200: Our 200th Episode Q&A
Brought to you by Courtney Cecal from Palmetto Scoopers
Summary
Where did 200 episodes go? The world of pet care since we started 199 episodes ago is totally different than today, and we are so thankful for all of the support and love from everyone!
We answered some of your questions, from what we thought about the podcast when we started, to handling client communication. We discuss how to deal with your significant other when you don’t see eye to eye in the business.
Thank YOU for listening. We are truly blessed to be a part of this wonderful industry.
Topics on this episode:
Impact of the podcast
Couple communication
Client communication
Favorite interview
Main takeaway: THANK YOU! Here’s to another 200!
Links:
Episode 122: Selling your business with Becky Eberly
Episode 167: Conversation about Prices
Episode 175: Breaking up with a Client
Episode 180: Having what it takes with JP Anunciacion
Episode 185: Roundtable on the Future of the Pet Care Industry
Courtney Cecal from Palmetto Scoopers
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A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
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SUMMARY KEYWORDS
business, clients, services, question, pet, people, dog, days, scoopers, price, llc, photos, set, Meghan, work, episode, important, week, person, interview
SPEAKERS
Meghan, Collin Funkhouser
00:17
Hi, I'm Meghan. I'm Collin. And this is pet sitter confessional, and open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter.
Meghan 00:30
Hello, welcome to Episode 200. To 100 believe it Yeah.
00:41
It's it's hard to imagine for me that with everything going on we've we've hit Episode 200 It seems like quite the journey.
Meghan 00:49
It's exciting that we love doing this and we thank you so much for listening every week. And also thank you to our awesome sponsors all of our Patreon members. Jennifer, jack Teresa, Alicia Sherry, Michelle, Katie Savannah bath, Claire, Adriana, Becky, bad to the bone, Laura and Laura. Thank you guys so much for helping support the show, produce the show giving us great ideas and feedback. We We love you. And we thank you for listening and supporting
Collin Funkhouser 01:22
and special shout out to Jennifer for supporting us for one year by now. And we are so appreciative for all of you who support and listen in every way that you do.
Meghan 01:33
We also want to thank today's sponsor Courtney Segal with Palmetto scoopers. So this is a q&a episode, we ask for your questions, and we are going to give some hopefully helpful answers there will be words used. So the first question comes from Teresa or one of our Patreon members. She said how do you deal with client dogs coming into your home, and they smell the sense of other dogs.
Collin Funkhouser 01:58
So we do board in our home on a pretty regular basis. And we generally have not had an issue with dogs coming in smelling the sense of other dogs in the sense of them being nervous or being scared or freaking out. We have a pretty extensive cleaning routine that undergoes multiple times a day with neutralizing and deodorizing odors, versus just covering them up. However, we do deal with markers from time to time. And we've noticed after the first little while that they'll quickly stop after it kind of gets old and we clean up immediately behind them. However, for persistent markers, we default to belly bands, and the dog will be in a belly band for their time with us. And we've actually also turned away dogs who are persistent markers, or who Mark continuously during the meeting great
Meghan 02:46
well, and we've also had one particular dog that we heard the belly band would not stay on him, he would just keep taking it off. And we always had to say no, like we can't do this. We need to maintain our home in a clean state. But it also helps that we don't have carpet downstairs, we do have some rugs that we clean regularly. But we don't have carpet, we just have hardwood.
Collin Funkhouser 03:07
The next question is also from one of our Patreon members. Sherry, when you first thought of starting a podcast, did you ever imagine you would have such a profound effect on all the people you supported through a pandemic? Your constant support truly made it bearable? You we are not alone. Thank you. Well, first off, Sherry, thank you. We're so happy that this podcast has been helpful. And honestly, never in our wildest dreams did we ever imagine the connection that we'd have with our listeners. I mean, COVID was rough. And it's still playing a major role in life and business across the globe. This podcast has been a way to connect and stay grounded for us to
Meghan 03:43
Yeah, we started this before the pandemic but we wanted to make sure that no one feels alone, this industry can really feel isolating when you're just around pets all day, and you're texting and dealing with clients that might be a little cranky or dealing with potential clients who are asking you a bunch of questions. And so it can really, we know we're not a people industry, we're a pet industry. So it can feel isolating. If you're going through something, there is someone else that has gone through it or is currently going through it. And that's why we want to interview as many people as possible to get everyone's stories to get everyone's lessons that they've learned through the tough times in their business. Because if you're having a tough time in your business, I'm sure that they also have so we want to connect people we want to elevate the industry so that everyone can be better and awesome. So even if it's not exactly the same, we are all cheering you on and want you to be successful. COVID really just highlighted how connected we all are. Anyway, we were all going through the same thing all the bottom of all of our business dropped out. And so we are beyond blessed to get to share their story.
