Archie & Linus – my two giant mutts – were my fur babies for 8 years until I had two real babies. Now it’s a juggling act to ensure Archie & Linus get as much love & attention as always as I juggle raising two toddlers. Thankfully, everyone gets along, and the dogs have saved me hours of vacuuming the kitchen floor, happy to lick up any spills the boys have left in their wake. I started using a local dog walking & pet care provider – Nikki’s Collar Club - about 4 years ago when I was pregnant with my first son. The service has been a total lifesaver and Archie & Linus are completely in love with our designated dog walker, Craig. As a household with two full-time working parents, two toddlers, and two dogs we have a busy schedule to say the least, and I’ve been brainstorming services that any dog walker or pet sitter could include as add-on services for a premium and I would subscribe to in a second:
Pet Taxi: One-way or round-trip, this is a service we use ALL THE TIME with Craig. Archie & Linus are big shedders, so they’re making monthly trips to the groomers. Of course, our groomer is working during normal business hours making it a challenge to schlep the pups over during my workday. This pet taxi service was the perfect solution
Light Grooming Services: Like I said, Archie & Linus are shedders. If we don’t vacuum every 3 days, there are dog-hair tumble weeds rolling around our house. I would happily sign-up for a weekly add-on where the pet-care provider brushed out each dog for 15-30 minutes once a week. My dogs would enjoy it immensely, and I’d be happy at the decrease in floating dog hair
Pet Food & Supplies Delivery: Treats, 40-lb bags of dog food, poop bags, all arrive to my house via subscription services. That means I’m finding places to store these items, lugging them around. If a pet care provider was able to restock for me on an as-needed basis, I’d be happy to have that off my mind. Especially if they were able to use purchasing power to purchase supplies at better prices for all their clients. A great strategy to provide a value-add service, while also increasing the “stickiness” of your business
Resell Lockboxes for Home Entry: Not everyone has a garage door code, and to keep your clients’ keys on hand can be tough (and risky) to manage. Offer your customers a custom branded lockbox that they can secure anywhere on the outside of their home. That way you or your employees just need to store the CODE to the lockbox. A standard lockbox will obviously work but upgrade them and showcase your branding by putting your logo & contact information on the box. MFS Supply offers these with no minimum – and for a limited time get 10% off your order. Contact Kevin at kfleck@mfssupply.com to access the discount
Poop Removal: Archie & Linus produce A LOT of poop. When they’re not on a walk, our backyard is their toilet. It’s always bothered me that all this waste just ends up in a landfill. I’d be thrilled if a pet care provider offered not only pet waste removal/pickup services, but if they had a way to compost the waste naturally and without polluting our Earth, I would be hooked
Pet Playtime: In their advanced age, Archie & Linus are very much couch-potatoes. But my close friend Molly has a big Labradoodle that is obsessed with playing fetch. Molly can handle the dog walks, but she’s been looking for someone who can just play fetch with Olive in the backyard for 30 minutes twice a week to wear Olive out. Some dog breeds need more than just walks, they need a game or sport to get all that energy out of their system
I hope some of these ideas were helpful in building out your services for your clients!
MFS Supply ~ Contact Kevin at kfleck@mfssupply.com or (440) 394-5549.
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