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DOG OWNERS: Love your dog -- hate poop?
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 THE INTERNATIONAL DIRECTORY OF DOG WASTE REMOVAL SERVICES

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.

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Page Forty-One


Message Date/Time:
Sunday, 30-Jan-00 12:03:08

My First Customer !

I don't know of a better rush of getting that first customer. I was driving around today in a nearby neighorhood looking for customers. I saw a young couple walking their 2 dogs. I pulled up and talked with them for about 5 minutes, and "BAM", they told me I could start today!I was so excited I shook the entire ride home. With 6" of snow on the ground, How do I go about this? HELP! Jack
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Message Date/Time:
Monday, 31-Jan-00 08:40:35

Re: My First Customer !

Hi Jack - Congratulations on your first customer! I think we all handle snow in our own ways. At Poopscoop King, we come out for service regrdless of snow depth and simply remove all that we can see. We do move the snow around some with our shovels to uncover some piles near the service. What we don't get on this visit, we'll get on the next or the one after that. We tell our customers that we are providing yearly service and ultimately, we can only pick up what we can see.
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Message Date/Time:
Monday, 31-Jan-00 13:04:53

Re: My First Customer !

Congratulations! Yes, it is so very exciting to have your first customer. I remember I was on a high for days! The feeling won't wear off very soon, either. Even now when I sign up a new customer, I am so excited! Here in Texas, we don't have much snow, but last week we did have ice/snow on the ground (several inches) and I agree with PoopScoop King: I simply picked up what I saw. I had to dig some of it out and whatever I miss I will pick up this week (now that it has all melted away!).
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Message Date/Time:
Monday, 31-Jan-00 17:17:59

Re: My First Customer !

I live in Colorado, so I see lots of snow usually, this year has been fairly good on my business. It snows one day and is pretty much gone the next. I tell my clients that I will show up the very next available day if the snow is really deep. For the most part, I am out there in the elements doo-ing my doo-ty!
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Message Date/Time:
Sunday, 30-Jan-00 14:15:02

is there a polite name for a pooper scooper

i would like to know if there is any polite names for a pooper scooper
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Message Date/Time:
Monday, 31-Jan-00 08:44:40

Re: is there a polite name for a pooper scooper

Can't wait to hear the replys to this one. I had to wrestle with this question when naming our company. Their are pros and cons to a name like PoopScoop King. I know some companies go the more polite route such as Pet Butler or Scoopy Doo. We know that some people will find our name offensive, but others love it so much that they laugh and tell friends. Any other thoughts scoopers?

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Message Date/Time:
Monday, 31-Jan-00 12:59:26

Re: is there a polite name for a pooper scooper

I think it's important that whatever you name your company that it clearly describes the service that you provide (or at least catchy and not easy to forget). I think it helps when advertising. My customers always comment how much they like the name Commander Doodie! Good luck!

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Message Date/Time:
Monday, 31-Jan-00 13:25:02

Re: is there a polite name for a pooper scooper

Dear Sir,

I just signed up seven new clients last week and I was very polite (and professional)! I was also VERY polite at the bank last month as my income is rapidly approaching my husband's construction job income (the teller asked for a business card...)

There WAS a service in our area with the polite name of "Dog Waste Service." They were in business for 2 years and quit recently (...this area just doesn't need this service....) I started last May and already have triple their clientele...

I enjoy watching people pull up behind my vehicle at a stop light and then read my spare tire cover. They almost always smile---as they are reaching for a pen & paper to write down my phone number. Just think---I MADE SOMEONE SMILE TODAY!...and that makes ME feel good. (and---do you think they might tell their co-workers about my sign?) Tasteful, honest, humor is always polite!! (and can be very profitable!)

Think about the commercials on TV...which ones get your attention and which ones do you remember?...the formal, polite, factual ads or the funny, catchy ads?

Tricia, proud owner of:
TAIL END PooPER SCooPERS
"We pick up where your dog left off"





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Message Date/Time:
Monday, 31-Jan-00 17:13:55

Re: is there a polite name for a pooper scooper

OF COURSE!

PET-DOO is (I think) polite. As far as my job title, I am a pet waste management technician. Most folks get a kick out of it!

