably feel it as well, if you're, you know, if it's not working on your end, but, you know, they say that 20% of people or 20% of the clients cause about 80% of your problems. So by all means, if something is not working out, you know, get rid of the clients that are causing the 80% of those problems. So in addition to that, I mean, you know, with the pet sitting business being very flexible, you can you know, add complimentary services, you can add grooming, if you want to, you can add poop scooping training, you know, if you're not able to do these things, then certainly hire somebody who is qualified. In, it was around 2006 or 2007, I actually bought a doggy daycare and a boarding facility out at the beach where I live in Northeast Florida. To just to compliment the pet sitting in the dog walking service, which worked out very well. You know, I found that there really are two different types of clients. Obviously, the clients that were using us for in home, pet sitting and midday dog walking and overnight pet sitting where we would travel to the client's home that's kind of one type of person or type of client where they want that in home experience. I found that there are plenty of other clients who were not really comfortable with that, and they much preferred to bring their dogs to a location. So we offered the doggy daycare, you know, just for the day, usually Monday through Friday, and then the overnight boarding It was a cageless boarding facility so it had a homey feel kind of a beach house for dogs feel. Um, and I found that it just complimented the In Home petsitting part very well because then I could offer different services for different types of clients. So I think just because it's so flexible and you can make it yours, make it what you want. That's that's how it's very easy to just show up every day.
Collin 19:52
Yeah, you know, your emphasis there on adding services you enjoy, make it what you want. It's your business, don't try and make it something that it's not or that you don't want it to be, because then it's hard to show up for that, you know, it's hard to show up and work hard and pour all of your passion into something that's not yours, that you that doesn't align with things that you want to be doing. So I love that you said, you know, make it what you want it to be, because that's what's going to be able to keep you coming back day after day.
Becky 20:24
That's right. That's right. And there's really no mold that you need to fit into, you don't need to offer the same exact services at the same prices that everybody in your community is doing, you know, really focus on your strengths. And what you want to do, yeah, what you would enjoy.
Collin 20:40
And you mentioned there the key aspect that too, was firing your bad clients? What did that process look like for you in? You know, how many did you find yourself doing that a lot? Or was that something that you only had to implement a few times,
Becky 20:54
I really only had to implement that a few times. I wouldn't tolerate certain things, if there was any sort of abuse, you know, towards me, or towards a pet sitter, that was almost just an immediate, you know, we can work with you type of situation. And I was, I tried to be very Intune to my staff, you know, they're working for the business as well, I want them to be happy if they're happy. And if they feel supported, they're just going to do a much better job for the company and for the clients. And so it wasn't very often, but in certain certain situations, yes, I would just have to call the client and explain the situation and say, I just don't think that we're worthy and fit. And depending on the situation, you know, there is a possibility you could refer them to another pet sitter, but I certainly, you know, another pet sitter in town, but not if it's like an abusive type situation, or if there's any sort of like animal abuse, you know, then that certainly would not be a referral situation. But, yes, I think you have to have your standards, you really just want to be working with the people that appreciate your service. And also that you can do a good job for.
Collin 22:14
Yeah, have the standards have those lines in the sand, so that you know when those are crossed, that you have recourse that you are not going to tolerate that because that's going to tell people what your business stands for in you know, you also mentioned looking out for your staff too, how are they being treated? Do they feel safe? Are they comfortable? Do they have concerns and listening to them and being open to to getting feedback and then acting on that as the owner?
22:38
Yes, absolutely.
22:43
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Collin 23:22
So after 17 years, you sold your business. How did you know it was time for that to happen?
Becky 23:29
Right? Yeah, I really felt that I had experienced all the stages of my business. As I mentioned, I started as a solo sitter, I went through the growth stage, the hiring the advertising, we expanded into new services, different service areas, the doggy daycare, we were well into six figures revenue to managers over 35 pet sitters. In addition to that, I had already started with the pet software company, and I was happy helping other petsitting business owners with their business processes with their software. And I knew that I wanted to return to my financial roots eventually. So I just felt that it was time to kind of pass pass the torch. And I was looking for new challenges. Yes, and I ended up selling the business to just a fabulous new owner who's a great guy and sold it for over six figures as well. So it was it was a nice, nice experience. Yeah,
Collin 24:37
yeah. It sounds like you were pretty emotionally prepared for that. Did you was did it impact you on an emotional level to sell your business and watch it pass on to somebody else? out of your hands?
