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by Ivan JRG

Start a Pet Sitting and Dog Walking Business – Fast and Easy!

Pet sitting and dog walking services can be the perfect way to launch a good income-producing business during tough economic times. When start-up capital is in short supply and you need to get going with something fast, this might just fit your needs. Most animal lovers already take care of pets for friends and family during vacations and short trips, so why not turn that skill and passion into the work you love to do?

While the idea of running a pet sitting business may seem like a piece of cake at first, there is quite a bit involved with it that many people don’t think of right away. There is much more to it than simply showing up to feed, water and walk pets. As a pet care business, you will develop relationships with clients, both human and animal, that are pivotal to the success of your business. A basis of mutual trust, respect, and excellence in care giving is necessary. There is a need for organization, starting from the services offered and fees that will be charged, to contracts, forms, and the service area within which you will work. Additionally, insurance, bonding, and safely carrying out duties so that pets are healthy, as well as the home secured, are neccessary factors. Protecting yourself and your clients from liabilities comes not only with insurance coverage, but also in how you perform your work.

Here are the main points a new start up for pet sitting and dog walking should consider:

1. Services and Pricing. It goes without saying that the busiest periods for a pet sitting business is the summer months and holidays. But there is an array of services that can be offered, including daily dog walking for those with long work hours, medical problems, etc., that can keep a pet sitting business busy during other times. The average professional pet sitter with insurance charges anywhere from -25.00 per visit to a client home for pet care.

2. Insurance and bonding. As a professional pet sitter, securing commercial liability insurance, and when needed, a bond, is essential when taking on a service that requires entering homes and working with animals. There are pet sitting trade organizations that offer this specialized insurance through membership that make this aspect of the business affordable for a new start up and for established businesses.

3. Service area. Knowing where your service area boundaries are as a new start up is very important, and must be determined according to your location. A pet sitting service located in a compact, high population city is different from providing service in a rural or semi-rural area. Even the sprawl of some suburbs, and weather conditions for your part of the country can have an affect on choosing the service area you will start with. Eventually, growth beyond the initial area can be pursued as your gain experience and are in a position to hire help.

4. Advertising and marketing. There are numerous traditional and more innovative ways that you can get word out about your pet sitting and dog walking business. As a new start-up, obtaining your first clients is the most important step to growth. Most of these early clients will service as your initial references and often provide word-of-mouth referrals to their neighbors and friends. However, keeping your business name in front of new clients throughout the year is also important, and the most important way to start is with a good website that can be easily found on the Internet searches. It has been recently estimated that over 80% of American households now have a computer and Internet access, and using search engines has become the standard when looking for products and services. A website is not longer an option, but a necessity for any business.

5. Management. Every business has to have organization, whether is it scheduling services, collecting money, contracts, forms, record keeping, accounting, etc. Pet Sitting and dog walking businesses are no different, and in fact, pet care can have some of the more complicated and changable scheduling challenges of all. People change their travel plans, work hours, and have sudden needs (like a death in the family) that may require last minute changes and need for service. Having a good system in place to handle these events will go far in running a smooth and worry free service.

Now that the essentials have been discussed, how does one get started with a pet sitting and dog walking business? Although a pet sitting and dog walking business can be started fast and easy, some guidance will make you more successful. Having the resources in one place with everything you need is hard to come by. That’s why Pet Sitter Boot Camp(tm) was created. A one-stop online course that gets to the core of what it takes to operate an in-home pet care business. Everything that is relevant to a new start up is covered and included, saving loads of time and research. Most participants are ready to start in less than a month. Even ready to use forms, contracts, how-to’s for conducting new client consultations, daily visit routines – simply everything you need to know and have.

Wouldn’t it be great to have an acutal pet sitting business owner to talk to? Pet Sitter Boot Camp(tm) provides this as well. As part of your enrollment, you will have access by phone, email or chat room to your mentor for any questions and specialized guidance you need.

by Pixelicus

Should I Sell my Home to a Professional Home Buyer? -We Buy Houses Fast in Charleston South Carolina

Due to the current down market, more and more people are looking for alternate, non-traditional ways to sell their home. The days of sticking a FSBO (For Sale By Owner) sign in the yard or simply listing it with the realtor that your friend at work used, just isn’t having much effect these days. Depending on your selling situation, selling your home to a professional home buyer can be the right selling decision. As with other home selling options, selling your home to a real estate investor has benefits.

