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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 Fifty

Message Date/Time:
Thursday, 13-Apr-00 13:47:30

company buyout

Has anyone come across the difficult problem of competition. Salt Lake is quite a small market and their seems to be large number of services popping up. In the near future this saturated market will have frustrated owners. We are quite large and desire to stay that way. What would be a good asking price when approaching these smaller companies. $100 per customer, $200 per customer $500 per customer $1000 per customer? Has anyone had the thought of purchasing the competition? Has anyone bought or sold any similiar company? E-mail me or call (801)968-0099

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Message Date/Time:
Sunday, 16-Apr-00 22:13:08

Re: company buyout

I am a dog waste removal service in Utah and me and my sister have been doing it for a while and have just decided to go comercial , I am confused on how you say that S.L.C is a small market as far as I know there are only 4 other companies in utah that do this, there is no way 1 company could handle all that clientel, I think there is plently of room for all of us ,, I mean there are hundreded of lawn care people out there and plently of work. and I have never come across a client that has ever heard of another dog waste removal service in utah. Have you had problems with running into that with your clients ?

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Message Date/Time:
Sunday, 16-Apr-00 22:48:57

NEWSPAPER ***ARTICLE

I am excited to announce that we has some attention come in on our company. I and my sister are very excited , even that it was on the front page of the local paper.!! in saturday's paper , we had 25 calls on saturday and 5 calls today hopefully we will get some calls on monday since it is a weekday ! Thank god we placed our bussiness cards in that Kennel if we didn't the news man! would have never had seen them ! If any one wants to read the article let me know and I will mail it to ya KEEP ON SCOOPING !!!! Goldy Andrews /Doggie Doodle

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Message Date/Time:
Thursday, 20-Apr-00 22:04:03

Re: NEWSPAPER ***ARTICLE

Congratulations on getting an article in the paper, let alone on the front page, BRAVO!! Would love to see a copy of it, thanks for sharing. Doggie Deposits

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Message Date/Time:
Sunday, 30-Apr-00 14:36:25

Re: NEWSPAPER ***ARTICLE

That sounds really great! I want to wish you the best of luck with your business. I would also love to have a copy of the article.

David
Dog-Gone-It Waste Removal

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Message Date/Time:
Monday, 12-Jun-00 01:12:02

Re: NEWSPAPER ***ARTICLE

Good for you! Please send me a copy of your article. Thank you,
Gina

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Message Date/Time:
Tuesday, 18-Apr-00 12:40:59

Dog Event

HI Does anyone have any ideas for a adopt a pet event. I am going to be giving away free service for whoever adopts a pet. The kennel said i could have a 6ft table. What do I put on it besides flyers and cards. Please help me. This is going to be a big event and the news will even be there. Thank you so much for any suggestions.
Jen
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Message Date/Time:
Tuesday, 25-Apr-00 15:43:31

Re: Dog Event

Jen,
This is only a suggestion from someone who has yet to get started in her own business but maybe you could keep a sample bottle of your parvocide on or next to the table you are at and some pictures of your car/truck with your logo on the side of it as well as a 3 ring binder of letters from customes who have been happy with the work you have done. If your customers agree maybe even pictures of their pets with the letters. Hope this might give you an idea.
Blessings,
Alicia
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Message Date/Time:
Wednesday, 26-Apr-00 19:35:55

Re: Dog Event

The best dog treats you can afford. Water for people AND dogs. Pro-adoption and pro spay and neuter stickers that people can put on their shirts, ID tags that people can put their phone numbers on and put on their dogs.

BtW, at the event where I did most of these things, there were over 100 bassetts. "Waddle for Rescue"
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Message Date/Time:
Tuesday, 06-Jun-00 10:23:56

Re: Dog Event

I have a small kids plastic pool that was given to me{the best are free if you can find them}. I have "Wheenie Bobben" for dogs. I charge .50 for each doggie bob. The pool fits nicely on top of my mustang,{even though I get funny looks} and it does not take much water to fill it up. This is something fun for the dog and gets you noticed!

