The Professional Pooper-Scooper: How to Start Your Own Low-Cost, High-Profit Dog Waste Removal Service

By Matthew Osborn

The book that started it all! The original pooper-scooper business startup manual, in a new, updated 21st Century e-book edition. It was February of 1988 when Matthew Osborn first started his dog waste cleanup service. With almost no money, he was holding down two jobs to support a wife, a 3-year old daughter, and a baby on the way. Some people called him crazy, others called him an "ideas man." Over ten years he built the business from a mere idea into a successful enterprise serving hundreds of clients each week. He hired several employees to drive a fleet of pickup trucks, cleaning up and disposing of tons of dog waste. People began hearing about it far from Ohio and Osborn was receiving calls from people across the country, asking him how to get into the business for themselves. To meet the demand for these requests, the self-styled "entremanure" began writing a how-to manual.

In 1998 Osborn sold the scooping service and self-published his book, "The Professional Pooper-Scooper: How to Start Your Own Low-Cost, High-Profit Dog Waste Removal Service." A year later he was dubbed "America's doo-doo guru" and was mentioned on the front page of the Los Angeles Times, interviewed over the phone by the BBC in London, and was the subject of a story in a German newspaper, as well as many other newspapers and radio shows. In 2001 Scott Simon, host of NPR's Weekend Edition, compared him (even if slightly tongue-in-cheek) to Thomas Edison and called him "… a visionary, a magnate… a prophet -- at least he succeeded in turning a profit in the pet waste removal business."

Now this book has been newly revised and updated in electronic book form for instant download for today's entrepreneurs.

Here's what a few readers have written...

"...exceptionally detailed, colorfully written, point-by-point, A-Z 'everything you always wanted to know but were afraid to ask' manual that leaves nothing to guess at...Bravo, Mathew! I could not be happier or more confident that this business will succeed now that i have your book to tell me exactly how to make it happen!"
David Hopkins, Doody Calls, Lompoc, CA

"WOW what a wealth of info... this book is really worth the money ... get the manual.... it's fantabulous.... great info and important advice .."
Hedy Nobil; P.A.W.S. Professional Animal Waste Services; Clearwater, Florida

" Matthew, I received your manual and I love it. I couldn't put it down. You are really into this!! I think it is great that you offered all these suggestions to all the up and coming new scoopers out there like myself. Most business people don't trade secrets. Anyway, I'm on a roll with my business and I hope I am as successful as you and some of the other scoopers. Thanks!"
Patricia L. Wilder, Proprietor, PooP b Gone Canine Waste Cleanup Service, Mason, Ohio

• Language: English
• Publisher: Matthew Osborn
• Release date: Dec 10, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310314087

Book preview

THE PROFESSIONAL POOPER-SCOOPER

How to Start Your Own Low-Cost, High-Profit

Dog Waste Removal Service

21st Century Ebook Edition

By Matthew Osborn

Copyright 2014 Matthew Osborn

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTORY MATERIAL

Foreword to the 21st Century Ebook Edition. 25 Years as a Doo-Doo Guru. How I became a Professional Pooper-Scooper. 15 Perennial Profit Principles. Overview of the Pooper-Scooper Business. Why People Hire Dog Waste Removal Services. The Need is Real and Growing. History and Outlook for Dog Waste Removal Business

GETTING STARTED

Your Mission Statement. Setting Up for Business. Business Licenses, Taxes, Etc.

MARKETING MATTERS

Consistency is Key. Some Thoughts on Attitude. Online Directories. Classified Ads. Publicity and Public Relations. Your Web Site and Social Media. Business Cards. Fliers. Direct Mail. Vehicle Signage. Yellow Pages. Customer Referrals and Word-of-Mouth. Gift Certificates. Trade Name. Pricing. Best Times for Ads. Ad Tracking. Demographics and Customer Survey Data

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

Scoops. Rakes. Shovels. Plastic Bags. Sprayers and Disinfectant

WORKING TECHNIQUES: WHERE THE POOP MEETS THE SCOOP

Search Patterns. Fences, Gates, and Locks. Different Strokes. Weather Conditions Working Around Dogs. Normal Barking or Danger? Pepper Spray? Dog Treats? Health Signs in Dog Stool. Cleaning Up After Animals Other than Dogs. Waste Disposal.