Becky 24:50
I think it did. Yes. Now I had thought about selling it for several years and like I said I was kind of moving on to other things. But, you know, your business is really like your baby. I mean, you, you know, you start the business, you're so just personally invested and involved in your business. I really wanted to find somebody who would get the gravity of that, and really understand that. You know, I guess I wanted to say that they wanted to continue the good customer experience for our customers. So I wouldn't let it go to just somebody who, who was really interested in maybe making a lot of money or, you know, if there was a situation where they were in a bind, and they were hoping this business would get them out of their bind, I really wanted to find somebody who at their core, understood the clients understood the service would continue that good customer experience and just provide a great service for the pets in our care. So I really felt that I was attached to it. I was, and I and I was looking for that perfect buyer.
Collin 26:05
I'm sure that made it easier for you to knowing you had the perfect buyer in mind. Right? And then you could see is this do is this, who I would want to taking care of my clients is this who I'd want to take care of my clients to? Yeah,
Becky 26:18
that's right. Hire business. So he bought the LLC, it wasn't just the client list, it was the whole company, the LLC, all of the processes that had been developed over 17 years, all of the paperwork, the manuals, the staff and the managers, we had an office that was a leased space. So the office came with the business as well, all of our trade secrets, the name, the brand, everything, the whole company. So essentially, you know, at first I had listed the business for sale with a business broker. And that was for maybe six to nine months or so that it was for sale with the business broker and I got some leads, and I did get an offer, but it just didn't feel right. There was a bit of a contingency where some of the sales price was contingent upon future sales, where we already had 17 years of proven processes and sales. So I, you know, I'm, I'm not a fortune teller, I can't tell what's going to happen in the next year, you know, COVID as an example, so, I didn't want to go into a business relationship like that, so so that contract with the business broker, lapsed and I decided just to kind of hold on to the business for a little while and I actually ended up listing the business for sale on my own it was through an online marketplace called biz buy, sell calm, so it's where, you know, people can buy and sell their businesses and listed so there's a small listing fee. But I basically wrote everything up, I came up with the financial reports based on my you know, revenue and expenses and everything that was in the software. And that is actually how I found the the new owner. So he contacted me through biz buy, sell calm, and we went from there, yeah, we just started a conversation and he had an attorney that was you know, helping out with the paperwork with the sale, you know, all of the paperwork that's required all of the contracts, and all of the, you know, reviewing all of the financial information. So just a little bit of him getting to know the business getting to know me, um, you know, looking at, and also verifying all of the financial information, looking at our pet software that we used, and, you know, looking at the schedule, the past schedule, the upcoming schedule, the revenue, the staff, you know, just everything. And then we, you know, just decided on the sales price. And really, you know, it was mostly his attorney that he had, but I, you know, of course, I hired my own attorney, but at least you know, there's no business broker involved. The business broker was helpful in my experience, but they take such a large cut of your sales price. So I was thrilled to only have to pay the small fee to the the relatively small fee to the attorney, as opposed to a big chunk to the business broker.
Collin 29:25
Yeah, it really sounds like it's a it's a really deep dive and you're going to be combing through every aspect of your business. So having all that upfront and do that ahead of time, so that it's all on the table. Sounds like it really saved possibly a lot of time and work on both of your ends.
Becky 29:43
Yes, absolutely. I think if you're considering selling your business, you really need to be organized, you need to have all of your financials and all of your business processes documented, I would say at least for the previous three years. A new buyer is going to want to come in They're going to need to verify all that information. So something huge is that you really and this is, you know, an accounting principle, you have to keep your business and personal finances separate. So it'll really cause some problems if a new buyer looks at your business and you show them maybe your bank statements or you know, your QuickBooks file, and it's just all a mixture of your business expenses and your personal home mortgage payment, you know, don't do that. You have to have a separate business account, only have your business revenue, going into that account, pay all of your business expenses through that account, it has to be verifiable to an to a third party. And also just an in addition to, like I said, the document and schedule the document and pet sitters, the documented revenue in your software,
Collin 30:56
most of that doesn't just happen overnight. So if you are thinking about selling your business start really early. And getting all of that because you mentioned the past past three years, I have a hard time remembering what I did a couple months ago, let alone where my business was three years ago, unless I start taking good documents and writing things down now. So really making sure all those ducks are in a row before that process even gets started.
