All tagged months

495: From Fired to Flourishing with Joette White

495: From Fired to Flourishing with Joette White

Collin

How are you navigating the challenges of business ownership? Joette White, owner of Park Cities Pet Sitter, shares her journey from being fired to successfully owning and growing a pet sitting business. She emphasizes the importance of staff management and trusting employees to foster growth. Joette highlights how personal growth and learning from failures have shaped her leadership style. She discusses adapting to challenges, especially during the pandemic, to strengthen the business foundation. Joette stresses the need for clear leadership and allowing space for staff to develop their strengths and confidence

450: You Need a Task Manager: Tracking Stuff in Your Biz

450: You Need a Task Manager: Tracking Stuff in Your Biz

Collin

How do you stay organized in your business? The options are pretty limitless. Everything from post-it notes, to reminder apps on your phones, or even just trying to remember things yourself. However, what if you find those just aren’t working? Today, we break down how using a task manager can help you be more productive, tackle bigger projects, and stop worrying you’ve forgotten something!

374: Lockboxes 101

374: Lockboxes 101

Collin

Have you thought of using lockboxes? We discuss the benefits and implementation of lockboxes for managing client keys. We break down the reasons for adopting lockboxes, communicating the change to clients, and tailoring the approach for new and existing clients. We walk through our process of implementing them and how to address potential issues.

371: Stepping Away with Claire Aither

371: Stepping Away with Claire Aither

Collin

Claire Aither, owner and creator of Pet Sitting MKE, hiked the entire Appalachian Trail and kept her business running. Claire joins the show to share what preparing to leave was like and how she (and her team) worked through the hurdles that came. Claire explains her process of re-entering her business with fresh eyes and how she brought back a better version of herself.

353: Transforming Your Business with Michelle Kline

353: Transforming Your Business with Michelle Kline

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What does it take to completely transform your business? Creating a business that works for us means that sometimes we have to step back and realize we are capable of change. We can still serve clients with excellence, with an entirely new model of business. Michelle Kline, owner of Venture Dog Walking, converted her pet sitting business into a dog walking company. She shares the groundwork she laid to make it successful and outlines her communication strategy to both staff and clients.

323: Increase Commitment and Compensation from Clients with Kathryn Burge

323: Increase Commitment and Compensation from Clients with Kathryn Burge

Collin

How do we secure both commitment and appropriate compensation from our clients? Kathryn Burge, owner of Lake Oswego Petsitting, joins the show today to share her onboarding process and what it takes to get a commitment from clients. Kathryn breaks down how to take a hard look at your business and ask, “What’s changed?” to make sure we are getting the most out of our business. She has learned the power of setting boundaries, and why charging for your time helps set yourself up for success.

302: Considerations for Being a Full-Time Pet Sitter

302: Considerations for Being a Full-Time Pet Sitter

Collin

On this episode, we discuss all the things you need to think about BEFORE you decide to quit your day job, and why having your end goal in mind is crucial. We share our story on why this was the best option for us, and discuss the practical implications of focusing primarily on your pet business. Then, business coach Natasha O’Banion answers, “How do I fire a client?”

292: How to Handle Inflation as a Pet Business

292: How to Handle Inflation as a Pet Business

Collin

How are you handling inflation and high gas prices? Prices on everything continue to rise and businesses are feeling the pinch more and more. Unfortunately, most economists aren’t seeing any bright spots in the future. So how do we tackle these concerns and make sure our businesses continue to operate and provide us a living? We break down four things you should be considering in the days and months ahead to make sure you’re positioned to weather the storms.

255: Feeling Overwhelmed and Inadequate?

255: Feeling Overwhelmed and Inadequate?

Collin

Have you ever felt overwhelmed with everything you have to do? Or maybe you’ve felt inadequate because you can’t seem to make any headway on your to-do list. Whatever the reason, you are not alone. Life as a business owner means there is a never end list of things you have to get done. Managing these feelings takes understanding that we all have our limits. It also means setting better expectations for what you’re able to do and when it can be done. Then, Natasha O’Banion answers, “What are you looking forward to this year?”

182: Client Experience with Madeline Burgos

182: Client Experience with Madeline Burgos

Collin

In 2015, Madeline and her husband, Gabriel, couldn't find a trustworthy dog walker for their beloved dog Lola. Seeing an opening, they ditched their backgrounds in computer science and business management to start Happy Bark and Tails. Passionate about customer service, Madeline shares what it means to be trustworthy and how they have adapted to changing needs in services. She discusses her methodology behind communicating their mission with their website and how they make sure they're the right fit for clients. Madeline and Gabriel also use their social media following for more than just promoting their business, and she tells us the impact it can have.

126: Growing a Support Network

126: Growing a Support Network

Collin

2020 and Covid have taught us the importance of having a close community and network of other pet care business owners. But what if you don’t already have one near you? How do you start one? Alicia Obando, owner of Pitter Patter Parenting, discusses how she started a pet sitter network and why it’s been so important to have this year.

120: SEO with Amy Toman

120: SEO with Amy Toman

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SEO doesn't have to be scary or confusing. Amy Toman, from Pet Sitter SEO, breaks down the common misconceptions of SEO, the best practices we should all be doing, and how to optimize our websites to drive more local traffic from the clients we want.

096- Learning to say 'YES'

096- Learning to say 'YES'

Collin

We covered saying ‘no’ and setting clear boundaries, but what about saying ‘yes’? Today, we break down every facet of saying ‘yes’. From overcoming the fear of the unknown, to the right reasons to say ‘yes’, we share some of our learned experiences. Natasha O’Banion joins the show to answer “How do you keep you and your staff organized?”

095- Jessica Abernathy with NAPPS

095- Jessica Abernathy with NAPPS

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Jessica Abernathy, President of NAPPS, comes on the show to share about their 2020 conference and her encouragement and excitement for the future of the industry. Jessica also describes the importance of taking time right now to dig into your business and where opportunities are opening up.

077- Reassessing 2020 Goals

077- Reassessing 2020 Goals

Collin

We open with Collin’s epic ankle story and move into taking another look at our goals for 2020. Things definitely haven’t gone the way we anticipated, and that's ok! By creating S.M.A.R.T. goals and objectives for you and your business, tracking and modifying goals is easy. Natasha O’Banion joins us for the “Ask a Pet Business Coach” segment, where she addresses the question, “Which is best for my business, ICs or employees"?”

075- Playtime Paws with Debbie Cilento

075- Playtime Paws with Debbie Cilento

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Debbie Cilento, owner of Playtime Paws and host of the ‘Your New Puppy Podcast’ shares all things puppy. As pet sitters, we often care for brand new puppies for first-time dog owners. It can be a real challenge to remain consistent and offer the best possible care. Debbie breaks down some simple things we can all do when watching even the most challenging puppies.

063- Eric Curry's Pets

063- Eric Curry's Pets

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Eric Curry, owner of Eric Curry's Pets, joins us on the show today to share what life as a pet sitter has been like in San Francisco during Covid-19, and a few tips he has for getting business going again in these uncertain times.

045- Hoopla Adventures

045- Hoopla Adventures

Collin

How is house sitting being impacted? What does the future look like for that industry? On this episode we are grateful to have the wonderful Jennifer Flett and Henry Lecky, from Hoopla Adventures on. Because they are working and traveling abroad as full-time pet sitters, teachers and writers, we wanted them to come on and share their experience with the Covid-19 pandemic.