YOUR BUSINESS ON WHEELS

Humble Beginnings; Can't Afford a Truck? Home Based, With an Off-Site Garage. How to Buy a Used Vehicle. Rules of the Road. What to Carry in the Vehicle.

OFFICE OPERATIONS

Set the Boundaries of Your Service Area. Scheduling. Getting Paid. Mailing Services, Credit Cards and Online Payments. Late Pays, Collections, and Bad Debts. Using Your Computer. Customer Worksheets. A Pencil and Paper System. Customer Worksheets. Software.

CUSTOMER COMMUNICATIONS

Keep in Touch. Under-Promise and Over-Deliver. Cell Phones, Call Forwarding, and Voice Mail. Customer Newsletters. Dog Out/Lock Out Notes. New Customer Welcome Letter. Customer Sign-up Form

HIRING HELP

Working Solo. The Decision to Be an Employer. Using a Payroll Service. Wages. Training. Using a Payroll Service. Consult a Professional.

INSURANCE

Why You Need it, and Where to get it.

APARTMENT COMPLEXES AND CONDO ASSOCIATIONS:

It's More Work, But Worth it. A Potential Profit Center for Property Managers. Pricing Can be Tricky. Not the Same as Single-Family Work. Sometimes You Just Have to Try Something Different.

MORE RESOURCES TO HELP YOUR BUSINESS

Pooper-Scooper.com. S.C.O.R.E. Your State Government. Useful Websites. Classic Books for Entrepreneurs.

AFTERWORD and AUTHOR CONTACT INFORMATION

FOREWORD TO THE THE 21ST CENTURY EBOOK EDITION

I have been involved in the professional pooper-scooper service industry for over 25 years. I was one of the first handful of people who established, built, and ran a successful dog waste removal service. I sold that business after 10 years of solid growth, and it continues to thrive to this day under the capable leadership of it's new owner.

In the years since I sold that operation, I have established The Pooper-Scooper Business Information Website, Pooper-Scooper.com. That's where I maintain The International Directory of Dog Waste Removal Services, where dog owners go to find a service to help them keep their yards clean. The site also includes the Scoopers & Friends Discussion board, where it has been my pleasure and privilege to read and be involved in online discussions with successful scoopers for more than 15 years.

The original version of this book was the first of its kind, the book that got the whole thing rolling, the manual covered in news stories in different countries and continents, and earned me the unofficial title of America's DooDoo Guru.

You see, back when I started this crazy adventure, I knew that the unusual nature of the business would help me obtain publicity for my new little business. I needed all the help I could get because I had very nearly no money to get started. Over the years news stories spread far and wide, and I began to get requests for information from all over the country, from people who wanted to know how to start a dog poop scooping business of their own. In time, I had so many requests that I wrote this book about how to do it.

Technology has changed since that first version of the world's first pooper-scooper business manual. Tools changed a bit, as evidenced by the great rake vs shovel debate that raged on in the scoopers' discussion board a few years back. Communication and record-keeping technology has improved in ways we didn't even think about back then. Among those new technologies are GPS navigation systems, cell phone texting, maps and weather radar images on smart phones that fit in our pockets, and the ability to link directly from pages on an electronic device to resources on the Internet. I have included such links in this ebook to help you find even more useful information. Those links will appear in a different color of text on most devices, and they will be underlined. The live links in this book will look like this sentence, which links to my website at Pooper-Scooper.com.

25 Years as a Doo-Doo Guru

February, 2013 -- I made a business out of picking it up for 10 years, and I have spent the last 15 years helping others do the same. The it, in this case, is dog poop.

It was February of 1988 when I first started my dog waste cleanup service. With almost no money, I was holding down two jobs to support a wife, a 3-year old daughter, and a baby on the way. Some people called me crazy. Danny Russell, an editor for Suburban News Papers, called me an ideas man and wrote, He would be wasted on anyplace but the land of opportunity.

At times I would encounter odd requests - yes, even odder than my usual business. Besides cleaning up after pet dogs in back yards and apartment complexes, I strayed into cleaning up after geese, cats, a horse, and even some monkeys. When an employee balked at a request to take care of a 55 gallon drum of dog waste and rainwater that a prospective customer had been accumulating for some years, I went ahead and took the job, saying I wanted to be known as the service that would take care of this kind of problem. If they couldn’t call us to do it, who could they call?

