Is Starting a Pet Waste Removal Business in 2024 Worth It?

I’m going to break down the pros and the cons of this line of work so you can decide if this hustle is right for you.

 

 

You’re literally picking up poop, so expect it to be nasty, smelly and everything in between. It takes a special kind of humble person to lower their ego and consider cleaning up after other people’s messes. You’ll also have strangers and maybe even your friends and family judge you because this kind of job may be beneath them. If you get easily squeamish to foul smells or disgusting yards, poop scooping may not be for you.

 

 

From viruses like parvovirus to parasites like giardia, pet waste is no joke and you must protect yourself at all times. You’ll be going through a lot of protective gloves and hand sanitizers. Make sure you also invest in some protective eye wear to prevent a lone fecal particle from accidentally hitting you in the eye or you running into a tree branch and poking your eyeball out. You’ll think there’s always some poop on your shoes and you’ll constantly check if you’re clean and sanitary.

 

 

Every city and state will have it’s own set of rules you must follow so do your due diligence and don’t mess around with these regulations. You do not want a hefty fine or violation because you improperly disposed of waste, some towns allow you to take it to the dump while others let you dispose in your own garbage can. Almost always you will be required to double bag your waste, but you will need to speak with your local municipality for further clarity.

 

 

When you first start out, it might not seem worth it to drive to a customers house because of all the gas you’ll be using. To combat this, it’s important to either minimize your scope of service or be extremely aggressive with your routes to ensure you can do multiple customers in the same area on the same day. You should also keep in mind how long it’ll take to travel to a client’s house and adjust your quote to account for your gas usage.

 

 

Sometimes you’ll have a special case where you have to clean waste inside of someone’s home or in the garage but most of your work will be done in the elements. As you can imagine, the winter season tends to slow down your pet waste removal business because many of the poops will be hidden from the snow. But that didn’t stop me from continuing service with my weekly clients, as long as it was safe for me to drive I still tried to show up and do as best of a job I can. Even if you only pick up 1-2 piles, that’s less waste in their yard and it’s less that you’ll have to pick up when everything eventually melts.

 

 

After a few hours of repetitive scooping motions and squeezing the handles of your rake and dustpan, you’ll experience muscle soreness that you didn’t know was possible. Back aches, a tense neck and shoulders, and even difficulty squeezing your sore hands is something that will eventually happen to you. I’m still working through my own hand issues with trigger finger and hand fatigue but the stretches I’ve been doing on a daily basis has helped a lot.

 

Not everything is doom and gloom, so let’s talk about the benefits of starting a Pet Waste Removal Business!

 

According to the 2021-2022 National Pet Owners Survey conducted by the American Pet Products Association, there are 69 million households in the United States that own at least one dog. The Insurance Information Institute and other resources estimate there are around 900 million dogs in the world, which means that’s a whole lot of poop someone is responsible for picking up. With so many dogs in the world, here are a few pros you should keep in mind.

 

 

With a couple of supplies you can grab at your local store, I spent around $65 buying everything I needed before my first scooping appointment. If you’re trying to turn this hustle into a legitimate business, you will have additional costs like registering for business licenses within your town and state along with business insurance to protect you from any liability. Depending on your marketing strategy, you may have to spend some money advertising on Facebook or Google, but when you do this right you will quickly recoup whatever money you used and then you can invest it back into your business to grow it even more.

 

 

You will need software that allows you to schedule your appointments with clients, and a way to process payments. When I first started, I only used my Facebook Business page to schedule my scoops, and received payments via Venmo and Cash. This allowed me the flexibility to make my own hours and complete my scooping appointments after my day job or during the weekend when I wasn’t taking care of my family. This is your business, you get to decide WHEN and WHERE you work and you can work as much or as little as you want!

 

 

You aren’t performing brain surgery or doing anything dangerous (except for the extreme circumstance of an aggressive dog going into the yard while you scoop). The skills you will acquire in this business will be from hands on experience, but I’ll share my thoughts on that later in this blog.

 

 

Whether you’re a college student looking for extra money on the weekends, or a single parent trying to support your family or someone retired who doesn’t want to rest on their laurels, a Pooper Scooper business is viable for all ages! Like I mentioned earlier though, this line of work is taxing on your body so please balance your workload to prevent any long term issues with your health.

 

 

Services like pet sitting, dog walking, changing litter boxes for cat owners, or offering dog related toys or treats are ways you can grow your Pet Waste Removal Business outside of picking up dog poop. I also know other businesses that pivot to cleaning up leaves or shoveling snow during the fall and winter as a way to supplement their income during the less busier times of the year.

 

 

The United States Environment Protection Agency has Pet Waste listed as a Nonpoint Source Pollution, meaning it doesn’t come from a single source. According to the EPA, NPS pollution is caused by rainfall or snowmelt moving over and through the ground, and as the runoff moves, it picks up and carries away natural pollutants which eventually get deposited into lakes, rivers, coastal waters and ground waters. By cleaning up someone’s yard and preventing waste from entering the sewer system as run off, you are minimizing the bacteria and germs spreading from the waste to a client’s home, as well as doing your part in keeping our planet as healthy as possible. This is also a great marketing angle you can use to entice new business.

 

I know you may be nervous, trust me I was as well when I started.

 

 

I’m naturally introverted but since growing my business i’ve learned to be more comfortable in my own skin and value my time and energy.

 

Some of the skills you will learn through trial and effort as a small business owner is better communication and time management, understanding how to be more empathetic when interacting with customers, and getting new technologies or systems set up to so you can operate your business as efficiently as possible. You’ll also learn how to market and advertise your services across social media platforms, and you’ll gain the opportunity to network with other small business owners in your area to learn from. Even if you decide to stop poop scooping, these are all skills you can transfer to the next opportunity you want to jump into.

 

Now I’m going to share the most important pro about having a Pet Waste Removal Business. If this has been helpful, make sure you share this blog so it can spread to more people. It really does help out a lot, thank you!

 

 

I’ve never owned a dog in my life, I’m more of a cat person. I love my cats but I get excited when I meet one of my client’s dogs and see how happy they get when someone new is around. Even though a dog may bark at you, it’s just their way of saying hello and most of the time you shouldn’t have anything to worry about.

 

Almost always, you can see how much the owner loves their dogs, and when you do a great job scooping, you’re also making sure their dog is as healthy as they can be. You’re increasing the quality of life for both the owner and their dog, and you should be proud that something as simple as poop scooping can have such a positive impact in someone’s life.

 

Is it too late to start a Pooper Scooper Business? Only you can weigh these pros and cons and see if they align with your own goals in life. My Pet Waste Removal Business has grown to the point where I’ve paid off loans and credit cards that have held me down for years and I get to provide a service that really helps out my customers.

 

I’ve had so much growth this year that it’s surpassing how much I made in my first year of poop scooping. If you want to see how much I’ve made in the first 3 months of the year, click the next blog and follow along the journey.

 

And I’ll see you on the next scoop!

 

And As Always, Acknowledge The Now! Bye!