141: Pet Transportation with Claire Harris
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Summary:
Claire Harris, owner of Pets 2 Place, has such a passion for pet transportion that she’s made it her entire business. As a growing part of the pet care industry, especially in 2020 and into 2021, there are many things to consider to make it the best possible service. Claire also discusses her experience franchising her business and whether it’s a good fit for everyone.
Topics on this episode:
Importance of safety
A growing market
Best practices
Franchising
Main take away? Just following the rules and regulations around pet transportation doesn’t mean it’s following the best practices.
About our guest:
Pets 2 Places is a pet taxi service, offering transport to any destination a customer chooses.
Vets, groomers, kennels is alot of the day to day work.
Some other transport services are: holiday, moving house, visiting friends, even transport for a dog you share custody of! I have been doing this over 5 years and have built up a lot of knowledge about how to transport the correct way. I specialize in helping elderly and less abled people, with certificates in manual handling of older persons and guiding for blind people. As an animal lover myself I am very understanding and sympathetic. Pets dont always come back from the vets!
Links:
State requirements for restraining pets in cars
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Email us at: feedback@petsitterconfessional.com
A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
pet, people, dog, business, animals, service, franchise, transport, vehicle, customers, uk, seatbelt, crash, taxi, vet, crate, owner, law, called, world
SPEAKERS
Collin, Claire
Collin 00:18
Hi, I'm Collin and I Meghan and this is pet sitter confessional
00:21
and open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter
Collin 00:26
brought to you by time to pet and pet sitters International. transporting pets is a growing industry and one with a lot of best practices that we should be putting into place to make sure it's safe with us and the pets that we're transporting around. So today, we have Claire Harris, on owner of pets to places to talk all about pet transport. So let's get started.
Claire 00:48
Hi, Colin. Thanks for having me. So my name is Claire. I'm the founder of pets to places which to my knowledge is the world's first pet taxi franchise. So pets to places started in my hometown of Milton Keynes, which is in the UK. And it started about six years ago. So yeah, I've been doing it doing it ever since doing it day in and day out. Absolutely love it.
Collin 01:11
And you only do pet transportation. Is that right?
Claire 01:14
Yeah, that's right. So a lot of pet businesses out there, they offer multiple services like dog walking, or Dog Boarding, or you know, maybe pet sitting and stuff. And some of them do offer a pet taxi as an additional service. But I decided to do it as a standalone service. So this is the first in my hometown. This is actually the first standalone pet taxi service.
Collin 01:36
So why did you choose to focus only on pet transportation,
Claire 01:39
um, well, actually, when I started, I was kind of in a, in a bit of a different place in life than what I am now. So I was actually widowed in 2012. And I was actually a franchisee of a business at the time, which didn't really work out just because obviously the grief of being widowed, the franchise owners of the company just were not really very supportive, and there was very, very low non existent training. So I just feel like I didn't, I wasn't really a very good fit for the company. So I left there. And I was kind of in between things at the time, just dealing with my grief. And I'm a mother of three as well. So raising my children as well. And I was really just thinking about what I wanted to do with my life and where I wanted to go. So actually, at the same time as starting pets to places, which used to be called pets to vets, I changed the name, I actually started a separate business. So offering holistic and spiritual treatments. I started this at the same time, somebody I know who works in the vets as a receptionist said, Oh, you know, we're always getting calls from people who need to bring that animal to the vet spot, they just don't have any way of getting there. Or where we live in the UK, taxis or people taxis they're not really keen on taking animals on the bosses are kind of hit and miss. So I was like, you know, I love animals. And I'm really good with people so so why not? Two, the two businesses that I started at the same time just kind of run quite nicely alongside each other for about a year. But then this business really took over. And the other business I was kind of bored over like it was okay, it was just a job. But I found like my passion was really in pet transport. And the more I researched into it, and the more I looked into, like how how I can run my service the absolute best way possible, you know, taking into consideration the laws and what's best for the animal. I just found my passion in life I guess I'm just love what I do. And I'm so passionate about pet transport. It's it really is something that I'm really interested in and I really want to share my knowledge that I've gained over the years with with everybody else
Collin 03:52
why do you think that passion is there? Where did that passion for pet transport come from?
Claire 03:56
What I've always been an animal lover right from from as long as I can remember I've always loved animals so so my my love of animals has always been there. And my love of animal welfare has always been there as well. Funnily enough, as a child, I did want to be a vet, but I just too soft, I wouldn't, I wouldn't be able to do the horrible sides of it like the you know, having to put animals to sleep and stuff. So that was never a career path that I followed. But I think just just doing what I do, it's really made me see just how how much there is to pet transport because before I did this, you know, I used to put my dog in the footwell in the passenger seat and it's only knowing what I know now that I'm like wow, that's it, you really shouldn't do that. So I just think it's just as my knowledge has grown, my passion has grown as well. And now I'm just really want to see changes as well. I think it's about raising awareness for me and people who just transport their pets. You know, I want them to be able to do it as safely as possible. And also maybe look at like changing the law. Because in the UK, the law on pet transport is flimsy at best. I don't know what it's like in America, but in the UK, it's, I mean, the law is not really that strict. So, which is really interesting, because if you actually look at the history of safety within vehicles, and seatbelts were actually introduced into vehicles in 1965. But it wasn't law for every person to wear one until 1991, which is really shocking amount of time. Yeah. And then when you look at like baby seats, that you know, you use these car seats and cars for small children and babies, if you look at the history of that as well. It like they didn't even have to be crash tested until the 80s. People used to put their babies in like these little bassinet on the back seat. Which, which, when you I mean, it's we can only look back in history and go, Wow, that's shocking. But you know, at that time, it was just the way it was done. And so for me, it's looking at the history of safely transporting people and babies in cars, I find it really shocking that nobody's actually considered that when an animal is in the car, it is actually risking the safety of the people in the car as well by the animal not being restrained properly. And I just think that over the last 3040 years that safety in vehicles has progressed so much, why has it not progressed for animals, who I mean, even if you're not an animal lover, and you don't really care about the welfare of the animal, you know, the injuries that can be sustained from the people in the car, if you've got a loose animal in the car, is just really shocking.
Collin 06:40
And you mentioned there about this difference between what the legislation says so what the law is, and what the best practices on the ground actually are. So somebody could be technically in compliance with the letter of law, but still be endangering themselves and the pets because the law hasn't caught up with the best practices.
