Setting up a business, advice needed

Well after 10 years working as an auto technician, and a 3rd redundancy in 4 years has peeved me off for the last time. I've had enough of most aspects of the job, the fast paced stressfull environment, the scraped knuckles, the constant tool bill and lining somebody elses pockets and then being disposed of when times get tough.I've been putting cash aside for a while in order to set up my own garage but unfortunately it's nowhere near enough, what I have will cover equipment only and I'll need the same amount again to put down on premises and stock, I'm through with waiting it will take another 3 year to save the same amount again and I just can't tolerate that amount of time working for someone else to invest all my money in a business that has a high chance of failure in the first year. So rant over and on to my new plan.

I don't need to earn massive amounts of money as I'm happy with what I have, Ihave nice things but by no means flash, I value time with my family and dogs over expensive possesions and akways will. After quite a lot of thought I have decided to start a dog walking business, I've always wanted to work with dogs but having a full time job and family commitments I've never beenable to pursue it. I understand the basics, I'm already CRB checked, I have an appointment with Stig at the vets next week and will be asking about an animal first aid course and I hwill be enquiring about public liability insurance online tommorow, I've pretty much gone through what I would expect from a dog walker and I undersrand it will be difficult for the clients as I don't think I could allow someone to walk Stig regardless of their credibility, therefore I will be wanting to meet the dogs and owners before I agree to walk their dog, I will then offer a free 30min trial walk to see how the dog behaves, I have a list of questions Ishall be asking relating to the dogs behaviour, health etc and also will be covering my own * the best I can should anything happen to a person or dog whilst their pet is in my care.

I am willing to invest around £1000 to get started as I'm not too worried about losing it if it doesn't work out and also I know it would take a long time to get back, but regardless I'm going to try my hardest to make this work, most of the cash will go on insurances, advertising etc as the equipment needed seems pretty minimal, and this is where I need help, whilst looking at other websites for research purposes there are clauses in the T&C's regarding collars and leads ie-if a dog escapes and is injured through a faulty lead/collar the walker accepts no liability, I was actually thinking of starting the dogs on a training lead until I felt reassured they were reliable on their recall before letting them off the lead (I understand I need written consent from the owner before removing the lead), I was also considering buying and using my own harness', headcollars etc as I would know they were of good quality and frequently inspected, however after reading the clauses on other sites would I be right to assume I'm best using the owners collars/leads as to not make myself liable should the equipment fail? Any walkers on here that could give some tips/advice on other aspects would also be highly appreciated, I will be starting very small with a maximum of 2 easier to control dogs or 1 difficult dog at a time.

Ohhhh Dave, that's a big step to make from auto technician to dog walker

Have you done some research in your local area to see how many others are already doing it, or is there already a gap in the market ??

Have you thought about doing any training yourself in canine behaviour - this would also make it a nice side line to go with the dog walking. You can do many courses online by distance learning, this is something I am seriously considering doing myself at the moment, although I need to get financial help with my course fees.

Start small with just a couple of dogs as you said and work your way up by word of mouth. Good luck hope it works out for you.

A friend of mine is an occasional dog walker, so some of these facts have been gleaned from her. Firstly the CRB is now called DBS, it does not go with you from one job to another, so you will have to be checked out again.
You have mentioned liability, also your own car insurance may be affected. Some dog owners will expect a written contract as to exactly what you will be doing and for how long with their dog. Some Councils stipulate the number of dogs that can be exercised by a dog walker. You have to factor in wet days and drying dogs down, that will make you late for your next pick up. My friend pointed out that the dogs that are exercised together should have roughly the same energy levels, nothing worse than one dragging along behind when the others are raring to go in front.
£1,000 is quite a sum to invest and I wish you all the best in these not so easy times
As you mention it would be good to have some emergency first aid for dogs and Kathy mentioned taking a course in canine behavior both sound excellent ideas. Good Luck

Hi thanks for the replies, there is currently a gap as the nearest walker is 5 miles away. Even with all the advertising costs, additional insurance costs and equipment there will be quite a lot of change from £1000, I was surprised at how low the liability insurance is and this includes key cover etc. I will be allocating 15 minutes between appointments for drying down and travel from one client to another as the area I'm covering can be travelled in just a few minutes, the village can be broken down into 4 main areas from which a suitable walking area can be reached by foot within 5-10 minutes, I will start with one area and once I feel comfortable in my new role I will cater for the other areas, the wife will have the car for the kids so travelling from one are to another will be done on my motorbike, if enough interest is shown and I can establish a good client base I will buy a van, no point buying the van if I only have a handfull of customers. The only problem this would pose is picking up a 2nd dog on route as it would mean taking the first dog to the 2nd clients house, in this instance I would probably take the car for a few hour, as I say if 2 dogs become a regular thing I have thee cash to buy a van, I will look into the training courses and if I have to redo the CRB or whatever it's now called then I'll just do it.

