You Deserve Some Help

High five

You Deserve Some Help

Training The Perfect Dog Pro Staff

Staff training is essential to the success of your business. The better trained your employees are, the smarter they work. Well-trained employees are more engaged and more likely to solve problems independently. Because they feel more valued, they are happier in their jobs, which in turn is reflected in their productivity. And yet, job training is often random and uninspired. An outgoing employee shows a new person the ropes in whichever way he or she likes. A manager spends half an hour going over a new piece of equipment or software. One complaint too many triggers a lecture-style …

Read more

6 Tips For Keeping Great Employees

We’ve written about the importance of hiring help to get the support you need to push your business forward while maintaining a sustainable work/life balance. We’ve talked about finding and hiring the right people for the job. But equally important is doing what it takes to keep good people when you find them. Employee turnover costs time and money and causes a great deal of stress. So taking good care of the good ones is worth the effort. Here are six things you can do to hold on to your valued employees. 1. Make It Clear Even the best employees can’t be expected to read minds. Don’t …

Read more

Hiring Help: Employees vs. Independent Contractors

“Should I hire employees or independent contractors?” It’s one of the most common questions we hear. First off – congratulations. Pondering the hiring plunge is often a good sign of your business’s health. But growth can be stressful, particularly when it involves taxes and paperwork. Compared to the IRS, dogs are easy to understand. We’re here to help. Many first-time employers are tempted to go the independent contractor route, having heard it’s easier and cheaper. Maybe you have dog pro peers using IC’s. But make sure you know the implications of your choice, as the legal consequences …

Read more

Hiring Help: 3 Tips for Dog Pros

It’s not easy becoming a dog pro. It takes tremendous time, energy, and persistence to attain the right education, open up shop, and attract enough clients to sustain and grow your small business. You work hard to establish and market your brand, network with trusted peers, and attract those worth-their-weight-in-gold recommendations from friends, vets, and clients. Which is why it could spell disaster when, after all your hard work, a new potential client takes a chance and calls your number, only to encounter a bored, rude, or hostile voice on the other end. Or you have to deal with a dog …

Read more

Fire Fast

If you’ve had any experience as an employer, you know that not every hire turns out to be a gem. Given the time put into the hiring and training process, these mismatches can be very disappointing. But if you’re tempted to hold on to a subpar employee and simply see if things get better, don’t. The old adage “Hire slow and fire fast” holds some real business wisdom. Yes, it takes time to find and train a new person. Yes, it plays havoc with the schedule to be down a staff member. Sure, the employee in question may have some bright spots and good skill sets. But the longer you labor on with …

Read more

Hiring: You Deserve Help

Most dog service businesses are one-person affairs. If you run one, you know what it’s like to juggle a multitude of tasks and wear too many hats at once: Trainer/walker/sitter/daycare or boarding operator, administrative assistant, marketing manager, bookkeeper, accountant, customer service rep, even janitor. We find in our business consulting work and when on the road speaking at conferences and seminars that many dog pros are exhausted by the pressure of keeping up—or the stress of not being able to. When we suggest hiring some help, the reaction is often shock. “Oh, I couldn’t do that. …

Read more

Staff Training That Works

Job training is essential to the success of your business. The better trained your employees are, the smarter they work. Well-trained employees are more engaged and more likely to solve problems independently. Because they feel more valued, they are happier in their jobs, which in turn is reflected in their productivity. And yet, job training is often random and uninspired. An outgoing employee shows a new person the ropes in whichever way he or she likes. A manager spends half an hour going over a new piece of equipment. One complaint too many triggers a lecture-style presentation by the …

Read more

Staff Reviews That Work

Staff performance reviews enjoy near-universal unpopularity—dreaded by employer and employee alike. For the employer, reviews feel like meaningless busywork, something you are expected to do but which never really seems productive or useful. Many employers are also uncomfortable having to assess people and possibly deliver criticisms. For the employee, the process can be both punishing and embarrassing. Some avoid reviews altogether. In another common scenario, the responsible manager downloads a generic HR template online that contains only superficial review criteria like attitude and …

Read more

Ask For Help

If you’re reading this column, chances are you’ve been trained to work with dogs, and well trained. But running a business, any business, calls for a Renaissance skill set and unreasonable amounts of time: in past columns I’ve touched on the stress of adding administrative duties, accounting, bookkeeping, marketing, etc. to your job as dog trainer. New clients often say to me that it feels impossible, and I agree—it is. Which is why one secret to success in business is to do what you do well and get help with the rest. The majority of dog pros set out in the world of business on a …

Read more