Over ten years I built the business from a mere idea into a successful enterprise, serving hundreds of clients each week. I hired several employees to drive a fleet of pickup trucks around the county, cleaning up and disposing of literally tons of dog waste every month. People began hearing about it far from Ohio, and I was receiving telephone calls from people across the country, asking me how to get into the business for themselves. To meet the demand for these requests, I wrote this how-to manual.

1n 1998 I sold the scooping service for over $200,000, and I published the first edition of this book, "The Professional Pooper-Scooper: How to Start Your Own Low-Cost, High-Profit Dog Waste Removal Service. A year later I was dubbed America’s doo-doo guru in the book Nice Job! The Guide to Cool, Odd, Risky and Gruesome Ways to Make a Living," (Lookout Media, Ten-Speed Press).

I gained attention from far and wide. I was featured in an article on the front page of the Los Angeles Times, I did an interview by telephone with the BBC in London, and there was a story about me in a German newspaper. There were many other newspaper articles and radio shows that mentioned this business, too. In 2001 Scott Simon, host of NPR’s Weekend Edition, compared me (even if slightly tongue-in-cheek) to Thomas Edison and called me … a visionary, a magnate… a prophet -- at least he succeeded in turning a profit in the pet waste removal business.

As I have sold this book over the years, I have found it very gratifying when people tell me how their lives have changed because of all this. People like the woman who was living in her car and built a successful business because of this, or another woman who told me that she hadn't been able to find a job but was able to do this business to provide for her family, and even buy a home and put her daughter through college. It feels really good to hear those stories. Really, really good

In keeping with my own advice to all hopeful entrepreneurs to provide something of value, I run a free Scoopers & Friends forum on my website at Pooper-Scooper.com. It’s a space where people currently in the business, and those thinking about getting into it, discuss the common issues of small enterprises as well as the unique problems of this peculiar occupation, including the (now somewhat-settled) rake-versus-shovel controversy and the occasional query about cleaning cat boxes on the side. There’s also a directory of scoopers on the website, where scoopers advertise to dog owners and apartment managers looking for services to clean up after dogs.

How I Became a Professional Pooper-Scooper

Way back in the 20th Century - in February of 1988, to be exact - I started PET BUTLER dog waste removal service in Columbus, Ohio. The idea was virtually unheard of at the time, and there were probably no more than two or three businesses like it in the whole United States.

I had recently run out of time on the old GI Bill and didn’t have the money to continue going to school, so I had dropped out of college. I had a small and growing family to support. We lived in a little upstairs apartment and I was working two full-time jobs just trying to keep our heads above water.

But I wasn’t about to let circumstances control my fate!

I've always been interested in new and different ideas, especially ideas about making money. Even as a kid I had my little moneymaking projects, like picking wild berries in the woods, putting on a magic shows in my parents garage, collecting pop bottles for the two cents deposit on them. What with organizing my own little neighborhood pet shows, running lemonade stands, and a newspaper route, I managed to keep myself occupied and provide myself with spending money for the summers.

Along with that seemingly inborn entrepreneurial drive, I also enjoyed doing things that were just a bit out of the ordinary. After spending four years serving in the U.S. Coast Guard, I took an interest in hot air ballooning. Some people thought I was nuts for wanting to fly in a hot-air balloon, but I managed to find a young balloonist and volunteered to help him out, just be be around the action. Eventually we became friends and I was promoted to crew leader and flew many times.

Then one day, without warning, I learned that my ballooning friend had been killed in a tragic accident while flying. That was a shocking emotional blow, and I sat down in a chair in my living room throughout the rest of the day, all through the night, and into the next day, trying to figure out some way of understanding life that could help me make sense of it. In those hours, sitting there in that chair, I figured out that what made life make sense was doing what really made sense to you, striving toward creating your own reality. My friend had so much promise, so much to offer the world, and he was living life in pursuit of the dreams, visions, and goals he set for himself, and that's what made life worthwhile. He was doing what he truly loved.

I realized then that I couldn't go through life trying to fulfill other people's ideas of what life should be. If my own life was going to be worthwhile, I had to go start building a reality aimed at making my own dreams come true.

