How I Started A $8K/Month In-Home Pet Care Service
Hello! Who are you and what are you working on?
Hi readers! My name is Benny and I am the proud CEO and Founder of Hands N Paws- an in-home pet sitting and dog walking company serving pet parents in Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio.
I am working on building a pet sitting and dog walking enterprise. Through the years, my inspirations have helped me to see the potential in ANY business whose operations are structured and executed the right way (more on this later in the interview!). I am looking to create the next McDonald’s of in-home pet care, and a big feat it is! However, I’ve learned that when you put your heart and soul into what you want to accomplish, you begin to realize that the sky's the true limit.
What's your backstory and how did you get into entrepreneurship?
In 2017, I started my business by accident… quite literally! I was in my second year at Capital University (Columbus, Ohio) and was looking to get a part-time job. One day in my spring semester, I found myself looking up “babysitting jobs in Columbus, OH”. In my short search, I came across “dog sitting jobs available - sign up now!”
Curiously, I hadn’t known that dog sitting was “a thing” or rather, that there were professional dog-sitting companies out there that employed people. I signed up as a pet sitter on Rover.com that same day and in a matter of 10 months, found myself a technician suffering from an entrepreneurial seizure.
Continue creating and documenting so that the business owner can pointedly begin to remove him/herself from being so directly involved. Herein lies the definition of what it means to be a true entrepreneur.
This is a phrase coined by one of my biggest inspirations in business, Michael Gerber- author of the E-Myth series. More to come on him later!
Basically, I didn’t get involved in entrepreneurship right away. In fact, I had no idea what entrepreneurship really was; and if I did, I falsely interchanged it with what it meant to be a business owner.
You see, the two are VERY different!
A business owner is somebody who likely owns their business, is self-employed, and goes to work every day IN their business.
An entrepreneur is someone who rises above every day and goes to work ON their business, keeping in mind the end goals he/she wants to achieve- ones that are usually way bigger and greater than themselves. An entrepreneur sees his/her business as a vehicle NOT to satisfy personal needs and provide a lavish lifestyle. The motive is not that selfish. An entrepreneur seeks to solve a worldly problem, whether it’s for the betterment or efficiency (or both) as they relate to the way people live, the problems they face, etc.
Take us through your entrepreneurial journey. How did you go from day 1 to today?
As with a lot of people who start businesses, I had no idea what I was doing when I launched Hands N Paws. I remember what caused me to leap of faith was being so passionate about hanging out with and taking care of people’s pets, combined with no longer wanting to just continue pet sitting as a hobby. There were so many instances where I sat in my college lectures and zoned out- just daydreaming about what it would even be like to own my own business...
As I said, pet sitting began as a side hustle; but the exact moment I combined my passion for it with the belief that this work could become my source of livelihood (a career), I became a man on a mission.
Then came September of 2019 (16 months after starting my business), and I finally had hope for the future of my business and my life as an entrepreneur.
This is when I made the conscious decision to stop working IN my business, and instead, start working ON it.
It was the first time I ever saw my business like a true entrepreneur and visionary.
I started taking an aerial view of my business and documenting all the systems and processes that I needed in place to empower team members to deliver on their own and the basis of accountability and consistency.
Today, I continue to work endlessly ON my business. It’s been a little over a year that I’ve begun documenting our systems and processes, and what it’s allowed me to do is successfully empower my team of employees to represent our company with a greater sense of purpose and consistency in the way they work and deliver.
We are a team of 6 and mighty in nature!
I think the most beautiful thing about working ON my business is that it’s instilled a sense of purpose in me. Like I’m contributing to something greater than myself every day. I get to wake up every day and CREATE, knowing that the world of pet parents who feel bad for working long hours, going on vacation, and not having the time and resources available to care for their pets is counting on me and this company.
My goal is to continue “documenting” until my business is fully systematized. That way, if I choose to franchise, I can rest assured that the first service location will run just as smoothly, predictably, and efficiently as the one-thousandth service location.
What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?