31:22
That's right.
Collin 31:23
Now, as you're going through this, how did you communicate this transition to your existing clients.
Becky 31:29
So you know, for the the very regular, the very good clients that I had a personal relationship with, I reached out to them personally, and I told them, that, you know, there's going to be a change in ownership. At that point, you know, later in the business, before I sold it, I really wasn't doing a lot of petsitting. Myself. So from early on, you know, I really wanted our clients to have a great experience with the company. So I tried to remove myself personally, because as you probably know, you know, the clients can get really attached to their pet sitter. So knowing that in the future, at some point, I might want to sell my business I in a way wanted to sever those personal ties, knowing of course, that I had a very good, very well trained, very capable pet sitter, who was taking care of their pets, but I would just take myself personally out of that. So a majority of our clients really did not have a personal relationship with me as far as me going into their home and taking care of their pets. So that made it a lot easier. And like I said, for the people who I did have that close relationship with AI, they really didn't have a problem, they in a way, they trusted me to do the right thing for the company, but as a result for them, so they trusted me that I would find the right buyer that would take care of their pets that would take care of them.
Collin 33:03
Now, did you have any sort of pushback or concern communicated to you from those clients? I know you said that many of them trusted you and had faith that you were doing right by them. Was there any sort of concern mentioned through that process?
Becky 33:15
Surprisingly, little, um, I really don't recall anyone contacting me saying they're very concerned, they're, you know, afraid the business is gonna fall apart. None of that. I think they knew that we had a, you know, very well oiled machine, and they were happy with the service. And I think a big part of that is that their pet sitter was not going to change, right. So you know, I wasn't going to be the owner any longer there was going to be a new owner manager, but in a way that really didn't directly affect them. The pet sitters were continuing to work for the company, even though I was you know, stepping down as the owner and there is going to be a new owner. So we really tried to not make a big deal of it. You know, there was a decent training process, you know, once the business was sold, I was still around, you know, there was a training period of several weeks, just to ensure that the new owner knew what was going on. He was familiar with all the processes, the two managers also are still to this day working for the company. So they were really hands on with the clients as well. So the clients kept their pet sitters. The clients kept the reservations manager who they were used to communicating with, you know, via email or phone. So none of that changed for them. And to be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if several clients didn't even notice, you know,
Collin 34:47
what, why would they have if there used to be taken care of like they would have no need to understand what's happening up at the top up at the top.
Becky 34:54
Exactly. That's right.
Collin 34:56
And you mentioned I was I was curious about this. If one Kind of what that transition looked like. And so you you stuck around and and helped train the new owner on the business and how it functioned. What was that? Like? What what kind of things? Did you talk to him about? What, what what things did you cover? And how involved were you after that sale?
Becky 35:19
Well, it was written in the contract that for two weeks, I would provide basically full time training. So that's what we did, it turned out not to be full time. You know, we have the company to, to manage, and the pets to take care of. And, you know, I have three kids at home, he has two kids. So we were doing different things. So it was probably more like three or four weeks. But to be honest, you know, and that was, like I said, that came with the contract. But I wasn't too concerned about me taking off and leaving, you know, I was more than happy to help him wherever he needed. And even to this day, where we keep in touch, and we talked about, about business stuff, if he has a question about a staff person, or policy, or what would I do in that situation. So, you know, my, I really want the company to be successful for the clients. And also for him. Or
Collin 36:17
one, as you mentioned, you had the perfect buyer in mind. And so when you found that person, you know, you you, you still want to see that person succeed, the clients taken care of. And so, you know, you're, you're still involved sounds like a little bit emotionally in that and wanting to see them be successful and help out where you can. Right. And that that's just that's just because of the relationship that you have with the new owner. It's because you went through that process, and you did the way you did. It's, it sounds like it's kind of just natural for you to want to do that.
Becky 36:47
Yeah, absolutely. And I'm happy to do it. You know, if he were to approach me and say, Okay, can you help me with this big project that that would probably fall under, you know, my consulting business where I might charge him, you know, extra for that for that service? However, just you know, a quick question here, or what would you do there? It's been a really nice transition. Because, you know, he's interested in the success of the company, and I'm interested in having him be successful at the company, so he can continue it on.