Collin Funkhouser 04:50
And I think another part of this aspect too is Megan and I are just pet sitters. We have been in business for going on 10 years, but we don't have all this figure And I think that's part of the fun of doing this as well as we are learning. We are growing as we get connected as well. And so it really shocked us whenever we got the response and continue to get the response that we do because we're not coaches.
Meghan 05:14
We're just Joe and Jane schmo. Joe Schmo and Jane schmo.
05:19
Exactly. It's just something that we have really enjoyed doing and are so beyond thankful for the reception that it's received that's gotten
Meghan 05:27
that leads us into our third question from Rebecca. She said, I have had my pet sitting and dog walking house that in business for over five years, I just got engaged. And my fiance and I are going to make the business a partnership and add boarding as a service once we buy house. Since I've been doing this longer. I have more industry experience. And I have every single process down pat, he the fiance is excellent with the animals, and knows a lot since he's been doing jobs with me for a few years. But he is only just starting to do jobs on his own and hasn't made any big mistakes yet, but there are little things that he misses. I'm wondering if you and Collin have any tips on how a couple that works together can talk to each other about mistakes made on the job without hurt feelings and causing fights? Well, yes,
Collin Funkhouser 06:10
unfortunately, Rebecca, we aren't able to answer this because we've never had a fight in the 10 years that we've that actually no, that's not true. If it the day that ends in why we are probably having a disagreement about something, we are very different personalities. And that that speaks to a lot of strengths and weaknesses that we're able to cover with each other. But this is something that we have been working on for the last. However many years we've been married going on 10 years soon, I actually uncovered some receipts from a counseling service that we went through when we were first married, because we had no clue what we were doing. So some of these takeaways and things that we've been implementing are things that we learned there, and we're trying our best to continue to implement them and make them work for us. Yeah,
Meghan 06:54
a very real example of that is how we send updates to clients, I have a very specific formula of how I like to use the photos and the words that we use to send the updates. And you have a very different process for that and
Collin Funkhouser 07:09
don't tend to follow that all the time. But you will let me know about it, which has led some to some arguments between us. Because early on, I really felt like Megan was being overbearing, and that this whole thing about concerns about photos wasn't that important. And I think Megan, you felt like I just wasn't taking you seriously when it when it was really important to you.
Meghan 07:30
Well, I know what I would want. And I know I'm not every dog mom, dog parent ever. But I know what I would want if our dog co we were to be staying at someone else's house, or someone were to be dropping in on Coby at our house, I would want quality photos, I would want him having fun looking like he's happy different scenarios, different situations. And so I kind of bring what I would want into I put myself in the shoes of the client and what they would want. And I know everybody's different. And obviously,
Collin Funkhouser 08:02
I'm very different. Yeah. So a few things here. This is that's an example that we that we work through. But a few things here is decide on what the business relationship is going to be. Is it 5050? Is it a partnership? Is it a boss employee? Is it somewhere in between? For us, we're equal partners in the business. So that plays a role in how we handle these kind of discussions. But when there is an argument or disagreement, there are two very important things that you have got to remember. The first one is that trust that the other person has the best interests at heart. Part of this is also trusting that you are free to say and express however you feel, and the other person will be receptive to it. Now this part can take some time building up to and does wax and wane with tempers and emotions and time. Plus, it's easy to lose in a relationship and you may no longer that you feel like you have a safe space to express yourself. And then the second one is to listen to the words that the person is saying not the emotions that you feel from them. And an easy way to do this is to repeat back to the other person what you heard and your interpretation of it. What you're trying to avoid in this process is anything unspoken, or any assumptions that the one person is making. Because when we put the assumptions out into the open, we're able to clear them are able to work through them as opposed to leaving them unspoken.
Meghan 09:20
Here's a really simple formula that we sometimes work through. And honestly it kind of sounds phony when you started out but it's really helped us a lot. So I would say call it I noticed on the update to Stephanie that you didn't send the kind of photos we agreed on.
