I'm a dog walker - AMA!

[vanillandhoney]

That's it, really!

I left a career in retail and set up my own dog walking business before lockdown

[vanillandhoney]

@SpillingTheTea

Do you actually make much money from it?
There is so many dog walkers around my area, I can't see how many of them make much money from it.

I make about 1k a month working 20-22 hours a week. Very few expenses (mostly fuel, treats and poo bags).

But I think it depends on your area and what you can offer. I do adventure type walks so we go to the beach or woods or up the fells - not just a round the neighbourhood pavement walk.

Knowing how to network and advertise helps!

[DevonshireDarling]

How do you accept payment especially during this pandemic I imagine people would prefer PayPal or direct debit? Also receipts do you email them to your clients or print them off? Or not bother 🤷‍♀️
What are your main working hours as I imagine you don't work 9-5 as such more busy during the middle of the day but still a few walks or visits outside those hours? Does your dog walk with the other dogs and always get on with them? I imagine your dog must love your job 😁

[Nordman]

^I charge £8 for pop-in visits (I do small animal feeding too) and anything up to thirty minutes.
Solo walks are £12 an hour and groups are £10 per dog, and £7 for additional dogs from the same household.
I normally work around 22 hours a week and make about 1k, though at the moment it's less due to lockdown.^

What would a typical day look like for you? How many walks/pop-ins? I'm struggling to work out how you get to 1K (is that per week?!). Following with interest as I've thought about this as a job too but I didn't think I'd be able to earn enough.
Also, how do you manage the booking process and time, do you have a booking website or app or anything or do you just manage this yourself.

[vanillandhoney]

@DevonshireDarling

How do you accept payment especially during this pandemic I imagine people would prefer PayPal or direct debit? Also receipts do you email them to your clients or print them off? Or not bother 🤷‍♀️
What are your main working hours as I imagine you don't work 9-5 as such more busy during the middle of the day but still a few walks or visits outside those hours? Does your dog walk with the other dogs and always get on with them? I imagine your dog must love your job 😁

Cash, cheque or bank transfer. I don't really like PayPal as I've heard too many horror stories! Most people pay cash or BACS. I do e-mailed receipts.

My working hours vary each day - normally I start at 9am and finish around 1pm but some days will be less, some more. My dog gets along with all the dogs I walk, but I don't always bring him along :)

[vanillandhoney]

@Nordman

^I charge £8 for pop-in visits (I do small animal feeding too) and anything up to thirty minutes.
Solo walks are £12 an hour and groups are £10 per dog, and £7 for additional dogs from the same household.
I normally work around 22 hours a week and make about 1k, though at the moment it's less due to lockdown.^

What would a typical day look like for you? How many walks/pop-ins? I'm struggling to work out how you get to 1K (is that per week?!). Following with interest as I've thought about this as a job too but I didn't think I'd be able to earn enough.
Also, how do you manage the booking process and time, do you have a booking website or app or anything or do you just manage this yourself.

I do 95% group walks which bumps up my hourly rate. Three dogs from one household is £24 an hour, for example. Two dogs is £17 an hour. If you do that five days a week it quickly adds up! The 1k is per month though - definitely not per week

Outside of lockdown, a normal day for me roughly goes either like this:

8.30am - group walk (£30).
10am - solo household walk (two dogs) - £17.
11.15am - puppy visit (£8)
12pm - pop in (£8)
1pm - group household walk (£24).

Timings will vary each day depending on which dogs I have, and some days I'm busier, some quieter, but it roughly averages out to £250 a week outside of lockdown. I also do a group walk each morning on Saturday and Sunday at 9am, which bumps up my takings (I only do this as I have to take my own dog out anyway - DH comes with me and between us we can take a max of 6 dogs, though it's normally four).

I manage bookings myself as I have to make sure I think about things like travel time, toilet/lunch breaks, which dogs can be walked together and which ones need a solo, tide times (we got to the beach a lot) and the weather forecast! I use a traditional paper diary to organise myself and book things into my iPhone diary once it's all confirmed.

For invoices and payment etc. I use an app on my laptop called QuickBooks :) I can manage invoices, services and keep track of things like insurance costs, advertising and how much I've spent on business costs like poo bags!

[Toriathebadger]

Sorry I know this thread is a couple of weeks old now. How did you get started, and have the confidence to know you would have enough clients to earn a decent amount?
I've given starting my own dog walking business some serious thought but the market is saturated where I live. I'm a single parent too, so not sure what I would do during the school holidays!