37:19
Yeah.
Collin 37:20
What do you think made that transition? so smooth? Looking back at that, what was it about either the process or the things you had in place that helped that be as smooth as it was?
Becky 37:30
Yeah, I think it was everything that I had in place. I'm extremely organized when it comes to that I'm just naturally a planner. And I think it was just basically creating a turnkey operation where somebody else a third party, you know, new owner could literally just walk into the business on day one, and say, Okay, well, here's how we do new client consultations. And if an if a client contacts us, what's our process, and, you know, so just having literally everything documented, and, you know, certainly I don't want to be inflexible, I mean, you know, and petsitting, sometimes you need to be flexible, and clients need certain things that you haven't, you know, you haven't come up with a process for but yes, just creating that turnkey organization. I really advocate for having a software for your, you know, client list for your staff list for your schedule, for your services and your prices for your revenue. So keep organized there. So someone else can literally just log in and basically see the operations of your company. And also just have your financials in order, you know, you need that profit and loss statement or income statement. You need your balance sheet, you need your separate business account, are just all verifiable. So organization is key.
Collin 39:01
Yeah, and the part about being organized is it doesn't just help people in the future, like it helps you here in the here and now. Run the best business that you can. So it's a good idea whether you're thinking about selling your business down the road, or not just to get organized, because all those things are beneficial and will help you run a better business.
Becky 39:19
Yeah, 100% because I always say, you know, the one thing that cannot happen in petsitting, is that you just you forget to show up to up to let a dog out or to a consultation. So not even just thinking about selling your business. But you're you're absolutely right, just in operating your business. You have to have the systems in place where it's nearly impossible for you to miss a visit or for one of your staff members pet sitters to miss a visit. So you know use the software, you know, have those email confirmations that text message confirmations, you know, confirm it with the client, just everything you can do to have it in front of you on your Calendar and get those pop up notifications. Yeah, all of that in your processes, that'll be thousand percent healthier your operations? Sure.
Collin 40:12
Now after you sold, you made a transition and actually opened up a small brick and mortar boutique. What was that trend? What was that transition? Like we were all about transitions to the head Guess what, what was the thinking behind wanting to go and try a brick and mortar shop?
Becky 40:29
Yeah, it's interesting. I, you know, I, I think I'm a bit of a serial entrepreneur, if I want to be honest. So I love just the planning and organizing of starting a business. And also just, you know, while you're operating the business, I just love the organizing the financials, looking at the financial reports, I loved the point of sale system for the gift shop inventory. I know that might sound crazy to some people, but it's just how my brain works. So I live in I've said, I lived in Northeast Florida, I live in St. Augustine, Florida, which has a really nice, historic downtown area, a bit, you know, touristy, but also, it has a nice local vibe. And there's a lot of fun gift shops and buy local, you know, shops, so we just as a family went down there often to eat lunch and do a little shopping. So it was just something that I wanted to try it was it was a new challenge, or maybe because the pet sitting business, you know, not including the doggy daycare, but the pet setting that that's really where you are traveling to the customer. The gift shop was a lot different because I had the location, all of the customers were coming to me. So it was just kind of a flip, you know, I liked that I could have the location and I didn't have to travel all over town to do my, my job. So which I think actually can be one of the perks of having a dog walking business, it is nice to be out of the office and be able to travel around and let the dogs out. But But this was just new, it was just a new challenge for me. So that's, you know, that's what I thought about as I was selling the business. And it was a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun. It was a small, boutique gift shop, I did have a section in the gift shop for pet treats and pet supplies, of course. But it was it was a lot of other things as well. And I really just enjoyed the startup of it. And like I said, that point of sale system where you know, you have your barcode, and you check people out and and just stocking the inventory displaying the inventory and just tracking the inventory. We used to square point of sale. But they have you know, there's lots of different software systems for your inventory. So a lot of fun.
Collin 43:02
Yeah, and what I find an interesting tie in here is that many pet sitters and dog walkers are starting to add merchandise and starting to bring in inventory during times of during COVID to supplement their income. So having gone through managing inventory and merchandise in a physical location, what kind of advice would you give to somebody who's thinking about doing that?
