Rover.com – start your own pet sitting service
I started a professional pet sitting service in 2008. I’ve always took pleasure in the flexibility and challenge of owning my own business, but it can also be overwhelming.
One option that can make this process a little much easier for pet sitters is to start a service under a larger company such as Rover.com.
“Rover helps pet parents find loving sitters, so their pet can stay in a real home while they are away,” according to its web site. “Whether you’re a professional pet dog sitter or an enthusiastic dog-lover, Rover makes it easy to earn money pet sitting.”
While starting your own pet sitting service takes a lot of time and planning, you can create a complimentary pet sitting profile with Rover.com in a few minutes and potentially start taking clients that very week. I’ve already started to fill out my profile with Rover as both a pet sitter and someone trying to find pet care.
As a pet sitter through Rover.com you set your own schedule and rates, and you specify whether you’ll enjoy dogs in your own home or at the client’s home.
According to Rover.com, its top pet sitters make $7,000 per month.
I am able to look at this from a special perspective because I already own a private pet sitting company. This allows me to see both the pros and cons of starting up a service the “Rover route” versus on your own.
Pros to starting a pet sitting service through Rover.com:
1. Rover.com is a safe way to get started. There’s not quite as much to worry about as far as paperwork, invoicing and accounting. and if you decide to maintain your own pet sitting service separately, you could still do that as well.
2. It’s a good way to “test the waters” and see how severe you are about pet sitting with less risk.
3. Rover.com uses you a lot of flexibility. It’s best if you’re just trying to find a part-time job or a little extra spending cash.
4. Every stay booked through Rover is covered by its peace of Mind Protection, which will reimburse sitters up to $2,000 in emergency vet bills, according to Rover.com. Sitters also have the option of enrolling in an additional protection package which uses a lot more protection and additional benefits.
Cons to starting a pet sitting service through Rover.com:
1. depending on where you live, there could be a lot of other sitters already subscribed with Rover.com. This will make it a lot more tough to get your profile seen. Just because you’re provided on the site doesn’t indicate you’ll get customers.
2. Rover.com handles the invoicing (which is convenient) but it keeps 15 percent of payments.
From the point of view of the pet dog owner, there are also some pros and cons to hiring a pet sitter through Rover.com vs. hiring an independent pet sitter.
What I like about Rover as a pet dog owner:
1. It only takes a few minutes to set up an account and begin searching for a sitter. considering that there are several sitters in the database, it’s fairly easy to find one available for the dates you need, even holidays.
2. You can search through a variety of profiles until you find someone you’re comfortable with. Ideally, you’d be able to hire that sitter whenever you need someone.
3. considering that a lot of of the pet sitters are trying to find a part-time income the rates are more affordable than some independent pet sitters. A representative of Rover.com said “the average prices range from $25 to $40 per night for one dog.”
4. It’s easy to leave reviews, so if you have a bad experience with a sitter, you can let others know not to hire her.
What’s not so good for pet dog owners:
1. I’m pleased it’s easy for pet sitters to sign up, but undoubtedly that comes with its risks. On its terms of service page Rover.com states, “We have no control over the conduct of our users or the truth or accuracy of the information that users post on the site or supply through the Services.”
2. lots of of the sitters provided on the site are students. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I’m a lot more comfortable hiring someone who is passionate about pet dog sitting as a career, not as a side job.
A čo ty? have any of you started pet sitting through Rover.com? have you ever hired a sitter through Rover?
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