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Scoopers & Friends Discussion Board Archives

Messages archived from the Scoopers & Friends Discussion Board, going back to May of 1998. The discussion board board is an online forum about the business of pet-waste removal. Browse the messages, CLICK HERE TO SEARCH by keyword, or click here to participate in current discussions.

Page Twenty

Message Date/Time:
Saturday, 02-Jan-99 07:52:53

snow, snow and more snow... it's taller than your dog ... I find it interesting I'm receiving phone calls from customers wondering if we are coming out to scoop. I believe at this time we our over 6 inches of snow plus the freezing rain on top and more to come and snowing as I type. the weather report is calling for 3-6 more inches. Believe it not we love this time of year, customer base increases, the snow melts and guess what, the dog didn't know where to go and it's not in the yard. This is the time to gear up and get ready. I hope everyone had a nice and safe holiday's. Looking forward to read how the snow had an effect on your business.
Debbie
(Look out for that yellow snow...)
Message Date/Time:
Monday, 04-Jan-99 10:16:30

Re: snow, snow and more snow... it's taller than your dog ... Hehe.... I know the feeling. :)
Most customers are very understanding; I've found them generally to be a great bunch of people to work for. But sometimes there will be people who will wonder why you didn't come to scoop when the yard was covered in 2 feet of snow. And others will wonder why you came to clean up when there was just a dusting.
The key is communication, of course. Working with the clients for their special circumstances, keeping them informed about schedule changes, delays, etc, all goes a long way to keeping everybody happy.
Working in the snow does present some interesting problems. It's surprising how much dog poop you can still find when there's just a little snow, sometimes. And other times there's just no way you can do the job.
Even if there's a big snowfall that doesn't melt off in a week, the dogs still make their piles on top of the snow. So if it doesn't keep snowing every few days I think it's important to go out and scoop the poop that's on top of the snow. This helps keep weeks and weeks of waste from accumulating. If you go two or three weeks (or longer) without any pick-up at all, it's a terrible, horrible, very bad day when it finally thaws.
You're sure right about the rush of new customers when the big thaw comes, too! It's very important to make sure you're ready for a lot of new business when the yards re-appear (which is mid to late February around here). That's another reason for not letting weeks of waste accumulate if you can help it -- you could have a lot of new customers wanting service at the same time your time and resources are all being used up just trying to catch up with the old ones.
Message Date/Time:
Tuesday, 05-Jan-99 08:11:54

Re: Re: snow, snow and more snow... it's taller than your dog ... And the winner of the "Find the Silver Lining" Contest is.....

Debbie! at Yuckos! (the crowd goes wild with admiration! )

That's how you have to look a it. This is a good time to do the stuff you've been putting off. Clean, maintain trucks, get ready for the thaw.

Hang in there, folks. Snow melts, poop doesn't.
Message Date/Time:
Sunday, 03-Jan-99 20:28:10

starting new buisnese in arizona ... Looking for help getting company off the ground.
Message Date/Time:
Wednesday, 06-Jan-99 17:22:42

Re: starting new buisnese in arizona ... I am considering and looking into options of starting a doggy daycare and have found some helpful information. I was curious, what kind of business you were looking to start? It's very possible to offer help to each other when looking to begin from scratch.
Message Date/Time:
Wednesday, 06-Jan-99 19:32:53

Re: starting new buisnese in arizona ... Hello,
I just saw an article in the news paper. Now I did the math and I'm really phsyced. Do you have any certian special tips or pointers? My sister and I were going to split the profits. I'd scoop poop and she'd weed. Scooperboy and Weedwoman. If we go with handing out fliers should we just put it in the mail-bow or try to talk to them?

Thank you,
Aaron & Rachel
Message Date/Time:
Monday, 04-Jan-99 06:17:28

scooping in snow ... Hi Everyone,

This is my winter of scooping in the snow. In my informational brochure I provided my customers, the information states that if there is over 1 inch of snow, I will be out the following day (weather permitting) or their service will be postponed until the following week, What happens if the snow is here for a while and I don't make it back to my customers for a few weeks? When the weather does break, do I charge them more, since I will be at their home a longer period of time scooping, or do I just bite the bullet and keep the price the same? I hate to lose the money, but I know that the weather is not their fault. How do you handle this situation? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!
Monday, 04-Jan-99 10:03:48

