Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to MELANIE GONZALEZ. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

MELANIE, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?

I do sometimes think about having a regular job but then I remember where I am today in my business and what it took to get here and I am grateful all over again to be where I am.

Usually the thought of leaving my business for a regular job comes to mind when I am overwhelmed with my business. I am still a sole proprietor however I have grown so much that the independent contractors I utilize are all booked just as I am. We’ve been working 7 days a week for as long as I can remember. Taking time off is difficult because we have to contact one another and check if we are all available to cover each others schedules. There’s been many times where I have had to only make short vacations because I couldn’t get my schedule covered. I sometimes think having a regular job I would only work 5 days a week and get a nice vacation. It would be so nice to have weekends off!

If you can remember, I am a Pet Sitter and Dog Walker. So when it is the normal time of the year for holidays and vacations, those days I am usually scheduled to take care of someone’s pets. It would be nice to be able to celebrate Christmas or Thanksgiving with my family but all those holiday’s I get to take care of someone’s else’s fur baby so they can have a wonderful and relaxing holiday. And I am happy to provide that service. It’s just not taking care of my client’s pets. It’s also giving them the security and peace of mind that their home and their pets are well taken cared of so they can have the best holiday with their families and friends.

Also every year there is a slow month and that month sometimes I think “yay I have some time for myself to relax” but also think, but if I don’t work, I don’t make an income. At least having a regular job you have 401K’s, you can take time off with pay, and you don’t usually have slow months of no income. You show up to work and still get paid. With me, if I don’t have work, I don’t receive a paycheck. And talking about 401k’s, I actually do miss having a retirement fund. It takes extra work to build a retirement fund when you are your own business owner.

As I think of these main downfalls of having a business, I also remember all of the amazing accomplishments I’ve had and the freedom of being a business owner brings. What freedom you may ask? Freedom to make the decisions, freedom to say yes or no, and the freedom to make your own schedule. Yes I work 7 days a week right now but I enjoy it and am able to do so. But if I keep growing as I am, I know I will be able to step back from the frontline with my independent contractors taking care of business for me when I want time off to myself or to focus on other things.

MELANIE, 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?

My name is MJ Gonzalez and I own my own pet sitting and dog walking business. Members of my community say I am their local pet care provider because I do much more than just the basic pet sitting or dog walking service.

My business has grown in popularity so much so that I had to create new types of unheard services. It used to be that my pop in visits (15 minute, 30 minute, 45 minute, 60 minute) were the most popular. However the last couple of years, my Overnights and Live-ins have become the most popular. Overnights are just as what it sounds like. It’s an overnights stay with your pets. Usually it covers their dinner time routine all the way to their breakfast time routine. And the live-ins are a 24 hour stay that covers the whole day and night. Even my private doggy daycare is at a very limited availability because I am not home to provide that service as much as before. However, I am so happy to announce I do have another independent contractor that offers daycare and boarding now.

The other service I was talking about that I had to create is called Day Sit or Night Sit. This has come to fruition due to the amount of time that clients want us to stay with their pets during the day or night but not necessarily sleep over. Clients like to spend the day or an evening out with their families or friends so a day or night sit would be perfect for pets that need that extra care.

Because I have been in this business for over 20 years, I have a lot of experience with all kinds of different ailments in dogs and cats. And there are many times that I have observed a pet with signs of an ailment that their pet owners were not aware of. I am not a veterinarian nor do I have any veterinary technician experience. But I have hands on experience of over 20 years, and I do continuously take classes to further my education of the dog and cat anatomy and psychology behavior.

Scheduling is a big part of my business. And many times we cannot accept clients because myself and my independent contractors are already booked. That is our biggest problem that we have with being a small business owner. We even get booked so far in advance that weeks are booked up for the following year.

There are many reasons why I don’t want to grow my business into something bigger where I may have 50 employees working for me. I just don’t want to lose the personal touch I have with my clients. And because I am a sole proprietor with only a few independent contractors, I have more freedom to offer extra care and attention at each visit. And that seems to make a big difference with the clients trust in my company.

