# Need advice



## municipleguy (Apr 18, 2013)

Heyy all, im in the process of opening my own dog servicing business including dog walking feeding, worming and fleaing treatment and washing i was wondering if anyone new what insurence would be needed and was licenses i will need thanks.


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## Hardwick Hounds (May 30, 2012)

The only licence you need is for boarding/kenneling. You need to be an Suitably Qualified Person to sell _and administer_ flea and worm treatments.

If you want to bath dogs, I would strongly suggest you do a bathing and drying course because if you don't use the correct products, techniques and methods you can cause matting, injury and stress to the dog. Some of the grooming equipment you will need is expensive and wouldn't necessarily be a worth while start up cost if you don't intend to run a grooming business. You would find that using your own bath etc becomes difficult and achy.

Dog walking and pets sitting/cat visits go hand in hand as a business.

Have you checked out all of your competition and prices? Have you worked out what sort of prices you can set? And how many clients you will need to earn a living?

I think you need to focus on one service and draw up a basic business plan, and do your numbers, taking into consideration costs of any training and equipment. I'm organising a pet first aid course, you should consider things like this too.

I'm with Cliverton insurance, they have a good website to guage how much your insurance will be.


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