Re: scooping in snow ... Great question, Pat! This is an issue that I wrestled with, too. I have see it handled different ways. I hope some of the other scoopers can give us some good tips, too!
Some services charge a monthly rate, so when they are forced to miss some cleanups due to snow in the winter, they eventually get it all cleaned up and still bill the regular monthly fee. That way their revenues remain more or less constant, they have a few days off, and then have some long, hard work days to make up for it.
The way I handled it was to charge by the week, as usual. If we could make up a snow day when the snow melted a day or two later, no problem. If we had to miss a whole week (or more), then I didn't charge for those missed visits and only charged the normal fee when we got back out to catch up.
I tried to see it from the customer's point of view. I didn't think people would care for the idea of paying for weeks when we didn't actually get into the yard.
But that was pretty tough on me if there was more than a week of bad weather. We'd lose the revenue for those missed days, and when it was time to make up we'd end up working very hard for long hours and not make any more money than a normal day's work.
I tried to take all of that into consideration when I set my prices. My approach was to make it as easy-to-understand as possible for the customers, and charge enough in my regular prices so that events like this would be covered by the total year's income from regular services.
I also like your idea of charging extra for the days when you get back into the yard to catch up from the missed days. I'm not sure how I would present it to the customers; explaining it clearly and reasonably might make it quite acceptable to them. I've found that most customers are very understanding. It might be a good solution to the problem.
Message Date/Time:
Tuesday, 05-Jan-99 08:06:56

Re: scooping in snow ... Quite a little problem. Historically, PET BUTLER has not charged extra for days missed by snow. That hurt us quite a bit in 1996, when fresh snow every few days caused us to miss 4 consecutive weeks. Luckily, that came as two weeks in December and two in January, so the loss was spread out a bit. Of course, every yard had a month's accumulation when we finally could clean!

This fall, I changed my welcome letter to indicate that if we missed more than 2 consecutive weeks, we might charge more. I posted a similar message in the customer news, so all of my customers would know. If I need to, I plan to charge an accumulated waste fee, lower than the cost of regular service fees for those weeks. This allows me to "share" the cost with my customers. They pay less because their service was not normal. PET BUTLER defrays the cost of the extra work.

I'm sure that some people will be unhappy. I expect that most will understand. As always, a well established reputation of caring for customers will help. I can also point out that my nearest competitor charged just the same as if they had cleaned. I get to be the good guy. (And you thought competitors were bad, didn't you?)
Message Date/Time:
Wednesday, 06-Jan-99 12:17:58

Re: scooping in snow ... I like Pete's idea. I think you're saying that since you didn't come out one week, you'll charge them the regular fee for the next visit PLUS part of the fee from the missed week. So if you normally charge $8/wk, you'd charge $12 if you missed one week, instead of $16. Sounds fair to me.

On another note, anyone got any suggestions for speeding things up when the poop is iced in? Do you guys hack at it until it gives up, or do you give up first? I've got a couple of skating rinks to clean and would appreciate the advice.
Message Date/Time:
Tuesday, 19-Jan-99 09:54:34

Re: Re: scooping a snowy,messy yard ... Hello,

I am not a professional scooper, but thought that you would be the group to ask!

I have recently acquired 2 dogs. It has been snowing here since late november, and has just begun to thaw. I have slushy disgusting mess to deal with!

Do you have any tips on how to clean up the yard? Other that getting out there with a shovel, are there any products I could use to decompose the poop?

Any tips would be MOST appreciated.

Susan
Toronto, Canada
Message Date/Time:
Monday, 04-Jan-99 17:59:25

divots ... Hello everybody,

Great idea Matt, I am in the planning stages of starting a dog waste removal service and a question that comes to mind is have you ever had a customer complain about divots in their yard left by the shovel or does this even matter?
Message Date/Time:
Saturday, 09-Jan-99 20:28:45

Re: divots ... If the poop is fresh & not too runny you shouldn't come up with too many divots. If the waste has been there a while, simply show the customer the dead grass under the poop. While you may leave a hole in the grass, explain that the grass will have a chance to grow once the poop is gone.