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Message Date/Time:
Wednesday, 19-Apr-00 00:47:20

HELP WANTED

Has anyone encountered having to hire people? If so, then did you 1099 or directly employ(taking taxes out/providing a truck. What have you found the best tax structure to be and why?



PMAN

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Message Date/Time:
Thursday, 20-Apr-00 00:30:40

Re: HELP WANTED

In So. California it's W-4 and an I-9 and mandatory worker's comp insurance.
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Message Date/Time:
Wednesday, 26-Apr-00 19:30:55

Re: HELP WANTED

Before you try to get away with calling them independant contractors and using a 1099, consult your lawyer and your accountant. You are probably asking for a biiiiig IRS headache.

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Message Date/Time:
Wednesday, 03-May-00 14:00:02

Re: HELP WANTED

I found it best to hire people directly. If you provide the tools, equipment,and work schedules and you control the worker during the course of the day (approving start times,when they quit, which customers they serve at what times, etc) then you're an employer, anyway.
As Pete points out, the IRS has some very specific guidelines about "independent contractors." For my purposes, I didn't feel I'd have enough control over contractors to ensure the quality of customer service that I felt was important for my business.
There are many regulations, tax-considerations, and paperwork hassles with employees, but I found that using a payroll service took care of most of that very nicely. For about $40 a month the payroll service took care of ALL the employee-related payroll paperwork.

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Message Date/Time:
Wednesday, 19-Apr-00 22:35:46

Commercial Accounts - Please Help

I need your advise on getting a extremely large commercial account. I am at a point where I am dealing with a property owner association and have meet with the operations manager eight times and have been paid to consult them on their poop situation. The proposal is in and the committee and the board like what they see, however they would like to see other associations or apartment complexes that have used a waste removal company and what the results were. I have informed them that this is a new industry and there are some companies that have worked with apartments associations and have been quite successful in the decrease of complaints and visibility of the waste. What I am looking for is references not of my own but of the industry itself and maybe some names of complexes that have used waste removal commercially. The property is 26 square miles. A rather large property no? What I could use is ways to approach them on pricing. They do not really want to here it from me but from someone who has done it. What I have done is put together references from my residential clients, local rescue clubs, kennels and veterinary clinics that I clean for now. - I really need help on this one -

Kevin Mahoney
Happy Tails Pet Service
(973) 713-5649

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Message Date/Time:
Thursday, 20-Apr-00 20:10:07

Re: Commercial Accounts - Please Help

Let me get this straight, you and/or your crew have to walk 26 square miles? This sounds like an apartment complex or something of that nature.
Don't forget about the geese waste! Factor the geese in and if its 26 square miles figure a weeks worth of service plus how many laborers you need per day. You could land a sweet/shitty account that could make you real happy. Try to not even mention the geese waste(its usually greenish/white) unless they mention it. By the way I am the owner of PET PICKUP in lower michigan. Give me a call if you like:
1-877-7DOG-POOP.

See Ya
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Message Date/Time:
Wednesday, 19-Apr-00 23:15:33

Home-made dog biscuits on door

Hey there all Poop Masters!
I'd like to share with you something I do that gives me great pleasure. I make home-made dog biscuits, and before cooking them I make a hole in them. Then when they're done I put a string through it and tie a little pre-printed note that says "The Scooperazzi was here! Attached is a small token of my appreciation for your business!" I keep them in a cookie tin in the car. When I'm done scooping, I take off my gloves, wash my hands with the Parvocide, and rinse, too, and then all I have to do is handle the buscuit by the string. I leave it on the customer's door handle, so that when they come home, they don't have to wonder if I made it that day or not. You see, by wondering, they might decide to wander around in the yard, looking for poop, and then they're "dealing" with poop, which we don't want them to do. Here the recipe for some really good buscuits! I have to make some more tonight, because they're SO good I ate half of the last batch myself, when I was driving around hungry! It's from a (borrowed) dog-bone cookbook by some lady, can't remember her name! Oops! Here's what it looks like: the pages are made of cardboard, like kids' books, and it comes with it's own biscuit cutter.