Claire 07:01
Yeah, and to be honest, even if you are following the law, and at the moment in the UK, the law is that animals must be restrained in the vehicle, but it doesn't say how it doesn't say where it doesn't say with what it just says they should be restrained. Now, one person's restrained is another person's loose. So and who is who is actually even enforcing this law? Nobody. I mean, do you see the police pulling anybody over and saying, excuse me, so you have a loose dog on your backseat? like nobody is doing that. So even though that is the law, nobody is enforcing it. So it kind of feels like it doesn't, it doesn't really matter. And I think it's just, it's more. For me, it's not about you know, I want to change the law. And I want people to be arrested for not transporting their animals properly. I just want people to raise awareness, like, like, with the car seats for people and like, with the baby seats for small children and babies, you know, it's just about people seeing the safety aspect of it. So people aren't doing it. Because what the law says, I have to do this, I want people to do it because they go Do you know what i want to protect the welfare of my dog? Or, you know, if we're talking about car seats, and you know, the welfare of the dog, and I want to protect the welfare of the other people in my vehicle, because if you're in an accident, and you've got a 12 Stone, you guys use kilograms. I'm not sure what 12 stone is in kilograms. It's a lot. Yeah. You know, if you've got a 12, stone Rottweiler on your backseat, and your baby is sitting, you know, right next to that dog and your baby's strapped in, in a car seat, which is fully secured that your baby's fully secured in the car seat. Great, but if you're in an accident, you've got 12 so Rottweiler loose in the car. What do you think is gonna happen? Your baby isn't safe, and you're not safe.
Collin 08:45
Nothing good? Yeah. Just Yeah, so 12 Stone, do some quick conversions here. 12 Stone 76 kilograms. That's, like 160 some odd pounds. Like that's, we're talking? Yeah. Like this is this is a lot of mass. There's a lot of movement. And a lot of a lot of bad things can happen if they're not restrained properly.
Claire 09:03
Exactly. Physics is not one of my his strengths, but yeah, exactly. And the thing is, like mass times something Oh, yeah. You know, the mass of the dog or something. But yeah, I mean, I tossed around Rottweiler that's the size of a man. That's a man sized projectile in your vehicle that is endangering babies children, people angele vehicle.
09:26
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Collin 09:54
time a try. They're giving our listeners 50% off their first three months. By going to type two pet.com, forward slash confessional. Earlier you mentioned about a year into your business, it started to really take off. How has perceptions of pet taxi and pet transportation changed in the market?
Claire 10:18
I think it's really becoming having its own place in the market. Obviously, this is quite a unique service. And not a lot of people have done this before. Especially, I mean, nobody's really done it. It's a standalone service. People have done it, as I said earlier, you know, dog walkers on borders, that kind of thing. So they've done it as an additional service. So for somebody to come into the market and do it as a standalone service. You know, at the beginning, it was really quiet and nobody had really ever heard of a pet taxi or considered that even existed. And even now, I still get people who are really surprised that like our pet taxi, what's what's that? What do you do? So yeah, people are really surprised when they hear what I do. But I think it's becoming more commonplace. And it's like anything in life, it's the more commonplace it becomes, the more it becomes the norm. You know, I was saying to somebody, the other day in the UK, we have these little places you can take your car and they clean your car in like 10 minutes flat, and it looks spotless, and it costs like 10 pounds or something. Can you have your car spotlessly clean. Now 30 years ago, that wasn't a thing in the UK. So how did that become the norm in the UK? I don't know anybody that cleans their own corner, we all take our cars in the UK to these little places, where are people clean them for you, because we're all just lazy and very time poor. So it's awesome. Like, how convenient is that for everybody with a with their own vehicle, now they're going to get to this place where they get it cleaned in 10 minutes flat, and it only costs you 10 quid. And that's the same thing with the pet taxi. You know, this isn't just for people who don't have their own car, which which there's a lot of people out there who don't have their own vehicle for whatever reason. Maybe they're older, so maybe they used to drive in their younger years, or maybe they just don't have the finances to have their own vehicle or for whatever reason, they don't have their own car at the moment, you know, this is a really convenient service for them. So that they can just call us up book their appointment, we, you know, take them wherever they want to go, they pay a reasonable amount of money. And, and that's, that's the service provided. And it also really helps people who are busy working professionals as well. You know, if you've got to take your dog to the groomer, that's kind of a chore. And it takes about half a day because you know, it takes kind of a couple of hours for a dog to be groomed. So you got to factor in that you've got to get yourself ready, you got to get your dog there, you know, maybe you have a quick chat with the groomer. And then you're going to go off for a few hours and do whatever it is that you're going to do probably just fill your time, because you're going to be caught watching waiting for that call from the groomer to come back and get the dog in if you're a busy working professional, that's kind of half a day that could be better spent Iver you know, family time or, you know, you're in a position where you're earning really good money, and you're in a really high powered job, you know, taking half a day out of work is going to cost you a lot of money, when you could just use a convenient service like mine. So I think it's just it's about it becoming the norm.
Collin 13:11
And it's recognizing that people have this this problem you mentioned earlier, people are more increasingly time poor, and their availability to do things throughout the day. So being able to come alongside them and go, Hey, I know you're trying to do a lot of things, you are very busy. What if I provided a service that did this for you, I taxied your pet around town to go from the vets or to the groomers to these places. So you don't have to, and then focusing on that allows you to do it with excellence and allows you to do it to the best extent possible.
Claire 13:44
Exactly, yeah. So it's just about it's just I found a need in the market and I fulfill that need. It's like any business out there who's offering the service. people today are very time poor, aren't they? I think people you know, there's always that saying you can always earn more money, but you can't get back time when it's gone. And so if you know if you're a busy person, you know, whether professionally or you're just at home with the kids all day, and you just haven't got time to do that, or the hassle factor of having to load your kids and dogs into the car to go to the groomers. You know, people people just want their lives to be easier. And wherever you don't drive and you need the service because you don't drive and you have no other way of getting there or you don't want to inconvenience to friends and family by asking them or if you're just a busy person and you just want to make your life that little bit easier. I think in this day and age, we live in such a fast paced world, that people just need to make their lives easier. And if they can do that by using a service like mine, then I'm really happy to help people to do that. Because as a working parent myself, I know how hard it is to fit in all of the things I have to do throughout the day. So you know, whatever you can do to make your life easier. You should definitely do it.
Collin 14:57
Absolutely, absolutely. And I did want To get into a little bit of some of the best practices for, you know, making a great taxi service, and I think one of the first questions that comes up with a lot of people is insurance and liability. So how do you handle that for your business?