John
Scoopers Dog Waste Removal Service
Los Angeles CA (818) 902-9938
Message Date/Time:
Wednesday, 20-Jan-99 14:11:45

Re: divots ... I can't recall any customers complaining about divots in the yard. A lot of customers, when they were first signing up for service, did express some concern about this issue, though.
Once you get used to scooping, your skill improves and you develop techniques for thoroughly removing the waste without damaging the turf most of the time. The problem of making divots is worst when someone is first learning to scoop.
There will also be more divots in yards where you are doing one-time jobs, or first-time cleanups. Frequently these yards will not have been cleaned for many months, a year, or even longer. Poop piles accumulate, form thick masses, and become embedded into the turf. In these cases, it's the dog waste that has severely damaged the yard. Removing the waste may simply reveal the damage that has been done.
As I explain to those prospective customers who are concerned about divots, leaving the waste on the ground does a lot more damage than removing it. And if a yard is already damaged by accumulated waste, the first step in repairing it is to get rid of the waste.
Message Date/Time:
Tuesday, 05-Jan-99 11:23:14

Hey Linda of DooAway and David of DOODY CALLS or anyone else your has experience on proposals, ... I read on the message board a while back, that the both of you were submitting proposals to your Parks Department. I'm working on a proposal right now and was wondering if you could advise me to the information needed for writing one up? Any suggestions would be very helpful. Hope you both got the park jobs!!

thanks!
[MODERATOR'S NOTE: there followed several requests from others for examples of proposals. Those requests have been omitted from the archives to save space]
Message Date/Time:
Wednesday, 06-Jan-99 13:11:26

A faster process for us ... Someone just asked me about tools and process. Since my partner and I just came up with a new idea (new for us), I thought I'd share it.

We used to line our lobby pans with plastic bags, then tie up, remove, and replace the bags when the pan was full. That meant using 3 to 5 bags per yard. Now we have a much better system. We've eliminated the plastic bags in the pans (It's messier, but since we clean the pans every day after working, it makes little difference to us. You can leave a bag in the pan for this method, too.) Now we just pop the poop into the pan, then take the pan over to a little bathroom-sized trash can lined with the usual plastic garbage bag, and empty the pan into the trash can. We can easily move the trash can to the part of the yard were in at the moment. Then when we're done, we close the full bag and take it out of the little trash can. We use one (or max two) bags per yard and it's faster than anything else we've done since we're not changing bags or trying to keep the poop from rolling back out of a full pan.
Message Date/Time:
Wednesday, 06-Jan-99 20:26:28

Re: A faster process for us ... Hi Linda,

We do almost the same as you. We keep a 20 gal. barrel(lined) in the back of the truck and we also have a 5 gal. (lined) barrel we take in the yards when there are 3 or more dogs.

We keep our pans lined so we won't spread disease. When the pan is full we dump it in the 5 gal. barrel and when we are done the whole job we dump it in the 20 gal barrel in the truck. We also sanitize our tools after each job.

Happy New Year!

Barbara & John
Dog-Gone-It
Message Date/Time:
Thursday, 07-Jan-99 23:12:16

Re: A faster process for us ... I found that the dustpan things just didn't work for me. I'm sticking to my tried and true: A doubled papersack with handles from the grocery store. I just don't have enough people to go any other way. If I have more than one bag and it is wet or whatever I stick it in a kitchen size plastic trash bag and tie it off. Works for me anyway. Maybe when I get more people than I'll have to rethink but for now I'm alright. Take care.

Frank
Message Date/Time:
Saturday, 16-Jan-99 08:51:46

Re: A faster process for us ... So, if the dog in the first yard has parvo, you take infected poop to every other yard you visit that day? Bags are cheap. I buy 90 Target Brand 13 gallon bags for less than 5 bucks. Clean bags and disinfected boots and tools for every yard.

In addition to the actual risk of spreading disease (which is small in healthy, vacinnated dogs) there is a perception problem. When people look at you, your truck and your tools, they should think "How do they keep so clean?"

In my opinion (which may be humble, even when I'm not) the slight increase in cost and time pays off in the long run.
Message Date/Time:
Wednesday, 06-Jan-99 19:39:55

Here's a tip ... Hi everyone,

My name is Aaron, and I want to help you all. You should add a special ryhme or saying to your advertisement. Or a special name is also good. Personally, I go as scooberboy. So get creative. And remember De faster
Message Date/Time:
Thursday, 07-Jan-99 23:07:08

Re: Here's a tip ... Where you from scooper boy?
Message Date/Time:
Thursday, 07-Jan-99 23:05:44

Name Change!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 ... Hey everyone whats up? Poopy Scoopy Canine Waste Removal Service has changed its name to " K-9 Connections "!!! We still offer the same great scoopin' service but have expanded into emergency overnite pet sitting, (just in case you don't want to put your dog in the kennel) pet supply runs and we will also take your animal to the vet if you wish. Could someone send me some details on getting bonded and the costs involved? I know with the pet sitting its a risky thing being trusted in someone elses home. Hope everyone is doing great for the new year and hopefully we can all chat again sometime or better yet have a once a year get together in one central place like Matts back yard haha!!! Sorry Matt it just seemed logical. It could work. you'll take care.
Message Date/Time:
Saturday, 16-Jan-99 08:44:34

Let's all meet in Matt's back yard! (nope) ... If we all show up, Matt's gonna need a bigger yard!

