Hi, good question! Transitioning from your existing job to a new one is always tricky I find. I think no matter how perfect we line things up it will be a little scary at first and you'll need to hustle extra hard in the beginning. But in regards to tips here are a few quick ones I thought of:

* Get friendly with some of the existing dog walkers in the neighborhood and see if they can refer you extra dogs they have. Lots of individual dog walkers have so many clients they can't even handle them.

* Start doing pet sits if you aren't already. Pet Sits can be very profitable and the extra income can be a stop gap if it takes time for your daily dog walking route to develop. But if you start doing pet sits while you have the 9-5 HR job you'll need to figure out how to cover the daytime walk(s) while you are at work (or you could start by only offering pet sits on the weekends).

* Take a risk. You simply might need to make a run at creating your new route and if you need it to work I'm sure you'll go out and make it so.

Hope this helps you and if you have any further questions feel free to ask, thanks!

Even when you have been in business for years you will never be able to expect a regular paycheck.. It can become very scary projecting income. This winter we had horrendous blizzards which threw everything out the window. If you have a solid base with a good rep it will always work out. Wishing you the very best in your new venture. :)

When I started out in 2008 I just got married and my husband suggested I quit my 6 figure salary and start a business for us..something that I could be the boss of..and so that I could be home.

Even with his income covering our expenses it was still scary..while my business was working it's way up...I did pet sits, dog walks, quick visits, overnights, etc..but the one thing that immediately took off was poop scooping...you can work it around your current job and slowly build the client base..most of my poop scoop clients use me to care for their pets when they are gone. We have been in business for a little over a year and I have started hiring employees..the scariest thing to do start turning over some of my control to other to care for my clients...

Most of our dog walking clients are Mon-Fri between 11-3 while their owners are at work..
I think until you just take the plunge and go 100% into the business you will always find an excuse..

The other thing is Pet Care Services are not a get rich quick scheme..it will take you some time to build up a good client base.

Thank you so much everyone for your input.

People say that starting a pet sitting business is easy because it doesn't require much start-up capital. While that's true, it's just as valid to say that the start-up capital you need is a nice stash of savings to keep you going until things are running smoothly. I was lucky when I started out as a dog walker because I had a very low rent (for Manhattan) and I had a relatively simple lifestyle with low expenses.

Hey Willy, great point, sometimes it's best to start your pet service as a part-time gig and compensate with a night time or off hour job too...