Claire 15:16
Well, we have to have two lots of insurances. So we have to have one lot of vehicle insurance, which obviously ensures the the car and the people inside it. And then we have another separate insurance. So we have one that protects the animals. So if ever anything was to happen to an animal, whilst it's in our care, then we can cover the cost of, you know, let's just say, for example, we got into a car accident and that animal was injured, you know, we're gonna cover that vet bill for for the owner. And we also have public liability, which is just standard for any business,
Collin 15:46
I guess the next thing is like, how does that process work? What have you found works best from, from booking to end of service, walk us through what that process looks like?
Claire 15:57
At the moment, we are probably right at the beginning of what is going to be a very long journey. And like any business, the way you start, and where you end up are two very different places. So at the moment, our service is used mostly by older people who do prefer to call you on the phone. So that's fine. Most people book our service by calling us on the phone, or some people email us, or they text us or message, you know, through social media, that kind of thing. Um, so the customers just let us know exactly where they need to be and what time they need to be there. And the booking service is literally as simple as that. So we turn up at the time that we're required to turn up. And we Yeah, we take the pet wherever they need to go. So sometimes the owner comes with or sometimes they don't, as I said, a lot of our customers in my hometown, and we have a lot of elderly customers and a lot of disabled customers. So some of them are actually housebound, so they require us to take the pet where it needs to go without them coming. So we can offer that service as well.
Collin 16:56
It doesn't have to be complicated. It doesn't have to be this big, long ordeal. It's just as simple as where do you need us to be where it needs to go and go from there?
Claire 17:04
Absolutely. I think sometimes people try to overcomplicate things where they don't actually need to be over complicated. You know, you take you it's like a taxi. When you book a taxi, you call them or you go on the app, which an app is something that will probably implement at some point in the future. But right now, it's it's not, you know, a priority for us at the moment. You know, you you book a taxi, you're going you know, to the pub to meet your friends or something, you know, you go online, you book it, the taxi turns up, it takes you where you want to go, you pay your money. That's pretty much the service complete. I think, in the business world, I really feel like sometimes people complicate overcomplicate things, and they don't need to be we're essentially the same as the people taxi. You know, where where is it that your pet needs to go? Fine. Okay, great. We'll be there at that time. And we'll take your pet there. And we'll take them home again as well. Right? We don't just leave them there.
Collin 17:56
That's very important. That's a very important part of this process.
Claire 18:00
It's a round trip, if that's what's required.
Collin 18:02
Yeah. I noticed here you you keep just saying pet and not pets, so you only transport one at a time. Why is that?
Claire 18:11
Um, yeah, so we're not a multiple pet transporter, we only transport one pack at a time. And it's just about the animal's well being. And kind of more focused on what on what we do as the company and what's important to me. So I know there are multiple transporters out there, they tend to use our vans with lots of crates in the back. And they take However, many animals, you know, like six, or eight or something. And they, I guess they take them to various places or the same place. I'm not really sure how that how that service works. But we like to just focus on one person at a time. And so because we are essentially a taxi service, you know, maybe somebody's going with their dog to the vet, for example. So we're just going to take that one owner and their dog, and we're going to take them there, they have our undivided attention. So a lot of our customers need some additional support as well, like they just might need like an arm to hold on to when they walk, if they're not very mobile, they might just actually just need somebody to keep them company. All that kind of thing. So so we offer, you know, our customers have our undivided attention. So we focus just on that one customer and that one animal. And even if the owner isn't there with us, then we focus just on that one on that one pet and I think if you if you transport multiple animals, I don't really see how personally for me, obviously if other people do it like that, and it works for them. That's great. But for me personally, if you're transporting more than one animal from one household, like we transport animals from the same household, but not from different households, because you know, you haven't assessed those animals to see whether they're happy to travel with another animal what you know those animals have never met each other before. It's just not an avenue. It's just not an avenue that we would we would want to go down, we just want to focus our attention on one animal and the owner at a time.
Collin 20:07
Right? Well, and that's something that I wasn't even thinking about was that the owner would be able to go with you, then right? If you're not having multiple pets in the in the vehicle, you're the owner can go along, and then you're providing a direct service to them as well. It's not just a taxi for their pet, but if their owner wants to go or needs to go along with him, you can help care for them as well. So it's kind of this, this two sided part of what you're providing here. Yes, it's it's pet transport, but you're also allowing their their owner to come along to which I think is an interesting twist on on that kind of transportation.
Claire 20:40
Yeah, so some of the owners don't come as I said, they they are, they might be house bound or something or like, you know, the busy people, they don't, they don't come along with their with their pet, and that's fine. And you know, it doesn't cost any more for whichever service you're having, wherever the owner is coming, or they're not, we don't charge any extra money for that. And we don't charge any extra money if the owner, you know, sometimes we take people, they don't need our help. So we just wait in the car for them. And they just go off, they have their appointment, and they come back out to us like 20 minutes later, or 10 minutes, or whatever it is, that's fine. We we wait for them. But some of the customers do need that additional support that we can offer. So, you know, let's just say that you could actually get a taxi with an animal, which you really can't in my hometown, I don't know what the rest of the world is like, but but people taxis they don't want animals in their cars. And to be fair, they actually shouldn't, because there's so many rules and regulations about transporting pets, that they're they're just not equipped to deal with it. So yeah, we've really found that the extra support that we offer to the owner has actually been really, really well received. And whatever, whatever level of support that is that the owner needs, we're happy to do that. I mean, you've got to think so you know, we're young. So we probably don't think about these things. But I have quite a big background of working with elderly people. And if you've got arthritis in your fingers, you know, putting the seatbelt on actually quite difficult, because you've got to click it in, and you've got to hold it really precisely. You know, that's, that's quite tricky. If you've got arthritis in your fingers. So it's just about having those considerations for the owners as well, that, you know, you just need to be a bit more forward thinking and going, Okay, how can I help this customer? How can I make this customers experience the best possible experience that I can make it without causing them any stress, because that's the purpose of the service is we want to make people's lives easier and make using our service as easy as possible. And to make the service. You know, we're kind of old fashioned, we've been called really old fashioned. And we've actually won awards for customer service. But you know, people think, Oh, it's really old fashioned customer service. But it isn't, oh, this is just customer service. I think everybody else has forgotten what Customer service is. So you know, we got like, we have a door for the customer, we hold the door open, you know, we pass them their seatbelt, we help them or you clip their seatbelt in if they need help with that as well. If they need an arm to hold on to when they're walking to the car, or they need someone to hold their bags. You know, that's all part of the service. That's just good customer service.