In the "Ya never know what you'll see" dept.

I walked into a customer's yard this week and saw an unusual snow sculpture. The Pillsbury Snowboy! It was instantly recognizable, and a welcome laugh on a cold wet difficult day.
Message Date/Time:
Wednesday, 20-Jan-99 13:56:51

Re: Name Change!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 ... Hmmmmmmm.......


LOL!


Matthew :)
Message Date/Time:
Wednesday, 20-Jan-99 14:01:48

Re: bonding ... I don't know if bonding varies from state to state or not. Some of the folks here on the message board, who do pet sitting, should be able to provide some more insight into this issue. I hope they'll share their knowledge and experience. :)
In my case, since we didn't go inside people's houses, the only times we needed to be bonded was as a requirement of the county health board when we were technically regulated as a solid waste hauler. Then, the company as a whole was bonded, rather than each employee being bonded individually. We just bought the bond from our regular insurance agent. A $5,000 bond cost us $50 per year.
I would start by calling your insurance provider and discussing your situation.
Message Date/Time:
Thursday, 11-Feb-99 00:58:01

Re: Re: bonding ... Unless you have others working for you, you will not need to be bonded. But many home owners still might feel more comfortable with you being bonded and insured. I do pet sitting for about 55 people and am not bonded, but I have a very good contract that protects me and the client.
Good luck.
Chris
Message Date/Time:
Saturday, 09-Jan-99 21:02:10

easy on the wrist ... For those of you who use the large dustbin method as described in the PS book the following may help to relieve some of the strain on the wrist that holds the weight of the poop in the bin. I hope I can describe this so it makes sense.

Take a second one of the large clips used to hold the plastic bag liner (it has to be a large one) and mount it on the handle approx 3/4 the length of your forearm from the top. Flip both (ears?) of the clip outward to the side, so it looks like a butterfly has landed on the handle. When viewed from the front (or back) it should resemble a cross.

To grip this new 'handle', place the hand slightly above the middle of the clip, palm facing the handle. Grip the 2 butterfly wings using the Vulcan "Live Long and Prosper" finger split (index/middle finger to one side of the handle, the remaining 2 on the other side) and lift the bin. Instead of using the wrist, the bin now hangs from the fingers - with the top of the handle resting along the arm.

When the bin gets heavy, the wrist is no longer having to support the weight. The weight is distributed along the arm, with the fingers acting as a pivot point. Wear gloves, though.

Hope that made sense, it works well.

John
Scoopers Dog Waste Removal Service
(818) 902-9938
"Your Dog's Business is Our Business"tm
Message Date/Time:
Wednesday, 20-Jan-99 13:55:40

Re: easy on the wrist ... Thanks for the tip, John! It's important to pay attention to possible strains and stress injuries to the hand, wrist and arm. Ideas like yours can help alleviate these kinds of problems, which seem especially bad in the winter when waste is often frozen and difficult to remove from the ground, and also in the Spring, when there are many new customers, first-time jobs, and catch-ups in yards with several weeks of accumulated waste.
One thing I used to consider, but never actually tried, was to wear some kind of brace or support strap on the wrist -- something like what bowlers wear.
Does anyone else have tips, advice, or ideas on how to alleviate the risks like this?
Message Date/Time:
Wednesday, 13-Jan-99 17:21:32

Exhibit Booths? ... Greetings, all-

We have been operating a scooper service in Atlanta with little success as yet (although we are committed to keep trying). We have an opportunity to have an exhibit booth at two different pet related events.

There will be many other pet related companies with booths, so we are looking for ideas how to fill a scooper service booth, how to get people's attention, and how to NOT look like every other booth that is there. We are posting to see if any of you wonderful, creative people have any ideas or experience with an exhibit booth?

To share the ideas we have so far (for anyone else in this boat):
- free cleaning coupons
- a contest (like, "Guess how many pieces of kibble in this jar to win a free months service!")
- fake dog doo spread around in front of the booth.

