Pet Sitting Side Hustle Run Down:
If you love animals, then starting up a pet sitting side hustle could be the perfect way to get some extra cash up your sleeve! It can be very flexible as you can make it work around you and your schedule and be so rewarding seeing a happy little face every time you come home or pop in to visit. You don’t need any special qualifications (but general animal knowledge would be handy) and if you’re a responsible and reliable person – you’ll have no trouble getting clients!
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Pros and cons of starting a PET sitting SIDE HUSTLE
PROS
- If you love animals it won’t feel like work!
- You don’t need any qualifications
- Have the choice to just pet sit locally, or even have the animals come to your house!
- Can work around full time work or study
- There will always be a need for pets to be looked after!
- Pets can be really good for your health and stress levels, plus will encourage you to get outdoors and be active if you have a walking arrangement with the owner!
CONS
- Not all pets are cute, fluffy and friendly! (you can say no to scaly or 8 legged creatures if you prefer – or perhaps this is your niche!)
- Obviously not suitable for those who are allergic, scared or do not like animals!
Effort Required To Start A Pet Sitting Side Hustle
To get started: Minimal
Little effort to get started. You really just need to start promoting your services, maybe design and print some brochures to deliver locally and start working for friends and family to get testimonials rolling in!
Ongoing: Minimal – Moderate
You can choose how much effort you put into sourcing new jobs based on how much you want to work. People are always travelling for leisure and work so once you develop a regular client base there may be minimum effort required at all! Usually the pet sitting arrangement itself just involves walking, feeding or spending time with animals which isn’t very difficult at all!
Pet Sitting Side Hustle Earning Potential
This can depend on how often you work – and the agreement with the owner as to what you’ll be doing with their pet while their away! If you’re just dropping by to feed one pet, you may charge $100 a week. However, if you will be spending the night with them and going for an hourly walk daily – then you may look closer to the $250-$300+ a week mark. You may be able to combine different hustles (ie. Walk and feed one household of pets in the morning, and then feed and spend the night with another family in the evening). You can have an additional rate for more pets (ie. +$10 a day for additional animal) and offer discounts for extended periods of time. Generally it might be easier to start at a lower rate and then increase your prices as demand increases. You could also charge more if you specialise in a certain animal, such as snakes.
Cost Required To Start
To start, there really isn’t any costs! You can get pet sitting right away – however if you want to create some marketing materials you may have design and printing posts – or advertising costs if you’ll be promoting through social media or other platform. Likewise, if you decide to undertake a pet first aid course before starting, there will be a cost for this (however you may be able to charge more with your extra skills!)
How Do I Start My Own Pet Sitting Business?
-Choose a hustle name and sign up a Facebook and Instagram business account!
-Lock in some pet sitting jobs with friends and family and start collecting testimonials
-You may want to consider registering an ABN and getting insurance to be on the safe side!
-If you want to start a website, look at building your own through Wix, Squarespace or WordPress.
-Design and print some flyers through Vistaprint and deliver them around your local area
-Remember to post to your socials regularly (and pets with owners permission!) to show people you’re actively working
Hot Tip: Joining a service such as Pet Cloud can be a really great way to promote your services and get bookings https://www.petcloud.com.au/
Using an app like this can be a really great way to encourage your testimonials to stay together and provide a legitimate method of money transfer and keeping your bookings all together. The app ensure you get paid upfront and already has warm leads of people looking for the service you’re offering!
Ideas To Boost Your Pet Sitting Side Hustle
Build rapport with your clients by sending pictures and updates of their pet while they are away.