Collin 23:06
Yeah, I love that. Because you're right. Many times people go Wow, you're really going above and beyond and look at all those cool things. And and you're just going No, this is just how you take care of people like this is just Yeah,
23:17
right. It's This. This? Absolutely, yeah, absolutely.
Collin 23:19
This is just being kind. This is just being considerate. And this is just exactly what our company is built around and and the values that we have, whenever you book us, we're going to focus, as you mentioned earlier, focus solely on you, and make sure that your needs and your pets needs are taken care of while you're with us.
Claire 23:41
Yeah, absolutely. The customer is paying for the service. So the customer dictates the journey, you know, if they want the heating on or they want the air conditioning on, or they want to have the window open or they want the radio on or, you know we do some long distance journeys as well. So if they want to bring their snacks and they want to eat their snacks, or have their drink, then then that's how you're paying for the service so you can have whatever, whatever journey you want to have because you're the one who's paying for it.
Collin 24:06
You know, you mentioned a little bit earlier about the the rules, the laws around restraints of pets, what have you found that works best for you and the safety of everybody?
Claire 24:17
Um, well, for me as a pet transporter, it's very different being a pet transporter and how I would transport pets on a daily basis compared to how somebody who is transporting their own pet. There's it's really different. And I don't know what the rules are in the different countries. I know what they are in the UK. So the law states in the UK that your dog has to be restrained. So, I mean that's that's, you know, a very loose interpretation of the text, isn't it? What does that mean your dog has to be restrained and you know, where are you putting your cat basket because you definitely don't want to be putting your cat basket on the backseat and then putting a seatbelt on it I can tell you but I will tell you the best place to put your cat in a box Oscar is on the floor behind the driver's seat or the passenger seat, that is the safe place to put a cap basket. Because if you're in an accident, then your cat if you put it on the back seat with the seat belt on the cat, the cat basket is going to be crushed under the, you know, the the seatbelt pulling tight if you were in an accident, all of these scenarios are assuming you were in an accident, obviously, you know, the statistics of being in an accident are actually quite low. In the UK, though, you're actually 10 times more likely to crash at 30 miles an hour, then, I mean, you have to work out what that what that is in America. But but in the UK, you're 10 times more likely to crash at 30 miles an hour than at any other speed. And most people think I'm going to be in a crash on the motorway going 70 in my car is going to be crashed, but actually you're more likely to crash at just 30 miles an hour just driving around town. Now this is statistics taken from the RSP website, which is a UK based like breakdown provider if anybody wants to check that. And then with so with your with your cat, they do so crash tested carriers out there. So one of the companies that we use their products, which is sleepypod, which is actually a American based company. So yeah, I we use the sleepypod crash tested carriers. Now if you've got a cat, they are pricey, I'm not gonna lie, they are pricey, but this is the well being of your pet. So I think they're worth the money. So you can you can you know, put your animal, your cat, for example into this sleepypod carrier or there are other there are other crash tested carriers, you just might have to do research and see which one or that you prefer. And you can strap those in. So you put them in the basket, you put it on the backseat, you attach it with the seat belt, but these have been designed to, you know, be held within the seat belt, they've gone through extensive testing, and they are crash tested. Now the same with dogs. If you use our again, we use the sleepypod, crash tested harness, there are other crash tested harnesses out there. For those who are really good, you can put them on your dog, they're attached in the call, they can stand up and sit down and lay down and stuff but they don't want a dog to be running around on the backseat. Because, again, going back to what I said earlier about the safety aspect. If you've got children, babies and people in the vehicle, you really want your your animals to be restrained in the safest way possible. One of the other ways to transport your own pets is and this really depends on the vehicle that you have. So is a crash tested crate. So you can go online and you can find all of these products online. And there are various different companies that do all of the products I'm talking about. So we use a company called trans canine, which is a UK based company, they sell crash tested crates, which we put this when we transport dogs with no owners we put them we have like a big vehicle with a boot space which one we have dogs with with no bonus. So these are more your small to medium sized dogs, we put them in the crash tested crate, and these are anchored down into the vehicle. So we've been looking at crash tested crates, I would do your homework on what different ones are out there, which suits the size of your animal. And also you have to have one that's specific to your vehicle. So you know, you can go onto these websites. And you can just type in what vehicle make and model you have. And it will tell you which is the crate suitable for your vehicle and then you just match it up based on based on what pets you have. So if you've got just one small dog, or you've got a couple of dogs, and they do crates that are kind of split in half as well. So you might have two dogs, but maybe they don't want to travel right next to each other. So you can put them in separate sides of the crate. And there's some absolutely brilliant stuff on the market out there. Yes, it's pricey but again, you know this you wouldn't jeopardize the well being of your child. So why would you jeopardize the well being of your pet?
Collin 28:55
Right? Yeah, and you mentioned that there are crates and in harnesses there so maybe maybe break down some some basics of what we should what would what makes a good pet transportation harness or crate?
Claire 29:08
Well, I mean, you want to go for a crash tested one it's you know, if you want the well being of the people in your vehicle to be considered and the well being of your animal, you really need to go for a crash tested anything whatever it is that you're buying, whether it's a harness, cat carrier, or you know small pet, you might have rabbits or something, you know, a crate you you want to go for a crash tested one don't accept anything less than a crash tested and do your homework, YouTube. I've got some fantastic videos, you can see how they're crash tested, because, you know, I think if companies say they're crash testing them, they actually have to have crash tested them so you can look on YouTube and you can find the videos of that they they put these these equipment, really they put them through their paces and make sure that they're providing their customers with Really top of the range, our product. So it's not just crates and harnesses that you you want to be looking at, you know, maybe you don't you have a vehicle that you actually can't fit a crate in because the crates are quite bulky and heavy and expensive. That's what we use, because you know, it's the best of the best for our customers and the well being of their animals. But you can get a dog guard as well. So we actually do use a crash tested dog guard, which again, it depends on where you are in the world depends on what's going to be available to you. So but, but again, you want to be using crash testing to the dog God that we use because we transport dogs, which are really big. I don't know if you have these in America, but we have a dog called a Malamute in the UK, which is a huge, huge dog and we have masters and you know Rottweilers and Dobermans. And these are all really big dogs, which aren't going to fit into a crate that because we obviously only have one size of crate. And that kind of works for you small to medium, but you're really extra large breeds and your giant breeds, those those aren't going to fit into a crate. So we use a crash tested dog God, which is going to protect the dog because, again, you've always got to look at the worst case scenario isn't isn't that why transport involved, you know, safety in vehicles has progressed so much, we're always thinking worst case scenario, you know, you put your seatbelt on because you think, well if I'm in an accident, this is going to save my life. Same with a baby seat, you know, this is going to save your baby's life. And the same with when you're transporting your animals, you know, you're buying this expensive equipment because because you want to protect the welfare of your animals. So for example, if you've got a dog in a booth, you want to get a tail guard as well. We don't have to use a tail guard just because we have a lot of stretchered animals, and it just doesn't work with our day to day running of the service. But if you you know, you've got a vehicle that that you can put dog guard and a tailgate in assuming you've got like extra large dogs, that's going to be the absolute safest way because if the back of the vehicle is crashed, that tailgate is going to protect your dog, and then the dog God is going to protect the dog from being flung forward into the car and then jeopardizing the safety of the people in the car. And the same with any other crash tested equipment that you're using in this to prevent your animal becoming a projectile. If you were to be an accident.