All ideas, comments or suggestions are appreciated and requested!
Message Date/Time:
Thursday, 14-Jan-99 15:19:44

Re: Exhibit Booths? ... Hi Erin,
Re your upcoming trade show. Your ideas so far seem good and should attract customers and get some business. I like the idea of fake poop and you should have all the tools of the trade to demonstrate your service( scoopers, lobby pans, bags, disinfectants etc.) I do not operate a scooper business as yet but am planning one very soon. I do have a lot of trade show experience and the one thing I would like to tell you is do not get too discouraged if you dont get many people to sign up at the show for your service. I think you will be successful if you talk to a lot of people who might make a decision later. So the key is to get people into your booth and it sounds like you have some good ideas. If I or my wife come up with anything clever we will let you know. Best of luck.
Mick
Message Date/Time:
Thursday, 14-Jan-99 17:41:09

Re: Exhibit Booths? ... When we've done this, we've used the fake dog doo technique with great success. Then we filled our booth with dog-waste related stuff, like smell removers, several kinds of scoopers, "poop-pals" (jelly-bean pooping stuffed dogs), and poop on a key chain. We sold a few of each item. However, we got no interest in our business.
BUT, that doesn't mean you won't. Go for it!
Message Date/Time:
Wednesday, 20-Jan-99 13:48:33

Re: Exhibit Booths? ... Fake poop around the booth, eh? LOL... it's not my cup of tea, as they say, but it's sure to draw attention to your booth.
My own experience with trade shows and exhibitions has been a little dissapointing to me. The events I've attended didn't directly produce enough new business to pay for the cost of being in the expo. Still, I wouldn't say they were not worthwhile because I do think they made more people aware that our kind of business exists, and when some of those people later saw our ads in the paper, or saw our trucks at clients' houses, or heard about us in the news media, then they had an idea that we were a serious, reliable business. I believe the trade shows contributed to our community relations.
I do like the ideas you mention for attracting interest to your booth, too! You could be the hit of the show!

Best of Luck... and let us know how it goes!

Matthew
Message Date/Time:
Sunday, 24-Jan-99 10:53:47

Re: Exhibit Booths? ... A "thank you" to everyone who has posted a reply thus far :)

Luckily, we do not have to pay for the booths at our upcoming events. We try to be as creative as possible as we must keep a tight control on the cash flow. For a link on our website and scooping the event, we not only get a booth that would have normally cost $1800, we also get our logo on the event banners, mentions in the press releases, and a couple of radio commercials (a radio station is hosting one of the events).

Our hope, more than client sign-ups, is the community awareness and recognition Matthew mentions. We just want to keep "getting our name out there" as much as possible.

We are learning how tight-knit the pet community here is (everyone knows everyone else) so it's our desire to extend as much goodwill as possible. We are doing a great deal of work for local human societies and so forth (although we are running into a tight situation because each HS wants us to work exclusively with them).

Anyway, hopefully there are some hints in this post from which everyone can benefit :)

Erin
Dirty Work™
Message Date/Time:
Monday, 25-Jan-99 13:28:13

Re: Re: Exhibit Booths? ... You wrote: "For a link on our website and scooping the event, we not only get a booth that would have normally cost $1800, we also get our logo on the event banners, mentions in the press releases, and a couple of radio commercials..."
WOW! This is a terrific! What a great example of using what you have to get what you want without having to spend a lot of cash.
Way to go!
Message Date/Time:
Monday, 25-Jan-99 13:28:13

Re: Re: Exhibit Booths? ... You wrote: "For a link on our website and scooping the event, we not only get a booth that would have normally cost $1800, we also get our logo on the event banners, mentions in the press releases, and a couple of radio commercials..."
WOW! This is a terrific! What a great example of using what you have to get what you want without having to spend a lot of cash.
Way to go!
Message Date/Time:
Tuesday, 02-Feb-99 22:05:08

Re: Exhibit Booths? ... We did a Home Expo show and had a booth there. All we did was had a huge banner made up with our logo on it and stacked the flyers and business cards on the table. The pure geniusness of a pooper scooper service drove people to our table. Even people without dogs! Try also networking with other pet booths or if it is like a "Home expo" hook up with lawn care people. We even hooked up with an oil delivery company who were tired of getting their hoses messed up with doo!

Good luck!
Allison
Rover Doggy Doo Removal Service
Message Date/Time:
Saturday, 06-Feb-99 18:15:00

Re: Exhibit Booths? ... Some possible ideas I have for your booths are that you could dress up as the Doggy Landmine
Police, or the Pet Pooch Poop Patrol (try saying that real fast nine times!). There's also all type of dog toys that bark and jump round. And maybe crazy wacky sound effects. Just depends on how much you want to invest in this.