3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup diced celery
1/8 cup diced red bell peppers
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cut unsalted sunflower seeds
1 1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon garlic powder
3 tablespoons corn oil
Mix these and knead 2-3 minutes and roll 1/4" thick. Cut into bone shapes and bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

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Message Date/Time:
Saturday, 22-Apr-00 18:21:20

Re: Home-made dog biscuits on door

The author's name is Michelle Bledsoe.

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Message Date/Time:
Friday, 21-Apr-00 21:07:54

We need a Pooper Scooper Day!

A Pooper Scooper Day. Kinda of like Secretary Day.
Wonder how we can get that on the calender?
Any ideas from fellow scoopers?
http:/www.yuckos.com

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Message Date/Time:
Monday, 24-Apr-00 16:57:13

Re: We need a Pooper Scooper Day!

We absolutely do need a national Pooper Scooper day!
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Message Date/Time:
Thursday, 27-Apr-00 14:49:52

Re: We need a Pooper Scooper Day!

Call the mayors office, and talk reasonably about it.

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Message Date/Time:
Monday, 24-Apr-00 01:29:30

No Poop Here Dog Sign

Hi Folks,
Here's an idea that I developed to keep neighbors and their dogs from pooping on other peoples' lawns. It's a cute sign that gets the idea across without being offensive. Maybe people in the scooping biz might give them to some good customers as thank yous for their business. It'll also show the customers that you're thinking of them even though you might not have "all the poop" to pick up. Might make your job a little easier too though, especially if you mainly do back yards of residences. Anyhoo, it will only take a minute to look at: http://www.snowcrest.net/rbemis/DDog.html
Hope it's okay to post an URL. If not, sorry.

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Message Date/Time:
Monday, 24-Apr-00 07:02:11

Tool Cleanup

Hello everyone, great site alot of very useful information. Could someone tell me what you use and how you cleanup your tools between servicing one customer and another. Do you just spray them with something or what? Thanks for the help.
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Message Date/Time:
Tuesday, 25-Apr-00 22:19:26

Re: Tool Cleanup

Hi Gary,
I spray all the loose dirt, grass, and dog doo from my shovel and boots first with water and then I spray them with a parvocide disinfectant. Once in a while I use a paper towel to wipe off dirt that wont come off with the sprayer. Hope this helps.
Mick
Scoopity Doo Dog

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Message Date/Time:
Wednesday, 26-Apr-00 12:02:39

Re: Tool Cleanup

You can go to Home Base or Home Depot and for $10 get a "pressure sprayer" which is what all of us mean when we say "spray". It's a one-gallon container with an attachment on top that lets you pressurize the air above the liquid using a pump much like a bicycle pump. Then the liquid shoots out the hand-held nozzle when you squeeze it.

What most of us fill it with is one gallon of water and 1 ounce of "parvocide" which can be bought from New England Serum company (1-800-637-3786) for $39 for one gallon, which lasts forever (because you only use one ounce per gallon of water).
We wash off not only the tools we use but our boots as well, as Matthew advises in his book, because that prevents the spread of a dog's germs from one yard to another. This is really important, and attention to details like these are what motivate people to hire us instead of their local 12-year-old. If you're SUPER strapped for cash, I could mail you a small amount of parvocide to get started, to save you the $39, although you still need to spend $10 to get the sprayer.
Dinah McCandless
(360) 349-3384

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Message Date/Time:
Monday, 24-Apr-00 14:34:42

