If you have employees in your pet sitting business, then you know how valuable they are to your company. But you may not have considered the cost of hiring pet sitters in your pet sitting business.

Before we go into costs, I want you to think about how much a new employee could be worth to your company?

How much revenue are they capable of handling in a year? Write that number down.

Now let’s flip the script and think of how much does it cost to have an employee and look at it as an investment.

The True Cost Of Hiring Pet Sitters In Your Pet Sitting Business

Personality & Background Tests

While completely necessary, personality and background tests can be a costly part of hiring pet sitters. Tests such as the Orion Test are an important component of getting the applicant’s story, but these things are definitely not free. Background checks also can cost around $30-$60 each time you run them. Needless to say, these things add up!

Fun Fact: Did you know that personality tests are illegal in Massachusetts? Sorry MA friends!

Training

Training is another large portion when discussing the cost behind hiring pet sitters. Not only are you investing the money into the pet sitter who’s training them (unless you do it yourself), but you’re investing time and resources.

If you pay the trainee, you’re also racking up a cost there. Hiring a new pet sitter definitely takes a lot of time and resources, so you want to make sure you’re training the right person!

New Hire Set-Up

It may (or may not) take quite a bit of time to get your new pet sitter “set-up.” This includes in your pet sitting software system and payroll company as well as setting them up with an email account and Google Voice number (if you do those things!).

Also, think about the time it takes to put your new hire on your website, complete with their photograph and biography. The point is it takes time to get your new pet sitter completely set-up in your company, so we have to include that when discussing the cost of hiring pet sitters.

New Pet Sitter Starter Kit

Do you provide your new pet sitters with supplies when they start with your company? This is something I personally never did in my company, but I know that lots of business owners do. This may include poop bags, first aid kits, business cards, magnets, fliers, bark cards, and more.

When you give these supplies to a new hire, factor in the cost. All of these items may be inexpensive individually, but like everything in business, it adds up!

Hiring Advertisements

Do you spend money for hiring ads on sites like Craigslist, Indeed, or Hireology? While these ads may have brought you in some quality applicants, this is yet another cost to factor in to the equation. Paid advertisements are great because they can have a much larger reach, but they can be costly and of course do add up. If you’re having trouble thinking of places of where to find pet sitting applicants, check out this article here.

Do you feel like you’re constantly pouring time and energy into hiring only to interview a ton of candidates that do not represent your ideal applicant?

One way this can be avoided is by streamlining your hiring process using a hiring software, such as JazzHR. Using JazzHR can give you the assurance needed to feel confident in every applicant and know that the cost of hiring pet sitters is being turned into an investment.

Learn more secrets to success on JazzHR and Indeed in my new article, here.

Conclusion

There is a clear and large cost to hiring pet sitters. However, it’s basically inevitable for any company with employees.

What’s important is that you recognize this cost, and then try to minimize it.

Minimizing both the financial cost and time spent by streamlining processes will make your business run smoothly and will make you a happier business owner!