The Plan!

As many of you know, I've been in and out of work for the last 10 months. But I have come up with a plan!

I have a job 3 nights a week sleeping over at a 87 year old ladies house. I give her her meds evenings and mornings and make her breakfast. That pays 300 a week, a little over 1000 a month. That alone will pay the bills.

I will also be doing after school care for 2 twin sisters and their kids. The mom Carrie is the one I nannied for some years ago. I know all the kids, and I"ll be driving around a lot. Carrie has 2 girls and Kelly has 3 boys. They all go to the same school- St. Louise Catholic Parish school in Bellevue. That will make me about 200-250 a week and that will also pay the bills.

Here comes the exciting part. I'm going to be a dog walker! I'll start up my own business, have a web page that links to the merrymoore park dog walkers association. A lady in my ward, has been doing this for a little over a year.I went with her yesterday and brought my dogs as well. What happens is you go around, pick up dogs, put them in the back of your car (she's going to let me borrow her truck and then possibly buy) and then take them to the 40 acres off leash dog park in Redmond. You let them run for 60 to 90 min. They stay with their "pack" and they can also swim in the river. They come home exhausted. The owners pay about 20 to 23 for the whole time, so depending on how many dogs you have will depend on how much you make an hour. It will take a while to get the business going, but if you have a fenced in back yard you can always board dogs too! Which I will offer. Shelly has made any where from 1500 to 3500 a month. The business license is 44 dollars in Bellevue, the liability insurance is 80 a year and there's things like business cards, advertising, etc. Shelly meets the dog and family before, has them sign a liability waver, gets the emergency info, finds out what commands the dog knows, etc. Some people would like the service daily, others just a few times a week. It's a luxury and so, a few families have lowered the days, but she still has enough dogs. Tomorrow we go with 8 dogs and my 2! Yesterday we went with only 4 and my two. You go rain or shine or snow.

Shelly is a master at the business: she has had callars made with her business name and her cell phone on it, so the dogs wear that when they are in the park. Other dog walkers have picked up on this and are following suit. She even has colors she wears. She knows all the names of the other walkers and their cell phone numbers so you can get a hold of them if she can't find a dog- which doesn't happen a lot.

I'm coming up with possible name ideas for my business. Here are a few: "fur creatures: dog walking and boarding" "a dog about town" I stole this one- it's a name of a company in CA. "Dog Tired" stolen as well. "Just dogging around" Not stolen! I really like "Out of the Cage!" Shelly's is Moosepaw dog walkers.

I'm excited because this is right up my alley! I've got money coming in while I build up the business! I also have nights off to have a social life!