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DOG OWNERS: Love your dog -- hate poop?
Help is here at last!
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-Eight
Message Date/Time:
Monday, 31-Jul-00 07:04:54
Pre-start jitters in Australia
Hi there scoopers! Thanks to you all for the great info that you provide on the P.S. website.
I live in Melbourne Australia where Pooper-scooper businesses are non-existant; (except for one or two small bucket pick-up services.) I have been doing alot of planning with the help of Matthew's book. As this business is new here I decided to do a bit of survey work. Out of 20 dog owners only one or two seemed a bit interested. Generally the people I spoke to didn't mind picking up poop! I know I haven't spoken to many dog owners but I'm worried that maybe Australian's won't go for this service. I'm not sure if I should be concerned with my reserach as people may need some time to come around to the idea of using such a service. I have had some encouraging support from local counclis. There are 14,000 registered dogs in one of my target areas. I would really appreciate some feedback as to what other scoopers think of my sitution. I still want to go ahead but am afraid there will be little demand. Thankyou in advance!!!!!!!
Cheers!!
Liz Peeler (Scooper in waiting!)
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Message Date/Time:
Tuesday, 01-Aug-00 09:59:39
Re: Pre-start jitters in Australia
Hi Liz,
What you're doing so far sounds very good to me. I think you make a good point about how it does take some time for people to come around to the idea. When folks first hear about it they frequently laugh; well, it's such an odd idea at first. But after a while they start to think more seriously about it.
Besides, you say that one or two out of twenty people sound as though they might be interested -- that doesn't sound bad, to me. With 14,000 registered dogs in your area, even if you eventually had only 1 dog out of 100, that would be 140 customers, and that's not bad at all for a one-person business.
I know it's a little bit scary to start, but I would encourage you to take that little risk and do your best. Think how you'd feel if you didn't go for it and later somebody else went ahead and did it -- oh, no!
Anyway, Liz, best wishes. I have a feeling you'll do well one way or the other.
Matthew
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Message Date/Time:
Friday, 04-Aug-00 11:17:44
Re: Pre-start jitters in Australia
Wow, 1 or 2 out of 20?! That's great!
My findings are that it is usually more like 1 out of a thousand! I'm serious - after 2 years of all types of marketing and advertising (I even have a BBA in Marketing and 7 years sales / customer service experience) my findings are consistently around 1 in 1,000 if I'm lucky.
Go for it!
Red in Dallas
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Message Date/Time:
Friday, 04-Aug-00 23:38:40
Re: Pre-start jitters in Australia
Hello Liz,
I would like to point out one thing that has been pointed out to us about the pooper scooper business in an area that dosen't know much about it and is a new concept. Bottled water was the same way a few years ago and now look at the sales bottled water is makeing! I see the pooper scooper business like the bottled water business. Once it catches on people will not want to live with out the convience and that is basicly what we are a convience! What we have to do is market our service in a way that our customers will see us as a convience they can't live with out and give them the best service they have ever had from any other service. As Matthew said in his book...UNDER PROMISE AND OVER DELIVER.
Good luck and go get'em! YOU CAN DO IT!!!
Alicia
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Message Date/Time:
Sunday, 30-Jul-00 11:25:49
HELP!
I'm just starting out. My first possible account is a dog boarding / hospital. They have an average of 50 dogs that they walk four times a day. They want a twice a month service for the summer and then weekly or possibly bi-weekly for the winter. What do you think would be a fair rate? I see the possibility of residential accounts through them. Please help.
Thanks,Bob
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Message Date/Time:
Tuesday, 01-Aug-00 10:07:15
Re: HELP!
Hi Bob,
I'm not sure I understand exactly what the boarding kennel wants. You say they want service twice a month, but with 50 dogs they should be cleaning up after the dogs every day. Do they just want you to haul away the waste every couple of weeks while they clean the dog's pens themselves? If that's the case, then figure out how much waste there will be and charge whatever your landfill will be, plus the value of your time for the hauling.
If they're talking about cleaning up the poop from 50 dogs, then I wouldn't even consider doing it only twice a month.
