Pet sitting can be an incredibly rewarding job. Just take a look into the eyes of appreciative cats and dogs at the end of your visit and you will know right away that you are a very important person who makes a real difference in their lives. While pet sitting may not be the most glamorous job, it can provide you with great job satisfaction. But how can you be taken seriously as a pet sitter?
Register Your New Business
Pet sitters who hope to be taken seriously should ensure they have properly registered their business with the authorities and that they are treating their pet sitting business as a real job, rather than a hobby. The taxman will also have a vested interest in your business dealings, so make sure you get your business registered as soon as possible after you start trading.
Speak With Confidence
Do you find yourself sometimes speaking down about what you do? Are you “just” a dog walker? Do you “only” feed the lady’s cat from across the road? Stop and think about your speech patterns around other people and root out any instances where you put yourself or your business down.
There is no need to try and justify your career choice by watering down what you do or by trying to turn it into something it isn’t. It is hard to be taken seriously as a pet sitter when you do not even take yourself seriously. Whenever someone mentions how you need to get a “real job” let them know that you already have one!
References, Insurance and Background Checks
Would you feel comfortable hiring a childminder to care for your children if they could not provide you with evidence of reliable references, or a clean background check? While a trusted friend or relative might be an obvious choice, you would expect much more from a complete stranger. The same is true when a prospective client hires a pet sitter.
If you ever hope to expand your pet sitting business and build up a solid client base, you should take care of the basics so that each prospective client can look at your references, feel confident that you are insured and see you have no criminal convictions.After all, they will not want to place their beloved cats or dogs in your care if they cannot be sure that you will care for them properly.
Pet sitters who are hoping to be taken seriously should start off by taking themselves seriously by taking steps to register their business and by not allowing others to put them down or tell them they need to get a “real job” with different prospects. Only then can they hope to be treated fairly by others they come into contact with.
More from this contributor:
A Pet Sitter’s Guide to Gaining a Client’s Trust from Day One
How to Build a Reference List as a Pet Sitter
Should You Give Your Pet Sitter a Key?