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Message Date/Time:
Tuesday, 01-Feb-00 04:34:27

Re: Re: is there a polite name for a pooper scooper

Cindy,

I just had to comment on your "title". When I worked for an Animal Shelter in Juneau, AK, I had a name tag with my first name and FMRT after it. It stood for Fecal Matter Removal Technician. Now, I have a name tag with my first name (and my business name) on it...but after my name is FMRS! I have graduated to Fecal Matter Removal Specialist!! (Somebody ALWAYS asks what it stands for and they always have a good laugh) Is this polite?!?

Tricia


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Message Date/Time:
Wednesday, 09-Feb-00 01:20:32

Re: Re: Re: is there a polite name for a pooper scooper

Hi Tricia!

Of course the laugh is polite (as long as you are laughing with that person)! So I take it you approve of my title? You know the saying... Great minds.......

Take care

Cindy

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Message Date/Time:
Sunday, 30-Jan-00 17:18:43

Helpfull Ideas!

Hello fellow scoopers, we are new in the business and wanted to know some helpful advertising ideas/tips, we currently put flyers on houses, magnet on our vehicle and hand out business cards. We know the paper is in the future, but what about some real good advertising? anyone use the Net in a local area? if so, how can we do this to our advantage and keep the costs down? Thank You....

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Message Date/Time:
Monday, 31-Jan-00 04:03:41

Re: Helpfull Ideas!

congrats to your new adventure in pooper scooping!
You will love it and your clients...
Have you had a press release written up yet?
Do that and send it to all the newpapers, radio and tv staions in your area.
Good luck Debbie From Yucko's in St. Louis, Mo
See how that works for you.

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Message Date/Time:
Monday, 31-Jan-00 01:10:21

The low down on PARVO

I spoke to a vet the other day and received the following from him:

Greetings!

Parvovirus attacks the lining of the dog's intestines (okay, dogs and seals... go figure). It basically turns the dog's digestive finger-like projections of the intestinal lining into virus factories that eventually fill with virus, then explode - destroying the lining along with it. This is why they get a bloody diarrhea. Next, without all the extra surface area of the intestines, the dog (or seal!) cannot absorb foods or liquids - this is why it rushes out the back end as diarrhea post-infection phase.
Finally, the pet begins to dehydrate and the natural bacteria of the gut, having nothing good at this point for living quarters, moves across the compromised intestinal lining and into the blood stream, resulting in a septicemia (blood infection) that starts seeding all sorts of other organs. Finally, in this compromised state, the pet dies. Parvo is not a very nice game to play. With intensive care and early diagnosis, we can get most to survive, but we still lose some.
Other fecal born diseases - distemper to some degree, and a good majority of the internal parasites - but not have the staying ability of parvo. Amazing, but 1:10 bleach on non-organic surfaces is one of the few things that will kill the encapsulated parvovirus. The problem is that bleach is inactivated for the most part when contacting carbon based items (most dirts, thick fecal matter, plants, you name it - if at some point it was animal or plant in origin, it's organic).
Hope this answers your questions.
Enjoy - Bob

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Message Date/Time:
Monday, 31-Jan-00 18:18:15

At a stand still

I started my own pooper-scooper service last year. I have seven homes and one condo unit I do on a weekly basis. They are very happy with my services. Right now my business is at a stand still. I went in the yellow pages this year but so far no new calls. I have the only pooper-scooper service in my state. What should I do next to help my business to grow?

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Message Date/Time:
Tuesday, 01-Feb-00 15:14:18

Re: At a stand still

Hang in there Vickie! I also started my pooper scooper company last year and I've only just begun to see results from all my marketing efforts. Besides your yellow page ad, what other marketing ideas have you tried? Remember that it will all add up over time. Besides, it sounds like you've got some happy customers! Also remember that poop scooping services are relatively unknown to most customers, so alot of your efforts will go to making customers aware that your service actually exists - and as awareness is created, people will respond. It seems every one of my customers initially told me that they HATE to clean up poop! Take care and keep up the good work!

