Our next Client Spotlight is shining brightly on an amazing pet care business based in Australia! Servicing the wonderful pets of Brisbane, the Gold Coast, and the surrounding areas, meet Nat Durack and the team at Happy Hounds Dog Walking and Pet Sitting! Nat's love for animal care started very early and is at the core of Happy Hounds. In fact, the entire Happy Hounds team goes above and beyond for their clients (both the four-legged and two-legged kind!)
Happy Hound provides an array of services, starting with dog walking and pet sitting. They also offer overnight stays, pet taxi, pet wedding attendant services, and more. No matter what type of care you are looking for, Happy Hound can help! All of their services are tailored to your and your pet's needs. Their employees are police checked, fully insured, and certified in pet first aid. To learn more about the amazing team at Happy Hounds, check out their awesome website. Remember to follow them on Facebook and Instagram also!
What caused you to get into pet sitting/dog walking?
My foray into dog walking started at the tender age of 8 when my twin sister and I were living in Sydney. Armed with poop bags and much enthusiasm for being around anything with 4 legs, we walked our first client's dog for a mere $2 an hour. We would then head straight to the corner shop to buy a large pack of sugary red cloud lollies.
As time rolled on, our family relocated to the sunny shores of Queensland, which opened up new opportunities for me to dive into more dog-walking gigs. I diligently distributed what felt like an endless stream of leaflets-more than a thousand, to be precise, into the letterboxes across our local estate, and from that point onwards, I've never looked back. Working with dogs is more than just my job; it's my passion.
I've since completed a Bachelor of Science (majoring in Wildlife Biology) and a Bachelor of Business (majoring in Management), and my business has a team of more than 30 fellow dog enthusiasts, servicing more than 2400 clients across Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
What is the most fulfilling part of owning a pet sitting/dog walking business?
By doing what we do, it means that our pet parents get to go to work and not have to feel any guilt or worry about leaving their dogs in the house or yard all day. It means that many of our clients get to visit overseas family members that they haven't seen in years, knowing that we're there to take care of their home and furry family members.
We've become more than 'just the dog walker or pet sitter' and are now a part of many people's families. Some pets we've cared for over their entire life span, from when they were puppies to now senior pooches. This relationship and level of trust that we have developed is something that we never plan on taking for granted.
Establishing these relationships is something we're definitely most proud of, as well as the great team that we have today.
What is the most challenging?
The size of my business means it can be hard for me to take time off. While most people are taking their holidays, the team and I are working all hours. Running a business like this, combined with thousands of kilometres of walking each year, can be physically and mentally taxing! You definitely have to be proactive with scheduling meaningful time off to relax and put your feet up, otherwise it just won't happen!
I think my biggest challenge has probably been a result of my own way of thinking. Imposter syndrome is very real, and for someone still in their early twenties, there have been many times when I often doubted myself and felt too inexperienced, despite where Happy Hounds is today. For someone constantly on the go and often juggling a million thoughts at once, sitting back and looking at how far we've come is something we definitely have to work on!
Where do you see your business in 5 years?
I am looking to slowly expand our service coverage geographically. In 5 years, I hope that we have a strong presence along the main cities of South East Queensland and have expanded into New South Wales. We are currently scaling our operations in preparation for this.
We have a few other ideas up our sleeves that we'll hopefully reveal soon!
What has Time To Pet changed the most about how you run your business?
Time To Pet has been absolutely invaluable to my business. It is the central hub that ties everything together. I love everything about it, but if I had to pick one or two things, the booking system and scheduler help to keep the hundreds of services we do per week on track. I can see where my team is at any point in time and what they are doing. We can respond quickly to last-minute changes and requests from clients.
The team-to-client messaging system is also an obvious game-changer. It is so feature-rich from public to private messaging, the ability to track walks via GPS, post both photos and video, and more. We have put a strong emphasis on the quality of the reports our team provides to clients, and this helps us to stand out head and shoulders above other service providers. This definitely would not be possible without Time To Pet. It's a vital part of our operations that we couldn't do without!
