How To Start A Successful Cat Sitting Business

Introduction

When you're looking to get into the pet sitting industry (and specifically cat sitting!), there are a few things you'll need to be ready to gain experience in that are typical of all kinds of newly launched businesses, as well as gaining plenty of knowledge and confidence regarding our feline friends.

You'll need to know all about cats – This includes how to care for them, but you should enjoy spending time with them, the skills and knowledge of different temperaments and personalities which will guide you in dealing with different types of cats. This will be particularly beneficial when starting out, as owners will trust you to care for them. Naturally you'll build a lot of that experience over time too!

First aid & medication administration – Knowledge of cat health, knowing the risks and warning signs and any signs of illness will all be incredibly valuable and provide reassurance to your customers.

Knowledge of the industry – It will help greatly if you know where people will look for a pet sitter and where to advertise and market yourself. Owning a cat will be beneficial as you will have the advantage of experience around vets and pet shops, so you can use your connections to advertise locally.

Communicate expertly – it is important within any business to be able to communicate effectively with your clientele, to be friendly and consistent with your communications by responding promptly to questions and queries and regularly updating your clients on their pet's well-being.

Where Do You Start?

Look into franchising opportunities – If your aim is to run your own business, but you don't want the stress of starting and building both the business and brand from scratch, you might consider joining a franchise. After all, you'll still be your own boss, with the ability to work comfortable hours following an already established business model with the advantage of brand recognition.

Research your area - Find your target market, and work out how many people in your local area would be likely to require your services. How many families have cats, and how often they would require the services of a cat sitter? Research other sitters in your area and use the information to market yourself and create client opportunities in and around your area.

Make it official - Come up with a unique company name and register your business. Either as a limited company or a sole trader.

Limited company – comes across as more professional and is legally separate from you personally.

Sole trader – is easier to set up but means yourself personally will be liable for the business.

Open a business account – You should do so to separate your business and personal finances. It will help greatly to keep track of your business's cash flow. Keep your finances well organised by taking photos of any business receipts.

Get your taxes in order – Whether you hire an accountant or complete your taxes yourself, this is something you need to think about. You will eventually need to submit a self-assessment tax return to the HMRC, usually after your first year of business as a sole trader. Depending on how you register your business will decide on which tax you will need to register for and depending on how much you are expecting to earn each year. You may even need to register for VAT once you're generating a larger turnover for your business.

Insurance and criminal record checks – You will need insurance to cover you for anything that may go wrong on the job. It is not a requirement to have insurance, but it will offer a safety net against the risk as well as reassurance for your customer base - as you'll be delivering your services within their homes and looking after their beloved pets.

How to Organise Yourself

Decide a price point – You will of course need to charge for your services of cat sitting! Firstly, work out the expenses to you and your profit margin to help understand how much you will need to charge clients for your services. Take into consideration visit times, the location of clients' homes which you will need to travel to, how many cats they may have and how many customers you can visit each day.

Paperwork – You will need templates for customer agreements, invoices, contact details and the cat's needs and requirements on file.

Your Brand

Consistency - Your brand is what makes your business recognisable to clients and promotes you to prospective clients; your branding should be the same across all your marketing materials. If it isn't, you can risk looking unprofessional. Your name and logo should in some way represent or incorporate pet sitting to be more attractive to cat owners.

Website – Your website is a window into your business that's open 24 hours a day. Customers should be able to venture onto your website and find out all about your company. You should include useful pages like prices, the services you offer and a page that tells the customer more about you.

Social media - Think about posting regular content to sites such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook; you can also interact with potential clients by answering comments. Always link back to your website and keep the content across all channels the same and consistent.

Get Advertising

Word of mouth – Get your friends and family in your area involved, tell them to spread the word and give them your business card. Local veterinary practices, pet shops and pet groomers are also great places to advertise your services if they are happy to do so.

Flyers – Distribute these in local newspapers, supermarket bulletin boards, community centres and the vets.

Drive around in an advert –  A livery for your vehicle offers a great way to promote your brand whilst you're on the move, going from customer to customer.

The Cat Butler Franchise

If you would like more information on becoming a franchisee with the Cat Butler, fill in our short form below to request a brochure and learn more about our unique cat sitting franchise opportunity.

Our franchise brochure gives you plenty of industry insights and, in particular, a useful comparison between joining a franchise or going it alone.

Sandra James

Owner & Founder

The Cat Butler was set up by Sandra James in recognition of the fact that a stay in the cattery can be extremely distressing and unsettling for most cats and also their owners.