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Message Date/Time:
Wednesday, 02-Feb-00 07:25:05

Re: At a stand still

Hi Vickie,

Congratulations on gettin gyour business up and going! And the fact that your customers all love your service is wonderful, as well!
Right now most pooper-scoopers' businesses are pretty quiet because of the time of year. But in just a few weeks the busiest time of the year will start. The end of February generally sees the most new customer sign-ups -- sometimes people almost get more new business than they can handle when the spring weather starts to warm up and folks are getting back out into their back yards. So one thing I would advise would be that you make sure your vehicle is all ready to go, you have your tools and supplies all prepared, and are prepared for the busy season that's just around the corner.
Sometimes it does take quite a while to grow the business, especially when the budget is small and there's not a lot of money for marketing and advertising. In these cases the keywords are, in my opinion, persistence and creativity. Hang in there, and keep trying new methods of getting out the word about your business. In addition to my book, I recommend Jay Levinson's "Guerilla Marketing" and "Guerilla Marketing Attack" for a ton of very practical, results-oriented tips on free and low-cost marketing methods for small business. You can find those books in your local public library, most likely.
Some specific marketing techniques that have been very productive for me are classified ads in the local neighborhood weekly papers, good-looking signage on the vehicle, a customer news section printed on your monthly invoices, a customer-referral program in which you offer one free service visit to any customer who recommends a new client who signs up for regular weekly service, and a business phone line with an informative, professional-sounding answering machine or voice mail.

Best wishes!

Matthew

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Message Date/Time:
Wednesday, 02-Feb-00 02:57:07

Getting ready for the Spring marketing push!

This is the most exciting time of the year! The planning stages for THIS YEAR'S marketing and advertising campaign. This is the FUN part of any small business and ESPECIALLY this unique business. For those of you that are stumped, I make you an offer. I have the greatest handout called:

"CHEAP MARKETING TRICKS: A-Z"

All you have to do is send me a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Include a business card and/or brochure (for my collection!) and I will send you a copy...along with my business card and brochure. It has 26 ideas that will help get those creative juices flowing (especially for those of us on a budget).

Here are just 3 examples of some ideas I came up with... This year TAIL END PooPER SCooPERS
will have a booth at the "Spring Home Show" (end of March) in the convention center. This isn't a cheap one, but we have been putting money aside each month to pay for the space. We plan to have an educational display showing the DOs and DON'Ts for landscaping for Dog Owners. We will have a free handout of ideas for Dog Owners along with our business cards & brochures.

In connection with this, we have signed up to teach a Seminar at the local Community Education center entitled "LANDSCAPING FOR THE DOG OWNER"...and THEY PAY US!! Here is our chance to get our business name out there and be thought of as serious(!) "Experts in our Field" at the same time! We are coordinating with a landscaper, lawn expert, a decorative gravel company, electronic dog fence company, fence company, and dog trainer/behaviorist. Of course, OUR emphasis is how to set it up to be easy to poop scoop! Once again, it gets our name out there as a serious business (and, of course, our business cards/brochures will be available)

And last, but hardly least, we have signed up to participate in the largest parade in these parts.
It is the NEVADA DAY parade held at the capitol (Carson City). My husband and I will march as the first & only "Pooper Scooper Precision Marching Drill Team" in the state of Nevada (and maybe in the Nation?!?) We will be wearing our matching uniforms (Business T-shirt & jeans) and brandishing our (clean) tools. We have requested to be near a band so we can have music to do our routines to. Two neighbor kids will march in front of us carrying the same banner that we will have up at our booth, so people will know what and who we are!! This is a hugely attended event in our area and we hope to get lotsa laughs and let a lot of future clients know we are here (We will be carrying business cards and brochures in our pockets to hand out) The cost...$35 entry fee and some creative energy!! And WE get to have all the fun!

Tricia

Send your envelopes (& business cards) to:
TAIL END PooPER SCooPERS
P.O. Box 51554
Sparks, NV 89435-1554







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Message Date/Time:
Friday, 04-Feb-00 03:33:25

How big is the market?

Hi,

Does anyone know how big is the market in the US? Who are the big customers?
What's the annual expenditure for dog's waste cleaning by big municipalities? Any examples? NY? San Francisco?
Hot links?

Thanks for any help,
- Tomer


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Message Date/Time:
Monday, 07-Feb-00 00:34:09

Re: How big is the market?

Try calling the local Humane Society,ask them how many homes in your area have registered dogs, that will give you an idea of the local market. That doesn't count the homes that haven't registered them yet. Good Luck..