you want get yourself a nice poster and put what you offer and getting in everywhere dog owners will see it

1) pets shops
2) vets
3) playing fields builds
4) if you have country parks (we do a few with builds)
5) post offices
6) local shops

i would get a map and draw a circle how far you want to travel and try get a poster in every shops, vets, post offices, local shops and so on in the circle.

Best of luck to you! Sounds like an adventure!

Ok so a bit of an update, I now have insurance in place, have posted leaflets and put them in the places suggested by Steve and currently working on a website, my vet is going to give me some basic first aid knowledge when I take Stig in tomorrow and informed me that they have leaflets in the waiting room that will also be of use to me (to be honest I should have done this sooner for my own dog if nothing else), I havealso bought a few bits to help out along the way in terms of promoting business and hopefully making the walks a little more pleasurable for the dogs.

Up to now I have bought a bit of a uniform which involves lots of pockets and a hi viz with the company name on the back, 50ft training lead, balls and launcher, lots of poop bags, treats, a slip chain (incase a dogs collar/harness breaks, I'd have preffered a slip lead but it's more luggage to carry) and tomorrow I will be sourcing a first aid kit for dogs. For the just in case scenario I also have corrector spray, Kevlar gloves and am considering a break stick but unsure of this, these items are for other peoples out of control dogs and not the ones I'll be walking (or atleast I hope not).

I have a contract drawn up with t&c's on etc and areas to sign in relation to whether you permit your dog to be off the lead etc and a disclaimer stating that if your dog is of a banned type and you fail to notify me I will willingly allow the authorities to seize the dog and accept no liability, however I also state I will not walk these dogs if I suspect they are a banned type. And now to the awesome part, I have currently walked 7 dogs, 4 of which were a free 30 minute trial walk I give as part of the introduction and 3 that have become regular customers within a week of advertising, 2 of these are walked for 1 hour 3 times a week and one daily for 1 hour so not a bad start really, hopefully word will spread but we'll see, the 15 minutes between clients was a bit ambitious so I'm currently aiming to leave an hour in between until I get into the swing of it and can more accurately judge the time between walks and at present rather than give a definate time I tell them it will be sometime between this hour and the next, ie one of the 3 dayers is at 1pm and the daily at 2, I tend to walk the 1pm dog to the 2pm dog which is on route and I arrive at the 2pm dogs house at about 5past 1, almost an hour early, the 1 hour walk starts only when I leave the 2nd dogs house. The owners up to now are fine with the tinescales and have been very accomodating in terms of allowing me to take the first dog into the 2nd dogs house to pick up, I do aim to improve these things as some owners won't be as accomodating and it's understandable, it's early days but I'm loving it up to now and am hoping it will just keep getting better, I've also been asked by my daily guy about having his dog when he go's on holiday, I've explained this opens up a new side to the business in terms of insurance and my ability to do both walking and sitting but the missus is happy to come on board if it takes off, so potential for day care somewhere down the line. The advice given has been helpful and has all been used so thanks to all who replied

Just had a thought Dave, what will you do if you are unable to walk the dogs on a particular day, do you have another walker lined up to take your place? There may be a day that you are not well enough to walk them or for another reason ie: family funeral for example.

As of yet I have nothing in place for this, and the missus although pretty good with dogs at home is not the most confident with other peoples, I do need to sort something incase this does happen but I also have to be very careful, I need somebody I can trust not just in terms of common sense and and reliability but also to enter clients homes, unfortunately the only people I know that fit this criterie (not many I might add) work full time, I think the only other solution is to occasionally take the missus out with me and allow her to become familiar with the dogs and also give her some pointers along the way, this is difficult with 3 kids but we can arrange for her to come out about once a week, once I'm happy she's up to the job I will then put her on the insurance, also if I do decide to offer a daycare service and overnight boardings the missus will assume the role of dogsitter so she needs to be involved to an extent anyway, but yes you're absoloutely right, if I were to become poorly at this moment in time I would have a big problem

Your on your way Dave, the Best of Good Wishes in your new work.