Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Leighann Hurley. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Leighann, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of our favorite things to brainstorm about with friends who’ve built something entrepreneurial is what they would do differently if they were to start over today. Surely, there are things you’ve learned that would allow you to do it over faster, more efficiently. We’d love to hear how you would go about setting things up if you were starting over today, knowing everything that you already know
This is a great question! A few things come to mind:
1. Standard Appointments. When I was first starting out, I did not have standard appointment times: I basically saw clients whenever our schedules meshed. Now I have set appointment times I offer and I highly recommend it! Mobile, service-based, solo entrepreneurs can set working hours just like big, brick-and-mortar companies.
2. Chill-er Turn Around Time. With help from another professional, I have relaxed my own standards for replying to customers and potential customers. I used to drop everything to reply to an inquiry right away (let’s chalk some of that up to excitement). Nowadays, prompt communication is still important to me, but I give myself one business day to get back to people.
3. Prices. This is a tough one because I do feel like experience should play a small role in price setting. However, what I charged my first client was a joke. Now I know that our prices say something, subconsciously, about the quality of our work and a higher price can help the customer take things seriously. And that’s crucial for my line of work!
Leighann, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I’m the doggy problem solver and human behind Koinonia Training and Boarding.
My clients want a dog who’s pleasant to live with.
A friendly dog who’s polite with their guests, delightful on walks, chill when they’re busy, and well-behaved even around distractions.
They want a dog who can be part of their life.
I help make that happen!
Koinonia (koy-nohn-ee’-ah) comes from a Greek word and speaks to the idea of togetherness.
The seeds for Koinonia were planted almost 20 years ago when the dog-sitting my sister and I had done turned into boarding out of our home. Several years later I was launched into the positive-reinforcement dog training world when I foster trained a dog for a local service dog organization.
Koinonia was born in 2014 when the hobby boarding turned professional and I introduced in-home dog training. Over the next six years, I left my part-time job as a veterinary surgery technician to pursue Koinonia full-time, earned my professional certification and suspended boarding to make room for Board and Train.
One of my favorite things about dog training is seeing two different species understand each other to accomplish a goal. That communication is a beautiful thing and it facilitates greater togetherness.
Have you ever had to pivot?
COVID! (It’s everyone’s answer, right??)
Since the majority of my work, up to that point, happened in the client’s home COVID’s arrival brought that to a stop.
Some dog trainers had been doing remote or virtual work prior to March 2020, but the industry, as a whole, had to pivot that direction that year.
The biggest challenges were educating the public that you can, in fact, train your dog remotely, (after all, we’re training the human more than the dog and holding the leash isn’t a requirement for that) and creating a video library of demoes for the different exercises.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
The Thrive membership from Dog Biz is fantastic for helping dog trainers do the business side of their business well. I highly recommend them and the support they offer!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.koinoniadogs.com
- Instagram: @koinoniadogs
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KoinoniaDogs
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCegSN0tDKyW2940uthLlx4g
Image Credits
Credit on color photos: Meagan Hurley Photography