Do you have a profitable pet ‘business’ or a job with no benefits?

I was reading an article at the weekend about people who had given up the ‘rat-race’ to start a life in the country.

Often these people had uprooted family and kids, left a steady job behind, and disconnected from their extended family and friends to ‘start over’ in a new part of the world.

They also had to learn new skills and many who moved from the city to a more rural area has to get used to life without the usual home comforts they enjoyed before.

It looked like bloody hard work, but interestingly none of them regretted the decision.

One lady moved to the country with her hubby, three kids and a dog after there was a gangland shootout in the area of London where they previously lived. Now settled in a nice village in Norfolk, she said;

‘This house is the fourth as a family but the first that feels like a home’.

I loved that line, and I could really identify with the sentiment behind it too.

There have been times in my life when I’ve thought I was something but really I wasn’t.

Like when I started running my business.

See, you can have the van, the logo, the website and even the clients but often the business your create is really a glorified ‘JOB’.

A job where you have to do all the fucking work, but you don’t have any of the benefits, like paid holidays and a pension.

For me, that situation only changed when I got serious about my business, committed to learning about marketing and created rules that I stood by.

Before you do that though, you need to take some time out to really think about what kind of business you want to have.

Unfortunately, most pet business owners never have that conversation with themselves.

So, they create a ‘job with no holidays’ rather than a business.

If that’s what you want then make sure you copy the majority of business owners because that’s what they have.

But, if you want something different for you and you family, then it may be time to get the help your business desperately needs.

And despite what the ‘fluffy bunny’ dog training associations tell you, it’s actually OK to have a business that helps people AND makes money.

But there’s a big difference between being great at what you do and being known as the best.

And despite what you may have been led to believe, it’s not enough to simply be a good or even a great dog trainer, walker or groomer.

Of course, you have to be of a reasonable standard, and I’m assuming you already walk dogs to a very high standard. That alone, however, won’t ensure you make the most money from your business.

The dog walkers who have the most successful businesses are the ones who are “known” for being the best dog walkers. You can be the most talented dog handler in the world, but if no one knows you are, then it’s not so much of a plus.

It’s your reputation and what prospective clients believe about you which will determine how you are thought of in the marketplace.

Being ‘the best’ means different things to different people and, despite what your family and friends might tell you, it really isn’t enough anymore to offer a ‘great, friendly service at a fair price’.

Let’s get real.

A great, friendly service is the absolute bare minimum your clients are expecting. They want to be wowed and feel like they are receiving an exclusive service. And as more competition springs up like weeds in a flower bed, you will need to wow them (and keep wowing them) if you want to climb to the top of the mountain (and stay there).

The great news is that the more discerning prospects, especially those who want a lot more for their money than just a great, friendly service, are already out there. They are waiting for someone to fit the high standards they have set in their mind. And they are more than willing to pay more for something ‘extra special’.

You just need to find them and convince them that yours is the business they should choose.

So how do you do that?

By marketing better than anyone else, of course. This is easier said than done. Elevating your business so you appear different and better than all the other pet professionals in your town is a trick that only the most savvy business owners manage to pull off.

Will you be one of the lucky ones?

Maybe, but only if you commit to learning how to effectively market your business. This is more difficult than you might think. It’s so easy to spend time messing about on Facebook that it can be a real challenge when someone like me recommends you move OFF social media to grow your business. Most of my private clients feel a lot of resistance to my renegade marketing methods.

But the very fact that you feel uncomfortable about it is a sure sign that you know it’s the right thing to do, and any internal fear you feel is just because you are coming up against a new idea which goes against much of what you have been taught in the past.

As an example of the kind of marketing methods I’m talking about, here is the ‘Be Polarizing’ module from my Walk Yourself Wealthy online course;

To purchase the full course click here now.

“But my business is different!”

I hear this a lot, and I’m sorry, snowflake, but it really isn’t. These marketing secrets have been tried and tested by thousands of different business in all kinds of niches, so don’t think your business is particularly special and so different that they won’t work for you.

Business is business the world over, and people always buy the things they want. You just need to make sure that your business is the one they want to buy from.

If you are tired of wasting time on social media pretending you are marketing your business then I have number of options for you;

The first is to sign up to my 33 ideas email series. You get one idea emailed into your inbox every singe day. Click here to get the emails.

Second is to grab a FREE copy of the pet business bible ‘Walk Yourself Wealthy’ the book was written for dog walkers, but the lessons apply to dog trainer and groomers too. Get your FREE copy by clicking here.

Or if you can get a paperback or Kindle version of the book from Amazon here, OR get the audiobook and start a free trail with Audible by clicking here.

Or if you can get a paperback or Kindle version of the book from Amazon here, OR get the audiobook and start a free trail with Audible by clicking here.

Or, if you have a more established pet business and you want to skip past the books and get more ‘hands on’ help from me then you can join my Pet Business Inner Circle or apply to work with me here.