Collin 32:19
Yeah, that's the key there is that, you know, we think about many other things moving but if as we started off this conversation, if you've got a large Doberman in the back, that becomes a very large not just projectile, but like cannon ball or Boulder. Yeah, rolling Yeah, out in the car, which is gonna is nobody's gonna be be okay with that.
Claire 32:40
No, exactly. And that's the thing is that this is the things I'm just trying to make people aware of. I'm not saying no, because I'm criticizing anybody, not at all, do you know, it's like anything evolves in life, you know, people's awareness becomes more I remember back in the 80s, when, when I was a child, and me and my cousin used to sit in the back of my uncle's Volvo, like, in the boots, really couldn't do that in the UK. Like, that's how much the law has changed, though. You know, could you imagine putting your child your eight year old child in the back in the boot of a car, like No way. So but that But again, it's people's awareness to have have evolved and, and the safety has evolved. And it's the same with with pet transport, that's really, My mission is really to go Hey, guys, look, just think if you're sitting in the driver's seat, you've put your 12, stone Rottweiler in the in the back behind you, and you slam on your brakes, what do you think is gonna happen? Right, if your dog isn't restrained? What what is gonna happen, that's not going to be a pretty outcome for you or your dog.
Collin 33:41
And the importance here is, is yes, we should be checking with our local rules, regulations. And I will say, just for people here in the US, I think there are only like five states where it's required that your dog or your pet be restrained. The other ones are kind of ambiguous. So it, it's not just following their rule. It's doing as you're talking about here, Claire's, doing what's best for the pet. And for the people in the car. If it's, you know, at that point of, if your state if your area says, oh, the pets don't need to be restrained, ignore that rule and restrain your pet restrain the dog so that they're safe, and you're safe.
Claire 34:18
Exactly, yeah. Yeah, it isn't just about, you know, I'm going to tick this box, I'm going to restrain my animal because the law says I have to restrain my animal, you're going to do it because you care about the welfare of your dog and the welfare of the people in your vehicle. So it's just about for me, it's really about raising awareness and just actually making people think, like I said, back in the 80s, who an earth was really considering that traveling around in the boot of somebody's car was dangerous, but, you know, it's with all these campaigns that I don't know what it's like they're in the US, but here in the UK, we've had like advertisement on the TV and on the radio. There was this one campaign that was called conch click. So it was about you know, just put your seatbelt on. You know, there was adverts on the TV and you know, on the radio and stuff just really raising awareness about the importance of putting your seatbelt on. Obviously this is this is years ago and the world has that has changed, you know, people have gone Oh, yeah, that's actually really important. And you know, the same with that with the progression of the baby seats that people like, Yeah, actually putting a bassinet on the backseat, that's actually not really safe, is it? So hang on, let's, let's change our mindset and look at different ways of doing this. So, you know, my point of view that I'm coming from isn't just guys follow the law. It's like, Guys, think about this, think about what you're doing, not to criticize not to, you know, point fingers at anybody who may not be doing it the way that I'm suggesting. It's just about raising awareness. And actually just looking at it from a different point of view,
Collin 35:46
how can pet sitters get involved to help raise awareness and to help make transportation safer for everybody,
Claire 35:52
I mean, other service providers who are offering pet transport as part of what they do, in your dog walkers out there, maybe they're going round, they're picking up all these dogs, and then they're taking them, you know, out for their walk somewhere. So they are also transporting animals, and they need to follow a set of regulations as well. It's slightly different to what pet owners would do and slightly different to what I actually do. But you know, they still need to be thinking about transporting pets in the safest way possible. And the well being of the pet your dog walkers, they tend to take the same dog, you know, all the time and take the same dog. So those dogs get the opportunity to get to know each other, they're happy with each other. So they're probably okay being transported. But it's just everybody working in the pet industry needs to be thinking about this and raising awareness. And this because they made while transport animals as a product of what they actually do like your, your dog boarders, your dog walkers, your pet sitters, you know, they probably do some description of pet transport, maybe not what I do, but they do do it. So, you know, they could be raising awareness with their customers and saying, hey, how do you guys transport your pets when, when you're taking them? You know, by yourselves? What outside of using a service provider?
Collin 37:09
Yeah, at that point, again, putting ourselves as a resource. And as an advocate to our direct clients, and what you're right. I like that of whether you provide some sort of transportation service or not have those communications about safety with your existing clients anyway, because they're driving their pets around, you know, they are because they're going to the vet, and they're doing all that stuff. So just part of the intro or onboarding process, or just a conversation you have periodically about safety for pets, it would be a great way to start doing that with who you interact with immediately on a regular basis.
Claire 37:42
Yeah, absolutely. And I think as a customer as well, if you're looking for somebody who's who's providing you with a service, and whether that be like a pet taxi service, or a dog walker, you know, or we have dog borders in the UK, I don't know if you guys have that. It's where your dogs go and live at someone's house for the week or whatever. Yeah, you know, just question question. If you're, if you're going to a service provider, and you're going, Hey, I need this service from you. Ask questions, ask how it is, if you're a multiple dog walker, and you're picking up multiple dogs, how is it that person is transporting those pets? How are they transporting those dogs? What assessments are they doing? You know, your dog might be introduced to five other dogs, your dog might not be okay with that the other dogs might just take an instant dislike to your dog, you know, ask questions, ask the question, how are they? How are they transporting your animal, you know, for a lot of people that their dog, or their cat is is like their child, you know, some people prefer their animals to the people in them. So you want to make sure that your animal has is getting the best care possible, wherever transport is the actual service you're asking for or whether it's just a byproduct of the service that you're asking for. Check, check how they're doing it and check. In the UK, if you're transporting over a certain distance, you didn't need to have a license to do that. So if somebody is transporting your pet over a considerable distance, check that they're licensed to do that. Because in the in the UK, that's a law. I'm not sure what it is in the US. But in the UK, if you're transporting pets as your job, you need to have a license to do that. Right.
