START A PET-SITTING SERVICE TURN YOUR LOVE OF ANIMALS INTO A PROFITABLE NEW VENTURE

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES Flexible hours, Promising salary. Holidays negotiable. Be your own boss. No experience necessary.

If you spotted the above ad in the Help Wanted section of your local newspaper would you laugh, "Too good to be true"? But it is true! Have you always said, "I'd never have the money or the skill to start my own business." But you do! One of the easiest businesses to start and operate requires very little money. The only necessary skills are patience, time, and lots of love. The business? Pet-sitting!

Jackie McDonald owner of Jackie's Pals in Houston, Texas, started her pet-sitting business after working eight years in a doctor's office. "I wanted to do something I enjoy," she says. "I love animals and I find this work is very calming." Mcdonald spoke with other pet-sitters in her area and discovered how busy they all were. She felt her neighborhood could support another pet-sitter. She was right. Mcdonald just completed a very busy and successful holiday season.

Pet-sitting involves going into someone's home and caring for a pet when when the owner isn't available. The service can include plant watering and mail and newspaper pick-up. The focus, however, is on the animal. Pet-sitting saves a client and the animal the aggravation of dealing with a kennel. Clients expect a variety of services: feeding, watering, liter box cleaner, pill giving, and especially some Tender Loving Care for a lonely animal who misses its master.