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Message Date/Time:
Monday, 07-Feb-00 10:23:02

Re: How big is the market?

I don't think it's possible yet to say how big the market is going to be. Right now most people in the country don't even know that services like this exist. It takes years to introduce a new concept and have people get used to the idea.
There might be around 100 million dog owners in the US, but how many of those might eventually be likely prospects for dog-waste removal service? I don't know. If one dog owner in one hundred were a customer, that would be a million users of these services.
As for the actual size of the existing market today, again, I don't know. The largest single pooper-scooper service I know of is in Denver, with over 2,000 regular customers. But most of the scooper-services are very much newer, with just a few customers each. If I had to guess at the number of dog-owners currently using such services, I'd guess maybe 5,000 in the USA. But that's just a guess.
It is, after all, a market in the making.
The majority of the work is in cleaning the yards and kennels of single-family homes. Cities use city workers for the most part, and I'm not sure figures are available since those expenses would be part of general maintenance, cleaning, and groundskeeping expenses.
Of course, it's a wide-open field for collecting data, and we would all be interested in any actual, specific data you might come up with.

Matthew

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Message Date/Time:
Friday, 04-Feb-00 19:51:57

Hot Tamales!

The info on these message boards is VALUABLE.

I have gotten 5 new jobs yesterday and today from a 5 line classified. It stays in the paper every day of the month under a special "Call an Expert" heading. The paper even gave me my own sub-class. Its working!

Tricia's idea of working a parade is GREAT! How does the idea of handing out bumper stickers that says "GOT POOP?" sound, with name and number in fine print?

Gotta run, phone's ringing.

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Message Date/Time:
Saturday, 05-Feb-00 03:10:16

Considering a dog waste removal service

Hi all,I have been considering starting a dog waste removal service in my area, although I would start out Saturdays only ...I spoke with Matthew and gave him some info on the median income in my area (60K).
I have been checking the board every day for a week and have found it to be very interesting. I would just like to know a little about what to expect the first few months of business from those that have built a successful business,but all input will be appreciated, by the way I would run a small classified ad in "Pets" in the paper..any other ideas on promotion,marketing etc. Does anyone know if Matthew's book is now on Amazon.com....Thanks to the board for some very interesting reading..I really believe that this could be a lucrative business I would just like some input from those allready involved in the business..and I love success stories.
Thanks In Advance
Don
PS
Does anyone use referrals and if so how does this work and what results have they brought?
DB

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Message Date/Time:
Monday, 07-Feb-00 10:10:08

Re: Considering a dog waste removal service

Hi again, Don. :)
Yes, the book is available through Amazon.com, but it's much quicker to order it directly from me. ($31.95 to Matthew Osborn; 3731 East Broad St., #114; Columbus, OH 43213)
I have seen very good results with customer referrals. I would mention it in most of the monthly "Customer News" sections on the invoices I would send out, as well as including it in the "General Information" sheets and when signing up new customers. The way I did it was, I'd give any regular customer one free service visit for each new client they referred who signed up for regular service.

Best Wishes,

Matthew Osborn
matthew@pooper-scooper.com

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Message Date/Time:
Sunday, 06-Feb-00 18:32:27

A Price question

I am putting my business prices together and need to know a ball park figure of what to charge those people who need my service more than once a week.

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Message Date/Time:
Monday, 07-Feb-00 10:04:31

Re: A Price question

Of course it's all up to you, but I have found that charging 75% of the regular weekly charge per visit works well. That is, is the regular charge for once a week service is, say $10 for instance, then I would charge $7.50 per visit for service more than once a week. So twice a week service in that case would be $15 per week.

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Message Date/Time:
Tuesday, 08-Feb-00 06:54:50

Approching New Customers

Hello out there in cyberpoopland!
OK, I now have 5 customers, and I am scooping away. I have not recieved Matthews book yet, (damn mail) so of course I have many questions.
Help! I love to go into neighborhoods and just start knocking on doors. I look for dog tracks in the snow and those are the houses I go after.
(Knocked on a door last week, no dog there, they were deer prints in the snow, oops)I find myself lost for words as I speak to potentials. What are some of the benifits, pros and cons that I need to be aware of. I use to be a national sales manager and I don't remember the last time I was short of words for customers!
any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.