In general the idea is to estimate how much time the work will take you and charge according to your target income-per-hour rate. For instance, if you're aiming at making $40/hour, and you figure the job will take an hour to pick up the bagged waste from the customer's container and get it to your disposal facility (landfill, in most cases), then you'd charge $40 plus whatever it costs to dump the stuff.
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Message Date/Time:
Saturday, 29-Jul-00 10:18:28
newbie on the bridge...everyone duck
Ok. I understand that pet waste has parasites. I understand that if it is heated to 160 degrees for an hour that it can be used in a regular compost heap. I understand that unheated, it needs to be composted with other carbons to keep down smell, and that it needs to be left alone for up to a year. I understand all of this. So why are the most of you sending this stuff to the landfills? Is because of EPA regs? Is it because of the bother of dealing with it? Help a newbie out here.....
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Message Date/Time:
Tuesday, 01-Aug-00 10:15:29
Re: newbie on the bridge...everyone duck
You have a place to keep several thousands of pounds of dog feces piled up for a year? And you have the equipment to heat the waste, load it into your ovens, unload and then maintain rotting mountains of dog poop for months at a time? And you have a place to keep several such piles going on a continuous basis? It seems to me that running such a composting facility would be extremely impractical in most cases, though there may be some folks who could manage it if they have the land, the proper zoning, EPA licensing to run such a composting facility, and so on. And after all that -- then where will you put the composted material? You'd still have to have approval to dump it somewhere.
Of course, to each his own, and if anyone has the means, time, land area and regulatory permissions to carry out such an operation and desires to do so, more power to them. It would be a ton of work, a great deal of expense and hassle, in my opinion, but I'm sure it would be something of interest for publicity, too.
All in all, it just seems to me to be far more practical to do it the way most people are doing it now.
Matthew
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Message Date/Time:
Friday, 04-Aug-00 11:10:56
Re: Re: newbie on the bridge...everyone duck
DITTO Matthew!
My 300+ pounds of crap a week just wont compost well in my apartment closet!
Everything you said is right on - as always!
Red from Dallas
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Message Date/Time:
Monday, 07-Aug-00 08:49:11
Re: newbie on the bridge...everyone duck
Phil & Mel,
See our reply to Brian's concerns of the 1/8/00. It seems that the two things that may be holding people back from composting etc. are the $$$$ and convenience issues. Good luck. Lizz & Jeff
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Message Date/Time:
Wednesday, 26-Jul-00 19:59:17
newbie on the bridge...everyone duck
Greetings neighbors. The wife and I have just put the envelope in the post for Matthew's book. In the mean time we were wondering if some good hearted individuals might be interested in email correspondence to talk about their stumbles and successes. We don't want to clutter up the board with that stuff....thanks in advance....
Phil and Mel
Doddly Doo Right
"Your pets business, is our business."
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Message Date/Time:
Thursday, 27-Jul-00 12:28:02
Re: newbie on the bridge...everyone duck
By all means talk about those things here. That's what this is for.
A quick word on door-to-door flyers. It seems cheap, but it's time consuming and I find that the reaction is delayed. I always pick up customers in those areas where I place flyers, but it may be weeks or months. One customer this spring read from a flyer we placed in August.
My advice? Don't bet too much on rapid growth and don't give up.
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Message Date/Time:
Friday, 28-Jul-00 10:01:19
Re: newbie on the bridge...everyone duck
Hi Phil and Mel
I would be interested in email correspondence with you and will try to help anyway I can. I am also just starting out, maybe at teh same stage as you guys but i believe we can help each other succeed. You can email me at scoupdogservice@craigsmail.com
Hope to hear from you
Sincerely,
Craig Miles
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Message Date/Time:
Friday, 21-Jul-00 16:40:09
Press Releases
I am having a heck of a time doing up a GOOD press release. Does anybody have any suggestions or examples. I am just starting out and want it to be good.