Collin Funkhouser 09:33
So right now I have a choice at this exact moment. Do I take this as a personal attack against me and get really ticked off and Megan for my perception of her micromanaging me and get hurt because I don't think that she trusts me. Or do I trust that she has my in the business's best interest at heart. So we'll go with the second and I'll say something like I hear you saying that I didn't follow the procedures for photos and I know you want the best photos for the client. I was busy cleaning up a mess and sent the photos I have Before I ran out of time,
Meghan 10:01
so then I would say, I understand I hear you saying it got busy and you wanted to clean the mess for the client, I appreciate you telling me that maybe next time get the photos before you clean it up.
10:12
And I would say, I know the photos are really important to you, and I will do my best.
Meghan 10:15
And because we are married, we're in business together, I know that Collin does always try his best. And as long as I communicate what my expectations are, he knows what I want. And he will do the best to honor that
Collin Funkhouser 10:29
you can't have enough open communication from both sides about what your expectations are, for what a visit will look like and the procedures and what his expectations are for how he's going to execute those and work together to build something that's going to work for both of you. Another key component of these kinds of conversations is to make sure that you have these discussion during business hours and to set time aside for them. And don't try to have them while you're busy doing other things or over dinner or over something else. Having these clearly defined boundaries between when you're wearing your business hat, and where you're wearing your partner hats, and trying to keep those boundaries as clear as possible, so that these aren't bleeding over and you're able to take one off and move right into the next one.
Meghan 11:08
We are definitely a work in progress on that one
Collin Funkhouser 11:10
who Yes. But this is such a great question. And I really appreciate you asking it. There's a lot that goes into having healthy discussions or an argument as a couple in a business. Like how, just how understanding how you argue, do you need space to walk away to think in if someone misinterprets that so many things can spiral out of that. So write rules for arguments, write rules for discussions and set those times up aside so that they can be productive, and you aren't feeling like you are having to attack one another or you're having to overcome some insecurities that you have when during those times.
Meghan 11:45
Our next question is advice on being an IC and switching to LLC or something similar? Well, technically, if you are an IC, an independent contractor, you already are independent and running your own business. So if your employer has you classified as an IC, and you haven't been paying taxes or insurance, that's something to get started with right away. So a limited liability company and LLC is a legal status granted to businesses and this designation can relieve the business owners of personal responsibility for the company's debts or liabilities. And it really establishes the business as as loan legal entity, it protects your personal assets,
Collin Funkhouser 12:26
we set up our LLC by going to LegalZoom. And having them send us all the documents and filing it that way, it didn't cost a whole lot, it's a one time thing that you get taken care of. Now, if you're running a business in the US, at least you're automatically a sole proprietor, you can file to become an LLC, which again, was what we did with Legal Zoom. And you do that through the with the federal government. And all this really means is that instead of using your social security number to file taxes with your business, you'll get a business specific ID number.
Meghan 12:54
And from there, you can set up a separate bank account for the business, that's very important. You need to keep your business expenses separate from your personal expenses. You need to also get insurance and get a business license, if that's required. Where you live, every state is different. Every country is different.
13:09
Every county and city are also different, I might add.
Meghan 13:12
Yeah, so check into all of those. And then we would recommend getting a website as well just so people can go there know exactly who you are, what services you offer your prices, all that kind of stuff.
Collin Funkhouser 13:23
And it doesn't have to be anything fancy Squarespace or Wix are great ways to start and build them yourself so that you can maintain them and at least get them out there and start getting traffic sent your way. The next couple questions are about communication. And the first one is how do you deal with unruly clients?
Meghan 13:39
So we weren't really sure what unruly meant, does that mean rude or late or last minute bookings or late payments? Or were they just mean to you or your staff? So we don't really know how to answer this very well. But document everything. Make sure that if you have a software, everything is in your saw all communication is in your software, pictures, updates, any kind of communication, vaccine records, any any of that make sure you have reasons also for termination in your contract. If they don't abide by anything in there, and they've already signed it, you can just say, due to the continued conduct that goes against the client expectations in our contract, we will be halting services effective immediately.
Collin Funkhouser 14:25
So again, if you don't have a contract, if you don't have reasons for termination of services outlined of why you would terminate services for a client, get those in there in writing and have people start signing those today. It's going to protect you for when these kind of instances come up when someone is unruly, whenever they aren't treating you well when they're disrespecting you or your staff and they're disrespecting your time and boundaries. You have reasons you can get a very simple line in there and send it to them and then that's that
Meghan 14:54
well, and if they aren't respecting your boundaries, you don't really want them as a client anyway, so we would recommend letting them go We actually do have an episode on that episode 175 breaking up with a client.