Collin 39:21
Yeah. And again, I think that is very dependent on your location. And it's not just one unifying law, unfortunately. So if you are going to provide those services again, go back and see what is required, and then go and do your own research to make sure you're doing above and beyond and giving the best care possible.
Claire 39:39
Yeah, absolutely. We're not actually the pet. The pet industry in the UK isn't actually governed by anybody. So basically, anybody can do whatever they like and there's nobody to question you. I mean, we have a an institution called Defra, which is like an animal welfare governing body in the US Okay, but they're mostly focused in on on, like farms like farm animals like cows and, and stuff like that they're not really focusing too much on the pet industry. So the scary scary thing in the UK is nobody's actually checking what anybody is doing. So yeah, if if there's no governing body, then you really, as a customer, you need to be doing your homework
Collin 40:23
and as the business owner holding ourselves to really, really high standards, so that we, you know, yes, it sets us apart. But it also just makes sure that when we're safe, so we're not having to, we're not running this thin line between having an accident or making a mistake, making sure that we set the bar really high for us and everyone around us. Absolutely.
Claire 40:42
Because when you're working in the pet industry, you know, you wouldn't work in this industry if you didn't have animals, so, so we're assuming that everybody working in the pet industry, loves animals and wants the, you know, the best care possible for those animals. So it's just isn't for me, it's about holding yourself accountable to how you're providing the service. Because, you know, I like to think that if somebody is looking after my animals, they're going to give my animals 100% the best care and attention that they possibly can, as much as what I would. And so that's what we do with with our customers pets, is we we think, right? This is how we would want our pet to be treated. And so this is how we're going to treat every single animal that we provide our service to they get 100% the best care possible.
Collin 41:30
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Claire 43:06
actually, it was my customers that kind of encouraged me to do it, it's the customers have actually been the driving force behind building the business. As I said earlier on, when I started, I was really not in a very good place. You know, I was I was did trying to deal with my own grief and my children and I'd kind of started this other job at the same time. And, you know, it was really the customers that actually encouraged me to really build my business. So as I said, at the beginning, my business actually used to be called pets to vets. But people used to call me they'd be like, Oh, I'm just going over across town with my dog to visit my friend, can you still take me? Or do you just go to the back? And I was like, yeah, the name is kind of misleading. So I changed the name and then just introduced a lot more more services, you know, not just the vets but you know, basically wherever people want to go with with their pet. And then the customers would say to me oh my friend or family lives in such and such and place and there's nothing like this service there and I just got me to thinking so far there really should be shouldn't there because how would people get to the vet or wherever with without the use of the service? So actually was really the customers that kind of gave me the idea of it because I never I never started this business thinking Do you know what I'm going to franchise this and have world domination with pets and places? I never started thinking that at all. I just started it. You know, I was kind of in a bad place and just dealing with my own mental health issues and actually just through grief. And so actually it was a costume is that just just really just brightened my day like seeing my customers and how how thankful they were for the service and they've always such an angel, you know, what would we do without you and just just the feedback that you get from customers is just beautiful. It's just so amazing to to be able to do what I do and have customers be so thankful when when all you're doing is just providing a service you pick Might be taking them somewhere, you're taking them back at the end. You know, to me, it's not a big deal, but to the customers that so I'm so grateful that the service is out there. And it's just such a shame that it isn't in other towns. And yeah, arguably, I could have just grown the business and taking people on, in in other areas, but I feel that this service, it needs a certain type of person. And I think when it's your own business, yes, it's a franchise, but all of the franchisees will be it will be their own business, I'll just be supporting them along the way. It's, you know, obviously, we offer the training and, you know, our franchise comes with with a lot of additional perks at the moment. Because we're right at the beginning of our journey, we just want to offer people the opportunity to love what they do, like, I love what I do, and I want other people to do that and, and have a great work life balance. I want people to love what they do, and I want them to feel passion. And when it's your own business, I think that you you view it very differently to if you're an employee, and you have a boss telling you what to do. You know, I want people who who love animals, and just and genuinely want to help people because that's, that's what I'm about. I'm about helping people and, and helping you know, the world is a tough place, right? And especially right now the world is a really tough place. So whatever you can do to help another person and make their life that little bit easier. that's who we're looking for. We're looking for people who want to help. And right now we're just in the UK, but we are going to be over there in the US. Hopefully in a couple of years. Once we've established a brand in the UK, and we're going great guns, we're making massive waves in the pet transport industry. And it's just such an exciting time to be in this industry. We're just an up and coming service provider. This hasn't really ever been done before. As I said at the beginning, to my knowledge, this is the first pet taxi franchise in the world, to How exciting is that to be the founder of the world's first something, and how exciting for the franchisees that come on board with us there. You know, we're going to be where McDonald's was 50 years ago, when when they came to the UK, they came to the UK in like 1975 I think it was, you know who in 1975 was eating fast food like nobody who ever thought McDonald's in 1975, who ever thought that was going to take off. And yet look at them. They're amazing, you know that they're so clever in their business, and what they're doing that, you know, I kind of aspire to be as big as McDonald's, maybe not as big as them. But you know what, if you've got to aim high, if you go hard or go home, you know what I'm looking to take over the world and pets the places I want to pet some places in every country that we possibly can get it who loves animals, and you guys there in the US you love your animals so much. And there's other countries that you know that English people are notorious for being massive animal lovers. And and so what other parts of the world as well, we just would really love to see pets, the places just across the world. And not just this is big corporate company who only cares about the money and, you know, we want to earn as much as like a you know, we're all in business to earn money, but we're looking for people who just want to love what they do. And they just want to have somebody every day telling them that they're an angel talent, and they're so thankful, you know, that's awesome to go to work and who that every day that is amazing and amazing feeling to be so valued at what you do that what a great opportunity that this is for people out there. And yes, we're right at the beginning of our journey. But Colin, you come back to me in about 10 years, and I would have conquered half the world by then.
Collin 48:38
I am putting it on our calendar today.
