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Kit & Kaboodle Pet Care Service
(Published in Small Business Support, Summer 2001)
Small Business Support is a publication of the Small Business Development Center of Loudoun County
While adults are away at work, children are at school and families are on vacation, Carmen Velasco and her crew of pet walkers and sitters with Kit & Kaboodle Pet Care Service are busy exercising, washing, feeding and pampering the four legged members of families throughout Loudoun County.
To ramp up for the start of her business, Ms. Velasco took out a flyer insert in one of the local papers right before the holiday season. That flyer generated so much business that she actually had to turn some clients away! Soon after, Ms. Velasco hired five part-time pet sitters and is still looking for more help to meet the growing demand.
Ms. Velasco is planning to expand her business to be the premier pet sitting service in Loudoun County. At the hallmark of her business management philosophy is customer service. Ms. Velasco encourages open dialog with all of her clients. She strives to compete with other local pet care businesses on quality, not price.
According to Ms. Velasco, “The well-being of the animal is of the utmost importance to me.” To maintain her high standard of service, Ms. Velasco regularly holds staff meetings and training events for all of her employees. After each visit clients fill out an evaluation sheet that is directly tied to a pay bonus for their sitter.
Responding to the expressed need in Loudoun County, Ms. Velasco will soon be expanding her business to include horse sitting – Kit & Kaboodle Equine Care. She will start with two horse sitters; one has a background in equine management and is a certified animal masseuse, and the second recently started a nonprofit horse rescue organization in Loudoun County called Have a Heart Farm. Ms. Velasco is also hoping to one day offer a mobile pet grooming service and a dog daycare center to offer more options to her growing clientele.
From the beginning, Ms. Velasco worked with the Loudoun County Small Business Development Center to help her with her business plan and financial forcasting. She is also very active in other local business and networking groups including: the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce, the Lunch Bunch Lead Share Group at the Loudoun Chamber, and the Northern Virginia Pet Sitter Association, a chapter of Pet Sitters International.
Ms. Velasco has three tips for other budding entrepreneurs:
1. Write a business plan.
2. Implement financial forecasting.
3. Do your research!