Summary List PlacementWhen Abby Wischina moved to Los Angeles in 2015, she wasn’t alone. Her new dog — a French Bulldog named Pearl — was along for the ride, and the two went to the local dog park every day to pass the time while Wischnia trudged through the long process of finding a job in a new city. With all the time logged in the dog park, however, her job search plan changed entirely.
“I noticed professional dog walkers with huge vans taking 20-plus dogs each to the park,” Wischnia said. “I did the math and realized there was an opportunity to make a lot of money doing something with dogs in my Brentwood neighborhood.”
From there, Brentwood Barks was born. In five years, Wischnia has built it into a six-figure business. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic that moved so many pet parents into a work-from-home routine, allowing them to walk their own dogs, Wischnia said she was at the height of her success, with approximately 230 clients in rotation. She’d hired a small team of walkers and boarders to help pick up the growing workload.
“I wouldn’t have been able to manage everything on my own,” Wischnia said. “My hours were usually from about 11 a.m. to 3 or 4 p.m. — pretty ideal, although extremely physically demanding. I definitely accumulated wear and tear on my body from the five years of walking miles and miles every day.”
In spite of the physical toll of being a full-time walker — in early 2020, the Brentwood Barks team was seeing as many as 13 dogs per day for walks alone, not to mention boarding and daycare clients — Wischnia has loved the job, especially the community it’s created for her. One former client will even be a bridesmaid in her upcoming wedding.
And, of course, there’s the dogs.
“Having the opportunity to become a part of a dog’s daily life is such a gift,” Wischnia said. “It’s hard to explain unless you’ve been in the position, but being accepted and recognized by a dog that’s not yours is very special. I love these dogs like my own. I grieve and mourn when they pass and will go to any length for their safety and care.”
Good software and strong word-of-mouth marketing are crucial
Although Wischnia said that her income has decreased by 70% as a result of the pandemic, she’s hopeful for the future. In the meantime, she has a few best practices to share with dog lovers looking to get into the biz and pay their rent as full-time walkers.
Making a personal connection with clients and their dogs is paramount, but so are practical matters like software. Wischnia swears by Time To Pet, a pet-sitting platform that clients can access via a mobile app and the Brentwood Barks team can update using a desktop dashboard.
“It changed the game for me entirely, literally, in every single way,” Wischnia said of converting from manually managing her company to Time to Pet. “From the analytics to the client data to pet birthday reminders, it really is just an all-in-one and sets me apart from other businesses. I would not be a successful company if it weren’t for the software I use.”
Lisa Kang, who started Chapel Hill, NC-based pet care company Walk & Wag in 2010, noted the importance of word of mouth for building a successful dog walking business. Walk & Wag maintains a consistent social media presence, as well as a YouTube channel with pet videos and a blog with informative pet care articles. When pet owners hear about Walk & Wag’s services from friends, there’s a lot for them to explore online so they can decide if the service is a fit for them, Kang said. Walk & Wag also posts positive reviews from clients.
“Ten years ago, my clients were my friends, and once the word spread about my business, I had more than I could manage alone,” Kang said. Walk & Wag’s entire database now consists of 591 clients and 977 pets.
While Kang’s business has experienced a similar hit to Wischnia’s — services have dropped by 60% and the Walk & Wag staff was reduced from 32 to 21 active employees since the start of quarantine orders — a handful of devoted clients have continued paying gratuities to the team, a healthy indicator of customer satisfaction.
Flexibility, punctuality, and an attention to detail keep clients coming back
Sujey Carro Mojica is one of Walk & Wag’s fleet of dog walkers. Mojica has about 50 clients, some of whom she sees for daily walks and others who hire her for more extended pet care while they’re on vacation. One hundred percent of Mojica’s dog-walking salary goes toward household expenses — and since many of her clients work in the healthcare industry or have health issues that have forced them indoors full time, her income has stayed roughly the same amid the pandemic.
In order to be a successful, profitable dog walker, Mojica emphasized the importance of flexibility, both in terms of scheduling and the weather. “You will walk in all kinds of weather … during storms, too,” she said. “Be prepared with the necessary clothing.”
Prior to moving to the Chapel Hill area, Paul Bradley, another member of Kang’s Walk & Wag Team, worked as a dog walker for five years in Alexandria, Virginia. He started walking for Walk & Wag shortly after moving to North Carolina in 2015.
“I have loved dogs ever since I was a little boy,” Bradley said. “Because I am not currently in a position to own one — I live in a small apartment and my cat does not play well with others — dog walking provides me canine companionship and allows me to get some exercise while also supplementing my income.”
Until 2019, Bradley worked full time as the editor of a small newspaper dedicated to news of American community colleges. When the publication folded, dog walking became a more critical piece of his income. Bradley earns a fixed income through Social Security, but his work for Walk & Wag “provides the kind of financial breathing room that is otherwise absent,” he said. The money he earns through dog walking covers about one-third of his household bills.
“I strive to be especially attentive to providing top-shelf customer service, including being punctual, communicating regularly with clients, having maximum flexibility to adjust to sudden schedule changes, keeping my supervisor in the loop and seeking out her help when needed, and interacting with the dogs as [I] learn their idiosyncrasies and those of their owners,” Bradley said.
There’s also the practicalities of the job. “Buy a pair of sturdy, comfortable shoes,” Bradley added.
With no clear picture of the new normal or when it will begin, business owners like Wischnia and Kang will have to wait out the decreased demand for pet care. Wischnia looks for the silver living.
“I’m optimistic that, although these times are unprecedented for our industry, as well as so many others, good will come from this,” she said. “At the very least, [we’re] having more time to spend with our dogs.” SEE ALSO: A marketing associate who was laid off from his job 2 months after he started shares how he’s built up 4 side gigs that are putting him on track to make over $100,000 this year
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