48:43
Yeah, well, and
Collin 48:44
you know, you mentioned that the how appreciative people are your clients are of something that just on the surface seems so simple. And sometimes we can as the pet care providers, and pet taxi providers, we can get lost and, you know, forget that we it's just normal to us. It's just what we do. This isn't that big of a deal. But it's such a quality of life changing experience for the people who need and use the service. Because if they're homebound, if they struggle, as you mentioned, you know, with arthritis and clicking in their seatbelt, you know, all of those little things to have someone say, Hey, I can help you with that this is a service I provide, you have made that person's life better. And we can that can get lost in the shuffle of the business and the scheduling and all things like that. But it just something so simple can really impact somebody's life. And it's important to us as business owners that we remember that, that we don't lose sight of that and so that we continue continue to have that passion. And as you're searching for people who want to come on board and bring that same passion to them, I'm sure that's important for you to see that they recognize as well.
Claire 49:47
You know, it's it's not rocket science with what we do. We're a pet taxi service. You know, it's not a complicated business. It's not a big corporate business. We're looking for real people who who want to make a difference. In the world, and even if the difference you're making in someone's world is literally clicking in their seatbelt, or maybe you're carrying their cat in their basket, you know, into the vet for them. You know, that's what we're looking for, we're looking for people who who want to make a difference in the world, it may be just in their little while. But you know, what, that's still an amazing feat to achieve is to make a difference in the world, in the lives of the people around you, in your community as well. This is the thing, it's a community based business. So we're looking for people to run the service in the area in which they live. So, you know, you kind of become a mini celebrity in your own town, people know you that you're the taxi lady, and I'm like, looking at people in the middle of the supermarket, like how the hell do you know who I am? And it's just, I kind of feel like a movie star sometimes. But it's just amazing that people recognize you in your local town, because that's where you're providing the service. We're a community based service provider, you know, we're making a difference in our communities. Um, and, you know, that's what we're all about, we're about making a difference in people's lives. And that's who we're looking for.
Collin 51:07
Right? You have past experience in a franchise and you're currently running and growing your franchise. So if somebody is listening, and they're thinking about the possibility of maybe they're they're interested in franchising, what kind of recommendations or advice would you give to that person?
Claire 51:23
I think you'd be looking at starting a business. I mean, there's a difference between starting your own business and and joining a franchise. So at the moment the world is, is, you know, we're, we're going through a crisis right now with the Coronavirus. So, you know, the world is a really scary place right now. And the thought of starting your own business at this time is really scary. So, you know, I'm not sure what the percentage of businesses that fail in the UK is, but it's, it's pretty high. To be honest, I was actually really shocked how high it is. And so I'm really thankful that my business hasn't just survived Coronavirus. It's actually thrived. And the flip side for me I've starting, you know, a franchise is that you've basically got a business in a box. You know, like McDonald's, everybody knows what McDonald's is, you buy a McDonald's franchise, you know what you're getting your instant success because they're huge. Obviously, we're right at the beginning of our journey. So we're in a very different place, but any established franchise, I would really be asking some questions. I was a franchisee before, as I said, at the beginning, I was probably really naive at the time, I really didn't ask any questions. I just kind of trusted that the franchise owners knew what they were talking about. And that was like, No, no training, no support in that franchises. And they were kind of like, here's the business Off you go. And I was you know, where on earth do you start when when you're just tasked with his the business Off you go no training, no support? You've no idea what what to even start where I mean, where do you start when you're starting a business from scratch? So for us, it's about that that's been my learning curve. It's actually as a franchise all what do I want to offer my franchisees and it's basically everything that I didn't get when I was a franchisee, you know, I want to offer people the training. And and it's not just a one size fits all, I'm a very individual person, you know, one person might need some extra training, one person might need maybe not as much training, one person might need extra support and somebody else not as much, it depends on the background the person's come from, I think it depends on their confidence levels, I think it depends on you know, how comfortable they are with putting themselves out there. Because you do have to put yourself out there to some extent in this business. But you know, we're looking to offer people the training, the support, the package of when you buy into a franchise, with pets, the places, you get this huge, huge package of stuff that comes with your franchise fee, you get ongoing support, and I'm really I'm looking to build a team of people I'm not looking to be the big boss five sits at the top, you know, telling people what to do. I want people to come on board, I want people to go, hey, let's try this. How about we do this? Have you thought of this? You know, teamwork makes the dream work. And I'm looking for people who want to be team players. So yes, each individual franchise is their own business. But I want people to join the team and go, Hey, guys, look, I've got this really good idea. why doesn't everybody else try this or I've tried this, and this is a success I've had or, you know, this is how it maybe didn't work as well. So everybody can just help each other and it's about building the brand about building the business raising awareness of what we do and, and helping people you know, to just help other pet owners like like what I'm doing now is just raising awareness about pet transport and about safely transporting pets. So I would say if you're looking to buy a franchise, really listen to what the franchisor is saying. Listen to what they're saying about training. Listen to what they're They're saying about the level of support, listen to what they're saying, you know, where do they see their business in five years time? Where do they see themselves in 10 years time? ask the questions, definitely ask the questions.
Collin 55:12
So on the other side of that coin is maybe there's an existing business that's thinking, hmm, should I franchise my business? What advice would you give to that person?