Thanks so much,
Tami
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Message Date/Time:
Tuesday, 01-Aug-00 10:53:24
Re: Press Releases
The press releases in my book, "The Professional Pooper-Scooper," are samples of actual releases that have worked to get valuable publicity for my business. I think they're pretty good. :)
But you can also get some excellent pointers and see examples of other news releases at:
drnunley.com/press_release_examples.htm
www.rmadgroup.com/pressrel.shtml
www.pressflash.com/anatomy.html
www.usanews.net/affiliates/demo/help/write.htm
ALSO check your library. There are several good books about writing press releases. Among them are:
Ramacitti, David F. "Do-It-Yourself Publicity"
Rice, Craig S. "Marketing without a marketing budget"
Harrison, Shirley. "Public Relations: An Introduction."
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Message Date/Time:
Thursday, 20-Jul-00 17:39:18
Scooping!
Greetings!! To matt and all of the other scoopers. My name is MIke and i came across this site today. I started a scooping biz about 1 year ago. I ran around and placed fliers at the local grocery stores and walmart for free. I did find a customer and I had some calls on my voice mail for more info. Unfortunately, i got rid of the voice mail and stopped my biz.
I guess I really didnt like doing it. But I have had a year to think about it and I may reconsider doing it again. What i want to know is how much can i legitimately make?? Can I really make enough income to quit my job in the future???
Or if I do it partime, what type of $$ can I look at?? ANyone that is doing it now or even matt, please give me some insight!! I hate my regular government job and I hate just getting by financially!! Please respond!!!
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Message Date/Time:
Tuesday, 25-Jul-00 00:14:49
Re: Scooping!
Hi Mike,
As you see from some of the messages here on the board, people around the country are making good money by providing this necessary service to their clients and keeping them satisfied. Of course no one can guarantee that you will make any money at all in this business, or any other business for that matter. (Though you don't want to hear it, the closest thing you'll get to such a guarantee might be the "regular government job" you already say you hate).
I can tell you that I started my own dog waste removal service back in 1988 and spent about $150 before the business started paying for itself. From that point I bootstrapped that little business (which I named PET BUTLER) over ten years to the point where the business was producing revenues over $20,000.00 per month -- with seven employees, including a full-time manager, a fleet of six trucks, and more than 600 regular weekly customers. Building the business took time, patience, and a great deal of work. After ten years I sold that business to my manager for over $200,000.00 and PET BUTLER continues to grow and thrive under his leadership.
The need for this kind of service is real and growing. New businesses in this field are being started across the USA and Canada all the time, and many of them are taking off -- some of them phenomenally. But of course not everyone who starts up a dog-waste removal service is going to have that kind of success. Some services start up and then disappear in a matter of weeks or months. There is a lot more to success in business than just having a good idea -- I think we all know that.
But the potential is certainly there. I've put together what I know about this business in my book, "The Professional Pooper-Scooper: How to Start Your Own Low-Cost, High-Profit Dog Waste Removal Service." And clearly there is a lot of valuable information available right here on the message board, and at www.pooper-scooper.com. All of this,plus your own determination, persistence, and dedication to customer service can provide excellent resources that will help you succeed. But as always, the most important part of that success will be from inside yourself.
How many dogs are there within a 20-mile radius of you? If there are 100,000 dogs, then even one out a hundred of those, if they become your clients, could mean 1,000 regular weekly customers. That would indeed be good money. Even if you had only 200 clients, if you serviced them yourself you would have a nice little business of your own with excellent pay.
CAN you make enough money to eventually quit your job and do this full time? It's certainly being done now by all kinds of people, many of whom didn't have very much at all to start with. WILL you make a lot of money and be a big success in the pooper-scooper business? Well, that's impossible to say.
After all, "risk" is part of the definition of the entrepreneur. :)
Best Wishes,
Matthew
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Message Date/Time:
Wednesday, 19-Jul-00 00:10:02
new posts responding to archived messages
matt, is there a way to post that there is a new post to an archive message, instead of searching thru them all the times to find them?
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Message Date/Time:
Tuesday, 25-Jul-00 00:16:49
Re: new posts responding to archived messages
You can't post a reply directly to a message that's been archived, but you CAN copy archived messages and post them here along with your replies, comments or questions about them.