15:04
Our next question is how to how do you professionally communicate with a clueless ditzy or not so smart client? Well, I would ask, are they actually clueless? Or are they playing you?
Collin Funkhouser 15:14
Again, as Megan mentioned earlier, document everything and set clear expectations in your contract, especially around things like payment safety and cancellation policies. Now only you know, what your tolerance level for this is, we have a very low tolerance for clueless or ditzy clients, because they waste our time, or they put us in binds because they quote didn't know they couldn't just drop off their dog that day whenever they're leaving for two weeks. And so we're trying to avoid the extra work of sending them reminders of service like a text, see you tomorrow at seven, and then the day of saying see you today at seven. At that point, you're only feeding into it, have your policies of operation and stick to them and treat them the same as every other client.
Meghan 16:01
Along with communication. We got a question in how do you communicate to clients that it's time for them to pay more raising rates? Hey, this sounds familiar. Yes, we just did this last week. raising rates is always scary. It really is. We just did it. It included a video on our Facebook page, social media posts and our weekly newsletter. It said, We are so thankful for your continued support and trust you've placed in us to care for your pets. Effective September 1, all new service requests will be at the new prices listed below. And we said this is for all clients. We're not grandfathering anybody in and really, it's very important to be very clear on what services are increasing in price. If all of them, then you need to outline all of them. And exactly by how much. And when they go into effect. It's important to think about if you grandfather anybody in we have done that in the past, we chose not to do that this time, because, frankly, our client base is so large that if we grandfathered everybody in, there would be nobody buddy paying the new I mean, we are getting new clients in but it's it's just we have such a large client base, that there would be really no point because we just still be going at the same rates we are now. So that's something you have to consider. Will you raise some people but not others. Ultimately, those stick to the facts, probably you're going to lose some people, I feel like we already lost at least one person because we raised our rates and that that might happen. But you have to realize that you're going to be working less for more money. Some people may not agree with your new prices. And then that's just the reality of the situation. When McDonald's goes from a $2 Big Mac to a $3. Big Mac, not everybody buys it. Don't try and get into the weeds on why you are increasing your prices. And yes, you will have to send this information out a lot if you choose to some people choose not to
Collin Funkhouser 17:53
announce the price increases ahead of time, it's just whenever they come back to book there's a new rate. And I think they get this from a lot of times in retail or another service based industries. There's not a big social media push to announce a price hike or a price increase. It just happens whenever somebody needs you. So if that's the way you want to go, you can totally do that. But if you have a lot of regulars or a lot of people who continuously use you day after day or week after week, it may be okay. Or you may feel like you would like to announce that ahead of time, just there in the in the know.
Meghan 18:26
And you could start by posting about all the training and experience and expertise you have for the weeks leading up to the price hike. Just to remind your clients how truly awesome you are, although they know that already. And we do have a cold conversation about prices and Episode 167. So you can go listen to that as well. So this question is specifically about the podcast. What was your favorite past interview? And who would you love to follow up with an interview again?
Collin Funkhouser 18:50
Yeah, well, there's so many, we've done quite a lot. But I think a very recent one that we did was on the roundtable of the future of pet care. It was very refreshing to sit down with Dan, Doug and Natasha and kind of look ahead to the next 20 years in the pet care industry in the space and figure out what we can be doing right now to have our businesses set up in such a way to be adapting to the changing clients and the changing market and a lot of the tailwinds and headwinds that we have facing the industry. I really, really enjoyed that. And we hope to be doing more episodes like that in the future. As far as following up other episodes, other interviews, I'm gonna say everyone, just because some of them we interviewed almost two years ago now at this point, and I just want to get caught up and see how they've all changed and things that they've experienced and more lessons that they've learned. So we are working on that it's just really hard because there are so many of you amazing people out there that we want to connect with and have on the show that it's hard to get it all juggled and scheduled out
Meghan 19:55
I to really enjoy the roundtable and I'm very much looking forward to us doing more of those So I don't know if I could pick a favorite but I think that I really enjoy when we are able to connect pieces of the puzzle within the pet care industry. And I really loved it when we did Episode 122 selling your business with Becky Everly. So she had a great advice about how to sell what worked for her and lessons that she learned through the process. And so not only did we get to interview her about selling her business, but we got to interview the person who bought her business. That was Episode 180 with having what it takes with JP an NCIC on that was so cool. I loved the connection there between her selling and him buying and we are able to hear both of their stories.