Claire 55:22
Don't do it. Don't just don't, don't bother, don't bother going down that road. No, it's really stressful, and it's really expensive. And just just don't bother. Just don't bother, save yourself the headache and the money. With seriously, when I started my journey, life has kind of been a bit tough for us personally. And for me personally, in the last couple years, we've had some, some really tough times in the last couple of years. So I've kind of had to put the franchising side of things on hold. But you know, for me, it's been, it's been really hard. Because when you're a business owner, especially when you're a sole trader, you know, you're the guy who's, who's doing the admin, you're the guy who's doing the accounts, you're the guy who's doing the day to day service, you're the one who's answering the phone, and you're taking inquiries. And, you know, when you're doing that, doing all of that, and then you're franchising on top of that. I mean, it depends on the financial, you know, how your finances are, if you've got the money to outsource a lot of things, then then great, I would really recommend to outsource whatever you can. But I think you really need to look at your business model. And, and just think, would this work somewhere else, maybe do some some research, and just go, you know, this is gonna work somewhere else. And just and see what's out there as well. So So before I started franchising, I did some research into my market. And I thought, right, who, who out there is offering pet transport. And again, there's lots of people who are offering it as an additional service alongside Dog Boarding, or dog walking, or pet sitting and that kind of thing. But nobody else was actually offering it as a standalone service. So I actually was really far into my journey, like 334 years into my journey of running my business before I even considered franchising. And like I said, I never started my business with the idea of franchising. I started my business just because, I mean, really, just because I just did basically, I was kind of in between things, and somebody suggested it, and I was like, Oh, yeah, well, I might as well then. And it was just really weird how I started and, and it's just really interesting to me how this has become my passion. So. So I think that's the thing as well is, is that if you are thinking about franchising your business, you might love it right now. But are you gonna love it in five years? And so for me, you know, I love what I do, I could talk all day long about what I do, and how much I love what I do. And I think that's, that's maybe what sets me apart as a franchisor. And that's, you know, for people looking to buy a franchise, that's really important when you speak into a franchise or to, to see where they're at and, and how much they love their own business. Because if someone doesn't love their own business, why would you love it. And I think if you're looking, if you're looking to franchise, your business, if you don't love what you do, don't bother. There's no point because if you don't love it at the start, you're definitely not going to love it in five years. And I think that, you know, when being the expert in anything is actually a lot of pressure and people are listening. When you speak, people listen. And you think, Oh, well, but generally when you speak people listen, but do they, when you're an expert in something people listen, and they want to pick holes in your knowledge. So that's a lot of pressure to be that person. So I think some people are natural born leaders and and some people maybe aren't quite at that place. And I think if you're thinking of franchising your business, you really need to look at who you are as a person, because you may be really awesome at your day job. But are you awesome at being a leader and teaching other people because essentially, as a franchisor, that's what you are, you're teaching other people how to run a business. So I'm brilliant at what I do day to day, I'm the best of the best. But you know, I have got a lot to learn about being a franchise, or I'd like to think I'm a natural born leader. And, you know, I like to think I'm a pretty good teacher. But, you know, once once I've got, you know, 100 franchisees on board, am I still going to be that amazing leader, you know, I really hope so, but obviously, I'll be in a financial position then to, you know, get get other people on board and kind of share the workload. So, I would say that is my, my advice. If you're thinking of franchising your business, if you don't love it now, don't, don't, don't do it. And you know, running your business and being a franchisor are two completely different roles. So really think long and hard because it's really expensive. It's really expensive to franchise a business, there's so much that you you have to do and a lot of legal things that you need to cover, and they will cost a lot a lot of money. So really think about where you want your life to be and what you want from your life and maybe look at the Like your 10 year plan, just makes me feel like such a grown up to say that because I've never had a 10 year plan before in my life. But here I am now. 42. And I'm like, I have a 10 year plan. I am such a grown up. I'm rocking this grownup lifestyle right now.
Collin 1:00:18
Finally, yes.
1:00:23
It's only taken me 42 years to get here. But here I am, finally.
Collin 1:00:27
Exactly, exactly. And you know, it's important set to set the those two things up, really take a hard look at the business and the finances and see if it's gonna work. And then that personal side, are you up to provide the support that's necessary? The teaching, the education, the outreach? Are you are you Yeah, do those two things before? No. And really spend some time thinking about that before you go down that road? Because that sounds like those were two of the biggest things that you had to overcome and and learn about along that along that process.
Claire 1:00:59
I don't think you ever stop learning, either. It's not like, Oh, I'm a franchisor. Now, tick job done. I think I've got so much to learn along the way, and actually speak to some other franchise owners of businesses, you know, look at the businesses that you admire, what is it that you admire about those businesses? You know, I'm going to use the the, the McDonald's example, again, because as a business model, it's genius. It's so clever, like the what they have achieved is amazing. And I truly admire, because let's face it, the food is not great. So they, they achieved such massive success by selling really not not great food. So that so you've got to look at the business model there and go, Wow, those guys. They nailed it. So I think yeah, if you're thinking franchising your business, that's another example I would give is speak to some other franchise ORS. If there are other people in your industry already doing what you're planning to do, then maybe speak to them, you know, people are really helpful. And they will ask answer your questions. You know, if you've got questions, go and ask them, Go and ask other people, because there's so many franchisors out there. And I found that people are so willing to help other people. You know, I think the whole Coronavirus, things may be shown shown a lot of people's negative sides. But it's also shown that there is so much positivity in the world as well. And people genuinely want to help other people. So ask for help ask us questions.
Collin 1:02:27
That's really the best place to start is starting to if you're interested, start reaching out to people and just start doing some initial research. And so you know, I appreciate you coming on today, Claire, it's been a real real pleasure to kind of pick your brain on these topics and to get some insight into a world that into a market that's really growing and changing and it has been over the last couple of years. So if people do have further questions, if they want to pick your brain further about franchising, or about pet transportation, you know, two things that I know you're really passionate about, how can they get connected? How can they find you on the internet and all that stuff?
Claire 1:03:01
Um, so people can go to our website, which is our pets, too. So it's the number two pets two places.co.uk. You can my email addresses on there, my contact details are on there. You can also find me on LinkedIn, which is Claire Harris, on LinkedIn. So yeah, reach out to me if you've got questions, if you're interested in, in maybe even just thinking about, you know, coming on board with us and buying a franchise, definitely reach out to me
Collin 1:03:27
wonderful. And I'll have links to all that contact information, your website in the show notes, and on our website, so people can go and click there. Claire, once again, thank you so much for coming on today.
Claire 1:03:38
Thanks for having me. Colin, it's been an absolute pleasure to talk to you today.
Collin 1:03:42
I think my favorite quote from Claire here is when she said that the purpose of this service is to make people's lives easier. And then to make using the service as easy as possible. I think this hones in with laser focus the importance of customer service in our industry from beginning to end, the service is amazing because the service is solving people's problems. It's making their lives easier. And then it's easy to use, there's no hassles, there's no multiple hoops to jump through from beginning to end. It's all about serving the people and solving their problems. And I think that's really important as we move forward into 2021 that we continue to focus on solving people's problems for our services, no matter no matter what that is. And no matter what shape that takes for you, in your business in the market where you are. At the end of the day, if we're not solving people's problems, our business is not going to thrive. And that's something we need to keep in our forefront as we move forward through this year. And as times continue to change around us, Megan and I would love to hear if you're offering pet taxi services if that's something that you have moved into or have even thought about. So send us some feedback. Back at feedback at pet sitter confessional.com. You can check us out on all the social media places at pet sitter confessional as well. We want to thank our sponsors for this episode time to pet and pet sitters International. And thank you so much for listening. It really means a lot and we'll be back again soon.