A success story that I always carry in my back pocket is that of Ray Kroc, the CEO, and Founder of McDonald’s. The most fascinating thing to me about Mr. Kroc is that he NEVER worked IN his business.
He never flipped burgers, never fried fries, and/or never poured milkshakes. Mr. Kroc went to work ON his business from day one; and documented the systems and processes within each area of his business so that others (employees) could follow along, implement, execute, and repeat.
Another very influential person (in both my personal and professional lives) is author and researcher, Dr. Brené Brown. I first stumbled on Dr. Brown’s work when I came across a TED Talk she did back in 2010 on vulnerability. I later learned that it was one of the most viewed TED Talks in the history of TED; I didn’t wonder why at all!
Ever since discovering Brené’s work, I’ve begun implementing it in the Hands N Paws’ workplace. Our culture is one of “we got each others’ backs”, even in the language we use when communicating with one another.
Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?
Since opening this business, I feel like I never stopped being a student. Overall, I’ve learned it’s important that I always stay open to personal and professional growth so that my company can constantly grow too. I have always kept in mind that a company is only as sharp as its owner.
What platform/tools do you use for your business?
We use various software to manage different aspects of the business.
Precise Petcare is the name of our client and staff management software. On the client-side, it’s very user-friendly and allows clients to sign up and on board with us completely on their own. In a time that’s very technologically advanced where everything can be done on one’s phone, the self sign-up ability has been a win for both the client and us (the company). It’s no wonder the high-tech companies like Wag and Rover have taken off so well- not because they had millions of dollars to invest with, but because they realized the importance of a signup process that is easy, fast, and totally user friendly.
On the staff side, Precise Petcare allows for scheduling team members, approving/declining requests for time off, timesheet and mileage tracking, and a few other things.
Another big platform we use is Google Sites, Drive, and Calendar. Google Sites is where we store all our company Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and the Pet Care Technician Training Manual.
Slack is an app/software where we do all of our internal communication in the company. Slack has literally been the glue of a platform we’ve needed to stay connected while we all work independently.
JazzHR is the software we use for hiring and recruiting. It has honestly become an investment so worthwhile because of its robust and numerous features. Its platform allows us to create jobs and job descriptions; and once we have hiring needs (which is always!), we can set those jobs to “open” status. At this time, the job opening gets posted and blasted on all free job board sites (Indeed, Zip Recruiter, etc).
As we continue to grow and develop, there will definitely be more software in place; but for now, this is completely suitable for the business’s current needs.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting?
I have tons of tidbits to share with entrepreneurs, especially those in their beginning stages. First and foremost, the organization is key, especially when it comes to business financials. All entrepreneurs should look at investing in a bookkeeper and accountant from the get-go.
I didn’t hire either until I was a year and a half into running my business. With that said, the company I hired, Scott & Phillips Tax, had to reconcile all my books from that previous year and a half all the way through the current date. It was a total hassle and cost me hundreds of dollars. If you do it right from the start, you won’t have to worry about anything being unorganized, you learn how to read certain statements and understand your company’s cash flow, and overall it becomes a total business investment (more than a mere cost) in hindsight.
Another great piece of advice- and one that I learned when I began studying business systems and processes- is to never believe the idea that nobody can do the job as well as you do. Please, and for the sake of growth, let go of the ego and stop thinking that “nobody wants to work,” “people are lazy,” and “I am the only one who does the work the way it’s supposed to be done.”
A third most important piece of advice (similar to my answer in the first question above); but the organization also demands that you develop proper systems and processes. In turn, this will always allow for consistency in deliverables, simply because workers will only see their work through a “how-it’s-done” lens. I cannot emphasize this enough to business owners, especially for the sake of freeing themselves from the everyday demands of owning a business.
Lastly, when I began documenting my business’s systems and processes, I no longer began to equate success to money. The more I was able to remove myself from the business and be able to empower a team of people to step up to the plate and deliver to clients, the I equated success to freedom. Freedom as it related to actually owning my business, and not my business owning me.
Where can we go to learn more?
To learn more about my company, Hands N Paws, you can visit our website and social media platforms.
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Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
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