I had always dreamed of living on a tropical island, so I quit my job at the post office and moved to Hawaii, were I learned to live literally on the beach, spearing fish and cooking them over a campfire, hiking through guava forests, eating wild fruit and coconuts. I listened to the sound of the waves, watched the most gorgeous and inspiring sunsets in the world, and every now and then I would giggle at the memory of all the discouraging talk I had heard from people who said it was impossible to live life the way I wanted.

It was kind of like starting from scratch - a life reboot, you might say. Beginning from such a basic place, sleeping on the ground under a tarp, gathering wild food, I no longer felt trapped in the rat race. I was out of it. I shed that desperate feeling of being compelled by circumstances around me and driven by a society I didn't understand to perform acts I didn't want to do to achieve goals I had no part in setting.

I began to see that what makes a society what it is are mutual exchanges that benefit all parties concerned. I traded fish with a man who owned a boat; he had fish that came from the deep sea, and I had octopus and reef fish. I could now understand that when each of us specializes in tasks or services according to our own tastes, values and inclinations, then we can each be more productive and in turn exchange the fruits of our labors with others who specialize in things that we might not be so good at or that we might prefer not to do. Cooperating in this way, we all get much more than any of us could ever produce on our own.

Now as it happened, I did not move to Hawaii all alone. A girl friend went with me, and while we were there we were married. As nature took its course, several months after we started living on the beach we found out that we were going to become parents. That's when we decided to move back to the city and live in houses again.

So I was starting over from scratch again, and this time with a baby. I was grateful to take two or three low-paying jobs at the same time just to try to avoid disaster. I was willing to work long and hard, all while constantly thinking about finding some way to improve my financial condition.

Still, the first time I heard about the idea of cleaning up after people's dogs for a weekly fee, I just laughed -- I had to! It was funny! Going around cleaning up after people's dogs for money?? But I couldn't get it out of my mind. The more I thought of it, the more sense it made. I mean, here was a job that obviously has to be done, and just as obviously, there are an awful lot of people who very strongly would prefer not to do it themselves!.

The more I looked around in my city and took note of the problem, the more I thought about the idea, and the more convinced I became that this was truly a need that was not being met. As the old saying goes,: Find a need and fill it. OK, then, I had found a need, now I just had to figure out how to fill that need.

I spent the Winter of 1987-1988 researching, studying, and planning. Remember, that was before the Internet, so I would go to the local libraries every whenever I could make some time between the two full-time jobs I was working (making less than $6 an hour at each of them), to study the demographics and census data for my city and county. I looked up information about the pet industry. I called the office responsible for issuing dog licenses, and found out that there were more than 100,000 dogs within 15 miles of my apartment.

With a hundred thousand dogs near me I wouldn't have to have even one percent of them in order to have enough customers to dramatically improve my life! I studied ways to scoop large quantities in the shortest time. I practiced with different tools, using crumpled up paper and stones as simulated dog waste to try to figure out how long it would take to clean a yard.

I didn't even have a car that winter. How vividly I remember walking through the snow to catch the bus for work, and saying to myself, Someday I'm not going to have to do this anymore!

You know that feeling when you are sure that an idea is going to work, and you just know that somebody is going to do it? I’ve felt that many times, but I never had the capital to take advantage of those ideas. But this time I had hold of an idea that I KNEW was going to take off, and it was not going to take much money to make it happen!

I was forced by circumstances to start very slowly. In the first month of the business, I spent a total of about $150 for tools, fliers, cards, and a couple of very small classified ads in the local newspaper. $150 might not seem like much money to you, but for me back in those days, it was a huge risk. I could not afford to fail!

Using free publicity, (as I explain in the manual that follows), I got some customers right off the bat. I made my initial investment back, plus profit, after just a couple of weeks. Now there's a Return on Investment that really means something! And after that, it was all about bootstrapping: using the money generated by the business to keep the business going and growing.

I had a lot to learn, and almost no money to spend. But little by little, constant improvements began to add up. Step by step, my little business was making customers happy and getting bigger. After a while I had to quit one of my regular jobs to keep up with it. And eventually I was able to quit regular jobs altogether.

You won't be surprised to learn that I didn't have a very good car