43:26
Um,
Becky 43:26
you know, one of the things that I struggled with is that I wanted to buy too much inventory, not just too much, but too many different things. And it got a little bit confusing, I think not just for me, but I think also for the customers coming into the store, you know, you kind of walk in and you're like, Wait, let me take this all in, you know, what is this shop? There's like so much stuff in here. So I went a little crazy with my inventory. Okay, I'll admit. But I think especially if it's just a small area, you know, maybe in a doggy daycare or in a grooming facility I would recommend trying to focus in on just a handful of products because of course with each product I mean if you're thinking about pet clothing or leashes, you know you have the product but you're gonna have all sorts of different sizes and all sorts of different colors. So even one product can have a huge area of display in your in your shop. So, you know, just take note of how much inventory you're buying. I tried to specialize in one type of product, you know, maybe one or two or three types of products but I would say you know, don't don't go crazy with the inventory.
Collin 44:49
Yeah, especially if you're just starting out be as focused as possible look, maybe look at what kind of requests or questions you get from your existing clients and see where you can add and fill in the gaps. They're and yeah, if you're not used to managing physical tangible items, I can imagine how overwhelming that would be. And I know my initial impulse would be Yeah, let's get it all in I just I'll just four of everything. And we'll I'll be able to meet everybody's needs. And then right kind of unpack and find places for all that and your store would really probably, it would drive me crazy trying to do that the right way. So start small and see where you can really find a need is really sounds like what you're, what you're saying here is just stay focused, be adaptable to what your clients are asking.
Becky 45:31
Yeah, absolutely. Because people definitely did come into the shop. And they asked us if we had certain items. And believe it or not, one of the most popular items that people asked for were socks, like, specifically Christmas socks, and Christmas ornaments. Even in July, they come in July, and they say do any Christmas ornaments or Christmas socks on being what? It's July. But I think you know, they're collector's items, people travel in the summertime, and wherever they go, I do the same thing with magnets. You know, every time I go someplace, I just grab a magnet. A lot of people do that with Christmas ornaments. So maybe if you do have a little retail spot, you might want to consider getting some pet Christmas ornaments they probably would sell. But yes. So listen to the customers coming into the shop for sure. So maybe go with your gut order the few things that you definitely want to have in your shop, you know, keep a little space for the things that people ask for you certainly want to provide to your customers with what they want.
Collin 46:38
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Just so that you're meeting their needs. And again, you know, we try and do that with our own pet services. And we, you know, need to continue to do that with the products that we're thinking about bringing in.
Becky 46:50
That's right. That's right. Yeah, and I think you know, the location is important as well. If it's just an add on to another shot that you have, you know, that is your location. But if you're looking to add a separate location, definitely think about the location, we were in our gift shop, we were about two blocks away from the main pedestrian street, it was a you know, that's where everybody, it's a street, but it's closed off to traffic. And that's where all the shots are. So we were very close. And we did have, we were close to a parking lot where a lot of people parked and they walked to the main pedestrian street. But even though it was close, we didn't do nearly the amount of sales that the people did on that main pedestrian walk. So definitely just think about the location, even a couple of blocks away, could make a big difference. But you do also have to think about your expenses, we certainly were not paying the rent that the people were paying on the main pedestrian street. So you know, you kind of have to take take the anticipated revenue, but also the anticipated expenses that you're going to pay. Yeah, think about the location. Yeah.
Collin 48:12
pros and cons to all things in life. And in business, it turns out, yeah. Thinking about just pet care providers, what would be your number one piece of advice. For them?
