Home Sweet Home Pet Sitting in Yorkville has grown steadily ever since Jessica Stachelski started the business in 2007, and is now a six figure business with seven employees.  While small businesses in most industries have been affected by the downturn in the economy, this pet sitting/dog walking business has been growing steadily.

 

But Home Sweet Home's growth and success has not come without some challenges.  Jessica uses the services of the Illinois SBDC at Waubonsee Community College to help her develop strategies to meet these challenges head on.

 

Due to the nature of the pet sitting business, recruiting and retaining quality employees requires a lot of Jessica's time and attention.  While the job offers a flexible schedule, and an attractive hourly rate, it also requires employees to work outdoors in all types of weather, and demands total reliability and trustworthiness -- and of course, qualified employees must be dog lovers.  While turnover in this business is inevitable, Jessica has found ways to minimize the problem and shares the following techniques she uses to recruit and retain employess:

 

"When I am interviewing, I always make sure the interview involves the potential staff member meeting some of our excited pets.  Their body language and how they handle themselves show me the type of pet sitter they would be.  I guess you could say my interview is pretty hands-on.  I like to take my time hiring just the right person who wants to work with animals and get paid well at the same time.

 

As for retaining staff, I try to be flexible and listen to their concerns.  I want my staff to enjoy their job even though the weather can make things miserable.  I've done staff dinners/breakfasts and contests, but I think the thing that works the best is just being available to them when they need help.  Keeping morale high is also important to me.  Pet sitters work very odd hours, and it doesn't allow for much else.  So that the staff gets a chance to take time off, go to appointments and such, I encourage them to trade pet sitting assignments with each other.  This way they work as a team, and it doesn't put the burden of filling in on me."

 

If you are looking for a pet sitter or dog walker, you can find Jessica on the web at www.homesweethomepets.biz, by phone at (630) 728-4215 or email at jessica@homesweethomepets.biz.  Office hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.