As mentioned in the video above, here is a copy of COVID19 Letter 2 to Clients and Health Safety Guidelines for my clients during these hard times.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the pet sitting industry has been hit real hard. A lot of us are struggling with it, but I’m here to remind you that this is temporary.

Guess what? Now is the time when you can sit down and focus on your business. Let’s try and look at the positive of the situation and make the most of our time.

As examples, here are some updates regarding my company.

(1) In Pennsylvania, where I live, Governor Wolf said that animal care was not an essential business. So we closed our doors entirely, and I furloughed my entire staff of pet sitters. These make them eligible for unemployment, and they will have a position with me when my company opens its doors again.

(2) I kept my three managers working in streamlining the business. We go through our manuals, update our standard operating procedures, go through our email list, create a marketing action plan, etc.

(3) Last week, Governor Wolf moved animal care over to the essential business list. By the time I’m recording this video, we have not yet reopened but I have drafted a letter, wherein I try to evaluate who among my clients needs pet care services.

If there is a need, I then contact my sitters and say, “If work becomes available, would you be willing to get back out into the field?” Then based on those responses, I’ll be matching up my customers with the sitters.

(4) I provided COVID-19 healthy safety guidelines for both sitters and clients, as listed below.

Pet Sitter Guidelines

1. Pet sitters should sanitize their hands before entering our client’s home
2. Pet sitters must wash their hands for 20 seconds immediately after entering the client’s home
3. Pet sitter refills the water bowl after washing their hands
4. Pet sitter wipes the leash with an antibacterial wipe or spray.
5. Pet sitters wipe off any surfaces touched with an antibacterial wipe or spray, including door handles, keypads, and lockboxes
6. Pet sitter washes their hands when exiting the client’s home
7. Pet sitter is to alert the Pet Nanny office if they suspect an illness and are uncomfortable returning to the client’s home

Client Guidelines

1. Client wipes down any surfaces like door handles and faucet handles with an antibacterial cleaner or wipes before the pet sitter arrives for their visit
2. Clients are to have soap, paper towels, and running water immediately available
3. If the client is home and the pet sitter arrives for a visit, there are two options
   • Option one, the client washes their hands, prepares their dogs for their walk, and then does a hand-off at the door with their pets sitter
   • Option two, the client goes to another part of the house while their pet sitter follows the procedures stated above
4. If the client does become sick on a day where we have a scheduled visit, the client is to let the office know as soon as possible so that we can cancel the scheduled visit and any upcoming visits

Here are other ways you can do to create cash flow during these hard times:

• Contact your customers and give an early booking discount. If they book any visits for the summer now, you might want to give them a little discount
• Offer concierge services if you’re comfortable going out. People are scared to go shopping and doing that sort of stuff
• Poop scooping services

This pandemic is temporary, and we’re all in this together. I am here for you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need anything whatsoever. Stay healthy, stay well, and I’ll talk to you soon.