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Message Date/Time:
Tuesday, 18-Jul-00 00:45:19
Pet sitters/walkers
I am curious if anybody has teamed up with a pet walking service?--You pass out their cards, they pass out yours.--It seems like a great idea and I was interested to hear about the ?success? others have had with this type of partnership.
Thanks for your help,
Jacob
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Message Date/Time:
Tuesday, 25-Jul-00 00:08:47
Re: Pet sitters/walkers
Of Course! Several pet sitters and walkers, mobile groomers, gardeners, maid services, doggy daycares (very big in So California) pool services, anyone who has a service where they go to other people's houses. I get a couple of calls a week from these contacts. Good luck! Tim
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Message Date/Time:
Monday, 17-Jul-00 01:15:42
The scoop on INSURANCE
I talked to an insurance agent recently and then saw a few posts asking about it here and hope I can help.
This does not apply if you have employees: YOU, the owner/operator CAN NOT be bonded. A bond covers the owner for theft committed by an employee. You can not buy a policy that pays for the things you steal.
Cheap liability coverage starts around $500. If you are damaging THAT much stuff of your clients, consider a career as a demolition driver. Until the business has assets that need protecting, other than a vehicle, self insuring is a much more viable alternative.
As ALWAYS, carry liability on your vehicle. It's the law. In most cases, common auto insurance is the best course. Shop around for good service and good rates.
Needless to say, the agent didn't sell me any insurance. Not only that, but he said he wouldn't even if I wanted to spend the money because he felt there was such minimal value in it.
By the time you need employees, you can afford to talk to a business consultant or attorney to find your way through the employment and liability concerns. (I have Pre-Paid Legal coverage and have used it several times during start up and operations. It's about $25/mo)
Hope this helps.
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Message Date/Time:
Monday, 17-Jul-00 13:45:56
Re: The scoop on INSURANCE
Mark...
Thank you SO MUCH for sharing your findings on the "board." I was beginning to feel I was the only one that doesn't have bonding or liability insurance for this type of business. As I have said before, how can you insure a business that isn't even up and running yet?!?! Better to put that "fear" money into marketing and get some money coming in!
Tricia
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Message Date/Time:
Wednesday, 02-Aug-00 17:04:00
Re: Re: The scoop on INSURANCE
i get my insurance from pet sitters of america and they would insure me for pooper scooping for $200 this is liabilty and a acidental insurance like bonding for me . and to add on contractors is $50 more per ic.
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Message Date/Time:
Friday, 14-Jul-00 07:54:00
Franchising and the Major
I understand that Major Doody and a couple other scoopers are getting into franchising their businesses. I was wondering what some of you other scoopers think of franchising. Some of you scoopers have been at it 10 years or more and the Major has been scooping less than 10 months with full intentions of coming into your service areas and competing with you. I know there are many ways of looking at this matter and I look forward to all of your input. I'd also like someone to give their thoughts regarding whether or not franchising is really viable in this business.
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Message Date/Time:
Sunday, 16-Jul-00 12:23:24
Re: Franchising and the Major
There are some interesting responses to franchising in the archives on page 22 (February 10 1999).
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Message Date/Time:
Wednesday, 26-Jul-00 07:45:05
Re: Franchising and the Major
I've been hearing about the folks who were going to make it rich by franchising for years. I'm not aware of any successful franchise.
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Message Date/Time:
Monday, 31-Jul-00 11:25:22
Re: Franchising and the Major
Franchising is selling the use of your name and your system. A Dog poop scooping business would be PERCEIVED as a business that is easy to do, and requires little skill. This would hurt the prospects of selling a franchise since most people would choose too spend the franchise fee money on starting their own business. I doubt many people would feel comfortable investing in a new franchise with 10 months experience behind it. In my opinion Matthews book is all you need to buy.
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Message Date/Time:
Wednesday, 02-Aug-00 16:34:29
Re: Franchising and the Major
After emailing with Jack I have to say I am wrong. Jack Keller is doing it already, so the answer to "is it viable" has to be yes. Knock them dead Major Doody !