Becky 48:25
This is a tough one. I mean, you know, I've talked a lot about just the processes and the day to day, the operations, the financials, the software, I think you can before you get to that, you really have to work on your your mind set. And I would say that I would really want other pet business owners to just approach your business with integrity, and purpose, you know, do right by your clients and their pets and also your staff, because you really just need to give to get. So you know, be a good business owner. Be good to your clients to your staff, it will reflect greatly upon you and your business, but also just the pet sitting industry in general. We've all heard nightmare stories about you know, quote unquote, bad pet sitters. So we certainly don't want to be that. And in the pet sitting industry, we want other pet sitters around the country and in our neighborhoods to to be offering a good service as well as just you know, take care of yourself. I think it's so important to exercise to eat well. Don't let yourself get burnt out. In my experience. So many people are a little scared, afraid of hiring staff. Don't be afraid to hire staff, you know, I guess have confidence in yourself that you are going to be able to train that person. You know you're not the only person that can Pets for the clients, I know, they'll make you think that way and feel that way. But you can train other people to do an excellent job. And as a matter of fact, you know, when I stepped away from doing most of the pet sitting in my company, the clients loved the pet sitters, even more than they loved me. And I was kind of like, wait a minute, I thought I was your favorite pet sitter, but they would just reach out to me, and they're saying, Jackie, she's so wonderful, thank you so much. And so on one side, I was not really hurt, but a little hurt. But I felt so good that they were 1,000% comfortable with the people that I was sending to them. So you know, don't be afraid to hire people get the help that you need, so that you're not burnt out, you know, you have to take a vacation, you have to have some time off, or you're not doing anybody any favors, you know that you're not going to be good for the clients for the pets, if you're burnt out. And if you start not enjoying your job. And you know, if you are a little afraid of hiring staff or doing something in your company, just remember that saying, I love this, quote, feel the fear, but do it anyway. So, so many people are afraid everybody's afraid of something, you just have to feel it and you have to make a plan and do it anyways. So have your vision for the company. And and do what you need to do. And just feel the fear and do it in any way. Good systems in place. I already spoke about that. And yeah, just have a vision for your business, have confidence in yourself. And just don't let those day to day problems and issues distract you. You know, sometimes those clients, the 20% of the clients who are causing all of these issues, they'll they'll distract you and they'll get you off of your vision. Um, so you know, try not to let that happen. Just be confident in your capabilities, you can do it.
Collin 51:58
Yeah, I'd love that. Now, I want to know, after all that you've done and are doing from from running a pet business to the consulting from a boutique, what does the future hold for you personally?
Becky 52:13
I Well, like I said, I think I am, you know, an entrepreneur at heart. So I certainly wouldn't be surprised if I started a new business not quite sure what that might be. I'm, I've recently started the bookkeeping and accounting business. So I'm in the planning and the growth stage of that. So I'm really enjoying that and really enjoying helping, you know, the other service business owners with their finances. So it wouldn't be anything immediate. But like I said, I wouldn't be surprised if I came up with, with something else in the future, another business that I haven't done yet, so. So we'll see what that might be. I'm also really interested and thinking about possibly writing a book, I'd love to get all of this experience into a book, specifically to help other pet sitting business owners, maybe just other business owners in general. So those are two things that might be coming up in the near future.
Collin 53:12
Those are very exciting. And I will be on the lookout for both of those and see what you've got coming down the pipeline. Becky, this has been extremely eye opening to hear about your experience and just wonderful hearing about how you stress the importance of being process oriented, being organized, and not being afraid to do something different, something new. And yet knowing when it's time to move on to new things. I love that part of your story. And I know, there's so much more here and you've got a lot going on. So how can people get in touch with you ask questions and find out more?
Becky 53:48
Yeah, absolutely. I'm happy to chat. My email address that the best one to use would be Becky Everly. consulting@gmail.com. So if anyone wants to reach out and ask about my experiences, or if you have a quick question about your business or anything like that I'm you know, happy to help with that consulting or if you're interested in outsourcing your finances, we can have a discussion about that as well. So Becky Epperly. consulting@gmail.com wonderful again, Becky.
Collin 54:19
It's been a real pleasure. Thank you so much for coming on today.
Becky 54:23
You're welcome. It's been fun. Thank you so much. So what are the next steps
Collin 54:26
in the life of your business? Where do you see yourself moving to in the future? What I love about Becky's story is that after 17 years of running a very successful business, she knew it was time to move on to something else to do something different. And recognizing that that's okay, and that we can make those kinds of decisions in our life. When we want to make changes we can make changes and that that is part of evolving as a business owner as operating a business and just on a personal level to let us know where you see your business. Moving into the kind of things that you're working on and towards in your business, you can send us an email at feedback at petsitter confessional.com. Or check out our website or Instagram and Facebook at petsitter. confessional. We'd like to thank time to pet for making this week's show possible. Go check out time to pet.com forward slash confessional for that discount. Thank you so much for listening this week. We'll be back again soon.
