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What should I expect after summer is over?

Hey everyone! This is my first post here, hopefully I'm doing it correctly. My question is how badly does summer ending affect booking request numbers and is there anything I can do to boost my bookings outside the busy seasons? I became a Rover sitter in May and was fortunate enough to immediately book enough clients to resign from my full time job and stay home to focus on my college work. Now that July is coming to a close I am only getting 1-2 requests a week where beforehand I would get at least 1 request daily. I am fearful that after summer comes to an end I will be barely scraping by! Just trying to get some insight from other sitters doing this full time that have experience. I currently have the cheapest boarding rates in my area ($20/night). Thanks in advance!

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I am new to Rover so I'm not sure I have an answer but I do want to bring up another point- cheaper isn't always better! You want to have competitive rates but owners may feel that they are getting less quality with the cheapest rate. So don't sell yourself short, maybe you'll even get more clients

Tori C.

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Cari C.

I have found that I get a lot of families traveling during the summer (I do primarily boarding and house sitting). Then in the spring and fall I get retired people or those without children who travel. So it depends on the demographics in your area, how many sitters are in your area, etc. I live in a metropolitan area and have clients drive for 30 minutes to get to me.

I would actually suggest raising your rates. By being the lowest in your area, potential clients may view you as not being professional or providing good services. You may be the best, most loving, professional sitter in your area, but if you are the lowest priced that may not be apparent.

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Elizabeth S.

I may be the odd one out here, but I actually saw a decrease in requests over the summer and had a fantastic winter season. Granted, I do a lot of dog walking so I think it worked to my advantage that it rained a lot and owners just didn't want to do it themselves.

I would recommend expanding your services, try to include mid-day walks as you'd be shocked how much money can be made doing that. Depending on your area you can charge $15-30 for a half hour walk and if you can book a couple hours a day that's decent money! Also, printing up business cards and passing them out to local dog areas could help boost your client base. At the end of the day, if you do your job well people will come to you and you'll get word of mouth exposure which is always the best. Good luck!

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Angela R.

I have been doing this for several years now and it fluctuates year to year. Usually I get at least one month that is completely dead. It used to bother me but I found that I can use that month (minus a few days) to do the deep cleaning or rearranging that I was unable to do due to being so busy.

The off month is never the same. I find that Spring Break, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are the busiest but this year, I was dead during the fourth but super busy in the weeks after. You will most likely stay steadily busy with some odd periods where everyone seems to want to travel. It all evens out in time,

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Jennifer I. & James C.

I've been on Rover since 2015 and my business has been growing each year. Summer is my busiest season only because so many people go out to vacation, otherwise most of my business comes from dog walking and drop in requests. It sucks when the summer season dies down, but know that you could offer dog walks and drop ins instead. Also, I would also raise your prices. $20 a night seems abnormally cheap, and I do agree that it might turn off potential clients.

It's a great idea to network at dog parks and pet stores if possible. I have several clients that I met through the dog park or http://Care.com instead of Rover. Many of them have used me for a couple years now. Just keep networking, keep your profile updated, and provide good service. The business will follow.

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What should I expect after summer is over?

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