Our next Client Spotlight is shining on Terri Graham, Terry Carmack and Always Home Pet Sitting! Based in Mobile, AL - Terri and Terry provide care and comfort to both the pets in their care - and the pet parents who are trusting them. The goal is to ensure that their customer's don't have the slightest worry while using Always Home Pet Sitting. Their company offers Dog Walking, Pet Sitting, House Sitting and Boarding services. If you are looking for fantastic pet care in the Mobile, AL area - be sure to give them a shout! You can find Always Home Pet Sitting on their website!
What caused you to get into pet sitting?
What brought us to get into the pet sitting industry was of course, our love of animals. Almost 16 years ago we opened our doors and haven't looked back since. We are and Always will be a family owned business.
I personally knew as a child I wanted to work with animals either in veterinary or zoo setting. As time went on my love of animals didn't change, but my desire to get a degree as an athletic trainer took over. Three major changes later and almost 7 years of college, I came out with a degree in liberal arts as a drama major. After college I set out to work in the corporate world. After a few years I was laid off in early 2001 because, as many of us experienced my job was "third partied" out to India. I decided I wanted to start my own business so I could spend more time with my family. A family member said your so good with animals why don't you start a pet sitting and dog walking service. I always thought it was a business for people in big cities. I live in the suburbs with neighbors and fenced-in backyards. I went to the bookstore and bought several books on "How to start a pet sitting business." I decided that I could do this and set out to make it happen.
What is the most fulfilling part of owning a pet sitting business?
The most rewarding part of owning a pet sitting and dog walking service is doing something you love that sometimes you forget that you actually make money doing it.
What is the most challenging?
The most challenging aspects of having a pet sitting and dog walking service was the naivety I had when I first started about being able to create my own schedule and work when I wanted to. Boy, that was definitely an eye opener. For many years I worked solo 7 days a week and up to 12-15 hours a day. Thank God for 10 years I stayed healthy and was able to carry on.
Where do you see your business in 5 years?
In five years I will have been this business for 23 years. What's the sayin? "Let the money work for you, so you don't have to work for the money." I see our business growing more to the side of our in-home Boarding that we added to our business two years ago as another full time aspect to the business. We are presently looking for the perfect piece of property to set our vision into place for a non-traditional Boarding service. The other most important vision for our future is to have more free time to do what we'd like to do.
What has Time To Pet changed the most about how you run your business?
Time To Pet has helped streamline our business. It has given us time to do other things for our business. I can honestly say that scheduling, invoicing, and tracking IC pay has been cut in half. That is a lot when it was taking 2-4 hours a day to do. Now we're around an hour a day.
Not only do we like how it helped streamline our business - our clientele love it. They like the daily reports and the ability to track our service with them. We consider that a win-win.