I think the thing I am most proud of is the reputation of me and my team. The IC’s have the same moral work code and personal touch when they are doing the visits for my company. So I never have to worry about checking in on them or checking with the clients to see if they were satisfied with the pet care given. My team and I have become so popular within our community and surrounding areas that we are constantly getting referrals from our happy clients.

If the client signs off on the contract portion where it allows us to take pictures and videos of their pets, we love sharing the special, fun, cute moments with them and on our social media. I think that makes a big difference from my competitors. We take the time to send updates to our clients and they can see how much fun their pets are having while they are away.

My team and I collectively have a few decades of pet care experience which allows us to customize each visit to the client and fur baby’s needs. We make sure each pet receives the exact care they need and so much more! When you meet us you can hear and feel the passion we have for what we do!

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

Before I even started my business, I always read books, watched videos, and took part of classes that offered mindset techniques, law of attraction, and New-Age Metaphysical teachings. This stemmed from my spiritual beliefs as a child as I never connected with one religion. While taking my path in my 20’s, I decided to follow my spiritual inquiries and follow gurus like Tony Robinson, Esther and Jerry Hicks, and Robert T. Kiyosaki just to name a few. The BIGGEST and probably the most IMPORTANT skill to practice when you are ready to take the step to be an entrepreneurial is your mindset. You have no idea how easy your heart and brain can talk you out of doing things due to fear and the unknown risks and of the possibilities yet to uncover. However, if you work on strengthening your mindset to learn how to flip the negatives to positives, flip the no’s to yes’s, flip those naysayer’s to “non-ya” (none of your business and I am moving on to better and bigger things), you will most likely succeed in anything you do. I think I was fortunate in that way that I started following the mindset strengthening exercises at an early age. So I always had that fire in my heart to keep pushing for what I wanted in life. I had many fails but always been able to pick myself up and keep moving forward.

The SECOND most important thing that I learned along the way is the company you keep by your side. I learned very early on that whether it is family or friends, if you keep an individual close by your side who is always putting you down, putting your ideas or goals down, telling you to take the conventional way vs. your creative risky way of life, it may be time to let them go or at least put some distance between your relationship. I learned that I had to let go many people in my life, some of them were family members. The negativity and the emotional rope that they kept tugging on to kept me where they wanted, held me back so many times in my life. But once I cut that rope or put that distance between the relationship, my life turned around for the better. Much better! And once you do that your world opens up to welcome in a support team of new individuals who will have your best interest in their hearts. These newcomers will become your new “family” and friends! And the best support you will ever need. Not just in business but your life.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Social media has become one of the biggest ways to attract clientele to your business. I am still learning how to use all the mainstream media outlets. But I am constantly looking at free classes to learn how master Instagram, TikTok, YouTube. Luckily there are a lot of free information on YouTube or on platforms like Reddit. If you have the funds to do so, look into finding a great mentor to help you out.

I would say create the social media accounts, post daily, and try to engage with your audience. Also use the free services of Yelp and other advertising sites to spread the word around. Some people upgrade for the paid services to help run ads but I’ve heard from some of my colleagues that the paid service didn’t get them the results as expected. Do your research before funding into any paid services for advertisement. Sometimes the free sites do just as good as the paid versions.

Put your social media accounts in your emails, connect your accounts to each other so your followers can see your other links and follow those too. As you continue to use these social media outlets, the better you will get at it. Also never pay for services that promise you followers. They may get you followers but a lot of that are bots or accounts that aren’t engaging.

Have fun with social media but don’t get caught up in it too. If you read any negative comments, you can ignore or use that to better yourself or your business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://petsbymj.ezbz.ca/services
• Instagram: Https://instagram.com/petsbymj
• Facebook: Https://facebook.com/petsbymjj
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@petsbymj.?si=HgECEbsnjEBAuaoh
• Yelp: Check out P.E.T.S. By Mj