Since I started my cat sitting business 5 years ago, I have been asked again and again how did I do it.

People who asks, some of them curious (nosy), some of them genuinely want advices. Especially information on how to start a business in Ireland is not available in a consolidated manner, it might take a long time before you get on the right track with a lot of false start in the wrong direction in between.

I am all for sharing information to help other people, so I decide to start a series of post to explain once and for all – how did I start my own pet sitting business. 

 

In the last post, I talked about doing your marketing research. Also, you might want to know what it means to be a cat sitter by read this post.

That will give you a good idea if starting a pet sitting business in your area is a good idea at all. If it turns out pet sitting might not be suitable for your area, there are other business ideas you might want to explore.

And of course before you start any business at all, you should ask yourself if you are cut out for it.

After researching, thinking, checking with your family if everyone is cool with you starting a business, then what’s next?

Follow my blog. Joking…haha! (Only half though, as I will be telling you everything about how to start your own pet sitting business in Ireland!)

Then you have to think of a business name for your pet sitting business.

 

Step 2 – naming your business

(Step 1 and the rest of the series can be found here.)

First of all, you might want to read my post on the general information on business names. But there are other things we need to consider when choosing a name for a pet sitting business.

My business name Maow Care came to me because ‘maow’ is nickname my husband has been calling me for many years, which means ‘cat’ in Chinese…

So I thought Maow Care sounds like me. Notice I did add a ‘w’ at the end of just ‘Mao’ due to obvious reasons…

When I first got the idea of a name, I have asked one of the marketing consultants in the Start Your Own Business course by Dublin Enterprise Board. He thought ‘Meow Care’ would have been a better name. But my gut feeling told me I needed something a bit different, something almost a little strange so people would remember me. ‘Meow’ sounds too common. After using Maow Care for 5 years, I believe I was right. Because now I could use the word ‘Maow’ in a lot of word play in any marketing campaigns, e.g. Hungry Maow Cat Food Collection, Maow Of The Year competition, MAOW! Newsletter, etc.

For a pet sitting business, I think it’s important to choose a name that’s cute but at the same time professional. And it’s not easy…

I notice there are a few common theme with pet sitting business name. There is no right or wrong on this subject matter, but I will list out what I think as pros and cons for each of them. It is ONLY MY OWN OPINION. I have no intention to offend anyone. If you have alternative opinion, please leave a comment, discussions are most welcome!

 

1. Someone-someone’s pet care

For example, Mary’s pet care.

Pro: Very personal touch. Pet sitting is such an intimate service that I think it is a great idea to stay personal as much as possible. I believe I am the first pet sitting company in Dublin to put my own picture on my website. I want my potential customers to see me and ‘know’ me already before meeting me. I don’t want to hide behind the logo because I want them to work with ME not my company. (A post about ‘staying personal’ will come up in the future…)

Con: If your business start to expand, your customers might be disappointed to find out they are not actually talking to Mary when they ring the  number. Some sitters I know do stick with working alone for many many years. But if you plan to expand in the future or want to leave yourself a possibility of expanding, you might not want to do that.

 

2. A-LOCATION pet sitting

For example, Dublin Pet Sitting

Pro: Straight to the point. People know where you are at and what you cover. Great google SEO.

Con: Not very personal and you might ‘clash’ with other companies who have similar names. You might not stand out from the crowd. A quick search on Google shows at least 3 companies with similar name if you type ‘london pet sitting’!

 

3. Funny-pet-related-word pet sit

For example: Maow Care (my own business, haha!)

Pro: It stands out. It can be funny and cute.

Con: People might not know how to spell the damn thing!

 

As you can see, there is no ultimate best naming solution. At the end of the day, I think the best important is this – YOU LOVE YOUR NAME! If you feel very proud to say your business name every single time you pick up the phone or handing out your business card. That will make you happy. And happy energy is so important in running a SME!

 

Do you have a business yourself? How did you find your business name? Share your experience in the comment below, I would love to hear from you.