Tips for Pet Caretakers on Growing Your Business with Barkly
Growing Your Pet Care Business with Barkly
Barkly Pets is an app for professional dog walkers, small pet care business owners, and entrepreneurs. At Barkly, we focus on the direct relationship between a customer and their dog walker.
Customers use the app to book directly with the walker they choose. Barkly does not randomly assign walkers to customer requests unless the customer has selected to send their walk request out to all available walkers in their area.
The majority of Barkly walkers use the platform to manage their existing customers and pet care businesses by inviting their customers to manage their pets’ care through the platform.
Pet owners without an existing caretaker are able to discover and book with a new caretaker directly through our platform. However, the most successful walkers leverage their existing business to build their ratings and Barkly presence to attract customers discovering new caretakers.
Barkly Pro Membership
Unlike other pet care platforms, Barkly does not take 20-30% commission from our pet caretaker’s earnings. Pet caretakers using Barkly set their own rates and cancellation policies, and take 100% of their earnings (excluding the credit card processing fees: 2.9% +$0.30).
If you earn $100 in a given month, we will process an $8.50 membership fee that month. If you earn less than $100, there will be no charge.
There is no cap to your earnings, so walkers earning $1000 monthly on Barkly will still only be charged $8.50 for that month. The membership fee will be processed automatically as soon as your earnings exceed $100. You will need to connect a credit or debit card to your account which you can do in the Barkly Walker app under the “Membership” tab in the drop down menu.
Growing Your Business: How to Leverage the Barkly Platform to Gain New Customers
- Make your bio stand out from the pack. First impressions are everything. A good dog walker bio is key to convincing a customer that you are the best person to care for their beloved pet. Read our blog article on ways you can highlight your pet care experience. Having a solid pet care bio is key to growing your business.
- Improve your pet care credentials with certification courses. You can expand your knowledge by taking the five training courses through the Barkly app. After passing each course, you’ll earn a badge certification which will be displayed on your public profile webpage for new customers to see.
- Share a direct link to your profile on places like Nextdoor, Craigslist, Reddit, Instagram, and Facebook. If customers book through your profile, you automatically receive all of their requests as their preferred walker. You can find your URL link in the Barkly app under “Edit Profile” > select “Webpage” > select “URL”. Your web page setting must be set to “Public” > “Yes” in order to see your URL.
- Print out your flyer with your unique promo code and post it around your neighborhood. You can find your flyer under “Refer Clients” in the drop down menu.
How to Invite Current Customers to Barkly
You may already have a strong clientele independently or with another service. The best way to invite existing customers to start using Barkly is by offering them a discount or incentive.
For instance, if they are using another service where they are charged $20 for a 30 minute walk and you receive only $16 of those earnings, then try inviting them to Barkly at a lower rate of $18. That way, they are paying less, and you’re keeping all of your earnings.
Additionally, you can incentivize customers with Barkly’s award-winning technology which has been recognized by industry leaders like Purina. They won’t be using just any app, they’ll be using one of the most elite apps in the pet care industry. In short, we’re the best app for their dog, because we’re the best app for pet caretakers.
Invite your current customers using your unique promo code, which you can find in the app under “Refer Clients”. Once your client enters your promo code, you’ll be set as their preferred walker, and the walks they book will be sent directly to you.
What If I Don’t Have My Customer’s Phone Number?
Walkers who do not have their customer’s phone numbers have found success in leaving “Thank You” cards letting their customers know how much they’ve appreciated working for them, and that they’ve started their own business, and then leaving the details of how to reach them there.
Final Notes
Prepare growing your business and make sure you’re attracting new customers in a meaningful way. If you have regular customers who you’d like to move over to Barkly, start inviting them. Remember to follow social distance and safety protocols when walking dogs and visiting customer’s homes.
Over 100,000 walks have been completed through the Barkly platform, and we look forward to helping you grow your pet care business with us as well. We certainly want you to be as successful as possible on our platform, which is why we offer you full commission as well as the tools you need to help grow your business.
