Hi Kristin,
I have been setting, questioning and adjusting my prices multiple times over the last year.
On one hand, given the affluent area I live in and the many years of animal care experience that I have; I thought that my services were worth a higher amount, and on paper I was fairly confident in my prices. On occasion, I would lose confidence when I was in person talking to the owner during the meet and greet – that increased twofold after I did a price analysis in my area. On the other hand, thinking that I overcharged in comparison to other pet sitters in my area, I started second guessing my prices and backpedaling on my prices all the time! This caused a bit of an issue as almost all my clients were at different prices.
Talking to you gave me the peace of mind and confidence to set and keep my prices!
I have had 3 new clients reach out to me since our talk and I was able to state my prices confidently without second guessing myself or backpedaling. And all three clients ended up booking with me!
Through our talk, as well as listening to your Prosperous Pet Business podcast episodes, I have learned from you that this is MY business and that, ultimately, I am the one in control of my prices, my hours, my policies, and the type of clients that I choose to provide service.
It can be easy to give up control to my clients as I am a “former people-pleaser”, who is working on holding firm to my boundaries. There are plenty of pets and owners in my area and not every one of them will be a good fit for me.
I have also been practicing speaking my value. I liked the affirmation that we worked on in our session, but the descriptor word just wasn’t quite right for me. However, I was shopping online for some pet sitter shirts to wear during meet & greets and found this shirt that says “Pet Sitter Extraordinaire”. It just seemed to click for me! “I provide extraordinary value to my clients”.
I have that written on a 3×5 card on my work bulletin board and have been trying to remember to read it daily and it seems to be helping me. I have not created a vision board for my business yet, but I am eager to do so as I am a visual person and the last time, I created a vision board it really seemed to work for me. Within a year of making it, I met my now husband, I moved, I started my own business, and I’ve met some new friends.
After our talk, I adjusted my prices to what you suggested: $30 for 30 minutes and $38 for 45 minutes. But I decided that I prefer cat clients and while I will care for any type of animal, I want to focus on cats, so I created lower cat-only prices and raised my pet sitting prices to where they were originally. I have also added an “almost overnight” option that I call “Bed & Breakfast.” I have not had the chance to try it out yet, to see if I want to keep it as an option that I offer.
Kristin, I want to thank you for your passion and desire to help pet business owners and the many, many resources you have created and shared with all of us!
I have greatly benefited from your book, 30 Days To Start and Grow Your Pet Sitting and Dog Walking Business, your Prosperous Pet Business and Business Pathfinder podcasts, your webinars, and I have purchased your “Business Start-Up Kit for Pet Sitters and Dog Walkers”.
I definitely want to have more one-on-one sessions with you in the future, and I will continue to follow your work and learn more things from you, as well as from the Facebook communities that you have created.
Thank you, Kristin. Without you I don’t think I would have had the confidence to try and make it on my own as a solo pet sitter and business owner.”
~Brionna
