How to start a dog walking business

Your first month, step by step

Seven things to sort, roughly in this order. Most take an afternoon. The same steps work for a doggy daycare or home boarding, with one extra licence check (step 3). Tick them off as you go.

1. Register as self-employed

   Most walkers start as a sole trader: you are the business, and you pay tax on your profit. In New Zealand, you use your own IRD number and file an IR3 return each year; GST registration only becomes compulsory once your turnover passes $60,000 in a 12-month period. In the UK, register with HMRC for Self Assessment by 5 October after the end of the tax year you started in; VAT registration is compulsory once your turnover passes the VAT threshold.

   Open a separate bank account for the business from day one and keep every receipt: fuel, leads, poo bags, treats, insurance, a share of your phone. Thresholds and dates change, so check the details on IRD's or HMRC's own website, and an accountant is worth an hour once you have a few regular clients.

2. Get public liability insurance

   Public liability covers you if a dog in your care injures someone or damages their property: a lead wrapped round a jogger, a bike knocked over. Ask for a policy that names dog walking (and daycare or boarding if you will do those), and check it covers the number of dogs you will walk at once.

   Ask about care, custody and control cover too, since ordinary public liability often excludes the animals you are looking after, and about cover for lost client keys. If you drive dogs, tell your car or van insurer: a personal policy may not cover business use.

3. Check your council's rules

   Councils set where dogs may be off lead, where they are not allowed at all, and in some places how many dogs one person may walk at once. Some parks ask professional walkers for a permit. Read your council's dog control rules before you plan a pack, and check each park you mean to use.

   Boarding and daycare are a bigger step. In the UK, home boarding and doggy daycare need a licence from your council (in England, an animal activity licence), with an inspection before you start. In New Zealand, check with your council before you take dogs into your home for daycare or overnight stays.

4. Set your prices

   Decide what you sell: a solo walk, a pack outing, a half or full day, a night's boarding. Then price it from your costs, not from the cheapest ad you can find. Count the whole trip, not just the walk: collecting and dropping off can double the time, and the van, fuel, insurance and tax all come out of the price.

   Look at what walkers near you charge, and put your terms in writing from the first client: how much notice to cancel, what a second dog from the same home costs, and when payment is due.

   What could a month bring in?

   NZ$ £

   Dogs a day

   Your price a walk NZ$

   Days a week

   A month could bring in

   —

   Dogs × your price × days a week × 52 weeks ÷ 12, before costs and tax.

   BarkBus, one van: NZ$29 a month, or £15 a month inc. VAT in the UK.

   BarkBus bills every walk for you: each one becomes a charge on the owner's account.

5. Find your first clients

   Your first clients are usually close by: neighbours, friends of friends, and people you already pass on your own walks. Ask local vets, groomers and pet shops if you can leave a card, post in your local community groups (read each group's rules first), and ask every happy client to tell one friend.

   Meet each dog and owner before the first walk. Check how the dog is with other dogs and on a lead, its recall, the vet's details and an emergency contact, and agree how you will get in. A short paid trial walk tells you both whether it fits.

   BarkBus gives owners an app: they book from their phone and mark days off.

6. Plan your round

   Group dogs by where they live and by how they get on, and grow a pack slowly: add one new dog at a time and watch how the group settles. Collect in an order that cuts the driving, and give owners a time window they can count on.

   If you drive dogs, secure them with crates or a guard. Carry water, a first aid kit, spare leads and bags, and count every dog in and out of the vehicle at every stop.

   BarkBus puts your pickups in order on a map, with a roll call as each dog gets in.

7. Get paid on time

   Pick one rhythm and keep to it: bill weekly, on the same day, in advance or for the week just gone. Ask for bank transfers with the dog's name as the reference, and follow up a late payment within a few days, politely and in writing. Owners pay on time when they know when the bill comes and what it covers.

   Keep a record of every walk as it happens, not from memory on a Sunday night. It is what settles a disputed bill in one message.

   BarkBus matches payments from your bank to the right owner.