Collin Funkhouser 20:43
And speaking of people who we've previously interviewed. Our sponsor today is Courtney Segal with Palmetto scoopers 2020 showed us the importance of having a diversified business. As we take on new clients, there are many opportunities to add services and value packages for our clients. Courtney, owner of Palmetto scoopers wants to help you be number one with your clients. Number two, Courtney is passionate about helping others Excel with a poop scooping service. What tools and trainings do you need? What do you do with all of that poop? There's a link in our show notes for you to check out and learn more about getting started in the pet waste removal business. And let Courtney get you started on the right foot.
Meghan 21:18
Our last question today is is it possible to work as a pet caretaker seven days a week and sustain a healthy balanced life overall? Or rather, is it feasible for pet caretakers to have one day of the week where they do not work at all while still maintaining a successful business? The answer is yes. Why not two days off. We know several Walker's who work Monday through Friday only. You can also choose to work seven days a week. A lot of people do that as well. But what do those days look like? Are they all 18 hour days, if so you are likely headed for burnout. Nobody can do that all the time. You can work seven days a week, but every third week, take four days off or whatever you want. You can set up your business however you want. But it's I don't think it's possible to sustain a healthy balanced lifestyle working seven days a week, 365 days a year, you have got to take off time to yourself. And I am preaching to the choir here because I don't like doing that. But it is necessary.
22:17
Yeah, what's important is that you get to set your schedule and then you communicate it with your clients. And then this is the really hard part, you have to stick to it.
Meghan 22:25
Because inevitably, people are going to want to book you on your days off
Collin Funkhouser 22:29
every single time literally, you will mark off the seventh on the calendar and you'll say great, that's my day off, you will get a phone call, you will get a text or an email the next second saying, hey, I need you to walk my dog on the seventh of August or whatever. And what are you going to do? Well, you have to tell that person No. Or maybe if you want to elaborate more, you can say, you know, thank you for your interest in our services, we aren't booking any walks that day, we'd be happy to help you with pet care needs in the future.
Meghan 22:55
I think a good way to help you in this is right now it's August. So plan your days off for 2020 to do it right now. And then you can let your clients know now or January 1, but you need to let them know as soon as possible, because they'll plan around it.
Collin Funkhouser 23:15
Yeah, we recently heard of a sitter who takes off the entire month of October, just to prepare for the holidays. And we've interviewed another pet sitter who takes February off after the holidays as a vacation to recharge and recover. And all of their clients know that we also know of a local pet sitter near us who pets it's just enough to pay for the vacation that she goes on. And so she kind of comes back pets and gets a vacation pets and takes a vacation.
Meghan 23:41
And there are dog walkers who don't work weekends who don't work any federal holidays, who take off two weeks during Christmas and New Year's you set up how your however you want whatever works for you. But just take time off, you have to do it.
Collin Funkhouser 23:56
Yeah, the key here is, is that you do not have to work 365 days a year to be successful in this industry. That if you believe that that is a lie. And anybody telling you that does not have their business set up appropriately. It's not even close, you don't have to even work 364 days to be successful. As a matter of fact, while doing that is probably the best way to not be successful in the long run. Because burnout is very, very real. And when we put our business ahead of ourselves and our personal needs, the business will actually fall by the wayside. Because at the end of the day, you have to take care of yourself because that's what you have. And that's what you're pouring into your business.
Meghan 24:35
We also got a few specific questions about our background in our history. And we're actually going to do an episode coming up all about us. So stay tuned for that. But we thank you so much for your questions. And if you have any more, let us know we'd be happy to answer them. We will obviously be doing more Q and A's in the future and this is episode 200 of 2000. So,
Collin Funkhouser 24:58
but don't hold us to that and maybe 2000 And then one yeah. So yeah, thank you to our sponsor Courtney SQL with Palmetto scoopers thank you to our Patreon supporters all of you to every month for the price of a cup of coffee. You helped make this show possible. And if you want to learn more about supporting the show and everything that goes into it, you can go to pet sitter compassionate comm forward slash support.
Meghan 25:22
We hope you join us next time. Thanks