Angry callers

Has anyone else run in to this problem? I bought a list of names & addresses from a local County Clerk's office, the list included the dog's names, breeds and sexes as well. I decided to send the out flyers using the pet's names, figuring people would pay more attention to them, (I know I would!). The flyers were much like those in Matthew's book, introducing the service and offering $5.00 off a month of service. I got two calls the first day! And both agreed to weekly service. So far so good.
Today I got some calls from very angry people. They wanted to know where I got their addresses, how I got their dog's names, and so forth. One woman was so mad she told me that she had called her Vet (who knows why!) and that they were upset too. She hung up on me before telling me her name so I can't even remove her from my database!
I realize these are isolated incidents, and that when dealing with the public this is par for the course, but it has been very disheartening to get this type of response as I am just starting up. I guess I just want to know that it will get better, and that not everyone is going to call me up shouting.
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Message Date/Time:
Monday, 24-Apr-00 22:50:30

Re: Angry callers

Sorry to hear about your bummer day. She was venting all her annoyance at the Invasion of Privacy that we ALL face EVERY DAY, but that we normally can't respond to because the business calling had a restricted, unavailable number. Since your number was available, a rare occurance, she sent all her stuff your way. Also, it's not your fault, if anyone should be held accountable, it would be the Auditor's office who gave you the list. I have not been able to obtain such a list....the office around here that's in charge of such a list won't even return my (several) phone calls to say that they won't give me the list! If you get another "Ear-to-Mouth" conversation with any more angry customers, just take a deep breath, tell yourself it's not your fault for being a small business owner with a small advertising budget, and tell the caller to take up the issue with the office that gave you the list. Take a moment out to contemplate how respectable it is to be a small business owner in America. We work hard for our money and don't exploit foreign labor, we're a dying breed! I'm just starting out, too, in Olympia, Washington. Feel free to write to me: dinamccandless@wa.freei.net
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Message Date/Time:
Wednesday, 26-Apr-00 08:32:08

Re: Angry callers

Don't sweat it! You might get a few phone calls from the angry ones but remember you ALSO got positive responses as well. Consider next time when you send another mailing out using something like "Greetings to Dog Owner" instead of the Dogs name which should quell most people's tempers. Your lucky that you can even get a list; the cities around me won't give them to me even though I've tried!!!!

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Message Date/Time:
Wednesday, 26-Apr-00 18:56:37

Re: Angry callers

Oooooo! You got names, breeds and genders! I'm jealous!

I see you've found out that no ad is without risk. Wanna play, gotta pay.

Here's a tip, make sure you put a way to be removed from the mailing list. Make it simple and easy. Make it big.

IF YOU PREFER NOT TO RECEIVE THIS MAILING, PLEASE CALL 555-1212 AND TELL US YOUR ADDRESS.

ALso, try to make your mailings more than an ad. News and humor are my favorites

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Message Date/Time:
Tuesday, 25-Apr-00 15:51:15

Insurance

Hello all!
We are about to start our poop scoop business and have been looking into general libality insurance and it is VERY expensive! Do you have to have insurance to begin with to cover yourself? We were wanting it because it looks great for advertising purposes but WOW! What an expense! Please help if you can. I also would like to say thanks to all who put messages here because it has really helped me and my husband out a great deal. We even have Matthew's book! That too is a big help. Blessings to all,
Joe & Alicia
No name yet still debating on that one yet.

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Message Date/Time:
Wednesday, 26-Apr-00 18:50:33

Re: Insurance

Talk to your local independant insurance agent. They can check several companies and get you some choices. If you think insurance is high, imagine needing it and not having any.

Pete
(insured up to 1 million dollars)

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Message Date/Time:
Thursday, 27-Apr-00 20:06:51

Re: Insurance

I checked Independent carriers and could get it for around $180.00, There are also some plans that will put it on as a rider on homeowners insurance.
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Message Date/Time:
Wednesday, 03-May-00 23:30:22

apartment pricing

I recently started the same wonderful business as you all. Today I received my first call for an apartment complex. I have only done residential properties until (hopefully) this one. I am not prepared for apartment pricing. They would like me to call tomorrow. Can anyone give me an idea on what to charge? Should it be based on acres, #of residents with pets...? Please respond and very quickly.

Thanks for any help you can offer,
Daniel