Working with an experienced investor can really simplify and expedite the process. Some of the great benefits of selling your house to a professional property buyer are: you are able to sell your house fast, “as is” on the date or your choice, you do not have to pay large real estate commissions to a Realtor, you do not have to spend your time, energy and money updating and making repairs and you only have to have one showing. There are many other benefits that an honest, experienced and well trained Charleston real estate investor can provide, such as knowing exactly how to handle problem properties or situations where Low Country folks are taking the brunt of the current economy on the chin and are facing many of the more and more common financial problems like foreclosure that need short sales in order to sell their over leveraged home and avoid foreclosure.

I would recommend selling your house to a local real estate investor if you are in any of the following selling situations:

I am behind on monthly mortgage payments I need to sell my home fast I am moving out of state or out of my local area and can’t afford two mortgage payments I have been transferred by my job I am going through a Divorce and need to sell my house My home is 100% financed and I do not have enough equity to list my home with a Realtor I need to Stop Foreclosure and avoid ruining my credit I am currently in Bankruptcy Someone in our family has health problems and can not work, therefore we can not pay our bills I am tired of being a Landlord and do not want to deal with tenants anymore My home needs lots of repairs and I do not have the time or money to fix it up My home is in pre-forclosure I want to cash out of my investment property My home has been on the market with a realtor for many months and my listing agreement is now expired, I want to sell my house fast, now We recently inherited a property and want to sell it quickly and want someone familiar with an estate sale and the probate process I own my house free and clear and am willing to wait for the market to turn around but would consider taking payments for my equity if I can get my asking price now

As you can see there are many reasons why you should consider selling your home to a local home buyer, and these are not all of them. Simply put, listing your home with a Realtor or trying to sell your home FSBO cost you money and time, it also does not get you offers within just a few hours/days. If you do not have time, do not have money, or simply do not want to deal with the hassles of selling your home, then sell it to a real estate investor. You may be happily surprised by the offer you get.

Before calling some random number on the side of the road off one of those “We Buy Houses” signs, it is important to make sure you know who you are dealing with. Unfortunately, there are a few unethical investors, like in any business, and currently the real estate market is a prime target. Thanks to the Internet it is relatively easy to locate information about a legItimate business. South Carolina business owners are required to register with the South Carolina Secretary of State and you can see if they the business you are calling has bypassed even that basic requirement. The Attorney General’s office handles consumer complaints, as does the Better Business Bureau. Realtors and brokers are licensed through the Real Estate Commission. These agencies can help to ensure you are working with a licensed, legitimate, complaint-free business or real estate investor.

Charleston Home Buyers, LLC is an Accredited Member of the Better Business Bureau, a registered LLC with the South Carolina Secretary of State, and an active member of the Charleston Real Estate Investors Association. “We pride ourselves on our integrity and conduct business under strict ethical principles. We say what we mean and do what we say!” Many references and testimonials are available upon request and some of which are posted on our website. We buy houses in Charleston, Dorchester and Berkeley County and work with a group of nationwide investors. We currently are looking to buy more real estate in Summerville, Goose Creek, North Charleston, Ladson, Hanahan, West Ashley, James Island, Johns Island, Mt. Pleasant, Downtown and all other area in the tri-county area.

If you need to sell your house quick, submit your property information via the “Sell My House” form at our website today for a Free, Confidential, No-obligation offer or call our toll free 24 hour recorded message at 888-52-BUYER (888-522-8937) for more information about selling your home to a professional house buyer. You can also always call us direct 843-72-BUYER (843-722-8937), however it is usually better to take 5 minutes to fill out our property information form first so that we can save you time by having the information already and do some research so that we can get an offer to you right away.

Here’s what some of our sellers have had to say:

“I had been trying unsuccessfully to sell my house for 9 months with a realtor…tired of having the house perfect… we closed the following week” Frank P. – North Charleston

“In less than a weeks time, all of my headaches were over… I would recommend anyone who needs to sell their house to this group of caring people…” Rev L. Greene – Summerville

“My experience with Charleston Home Buyers began and ended with extreme kindness, genuine concern, and sympathetic professionalism…” Brenda M. – West Ashley

“Selling a house can be quite difficult and stressful unless you can find someone like Charleston Home Buyers …… They saved me from losing my house to foreclosure and I was able to make some money and not lose everything.” B. Harvey – West Ashley

“….selling our home to Charleston Home Buyers was the best decision we made. They handled our affairs with the utmost care and efficiency…..” The Daniels Family” – Charleston

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