LEARNING TO LOVE THE BUSINESS SIDE OF YOUR BUSINESS

c o v e r Learning to Love the Business Side of Your Business

Morag Heirs draws from her experience of 20 years running her own businesses to offer advice on helping canine training

© Can Stock Photo/ adogslifephoto While dog trainers may often choose the profession because they really love dogs and to help dogs and their people, they may not automatically love the business side of the equation and behavior professionals enjoy — and become more efficient at — running the business side of their work I n my experience, dog people generally get into this industry because they really love dogs and get a real kick out of helping pet dogs and their people to build better relationships. But no matter what their training or background – academic course, apprenticeship, learning through experience – the chances are that, again in my experience, they did not get much help or education in the running a business aspect. Let me ask you, “Did you really get into this because you wanted to be selfemployed or to run your own company?” And let me ask in a broader sense, “Why do we assume that amazing dog trainers and behavior consultants will automatically be great entrepreneurs?” It’s a totally different skill set! Background Picture the scene all the way back to Christmas 2014. Yet again I was busy searching for receipts, printing invoices, completing spreadsheets and having a minor nervous breakdown when my printer gave up the ghost. Here in the United Kingdom we file our tax returns at the end of January and even though I had kept records and had boxes of paperwork it still ended up being one of those jobs that got left to the last minute. It’s not that I can’t do tax returns; in fact, I quite like playing with spreadsheets. I still find it exciting discovering accountancy programs that allow me to project my cash flow in the future, but it’s not where my natural talent lies. It takes extra effort for me to be able to be good at that part of running a business, and that means more stress and pressure. In a nutshell, doing my accounts was the thing I hated most about running my own business. And I’ve never done them since that year –now I have an office manager who I consider to be an essential part of my team!

I have been running my own businesses since I was 21, when I set up my first company specializing in remedial massage therapy (for humans!). Thankfully, I have had the support of my father, who is a professional entrepreneur and an accountant, throughout. I also managed to win startup funding, which came with business mentoring as part of the package. But while my professional training courses (bodywork, massage therapy, aromatherapy and more) did include some basic business planning, it all felt very dry and theoretical. My canine training courses had

even less business content, if any at all.

I don’t know about you, but I grew up loving the idea of running my own…something! Whether that was a training college or school or a business didn’t really matter, but I loved the idea of bringing an idea into reality and seeing it all the way through. That meant I was at least interested in the business side of animal training and behavior, but it’s been a very steep learning curve over the last 15 years!

Here’s the honest truth – it’s hard to run a successful business. Let’s face it, you got into this because you want to help people and their animals have a more fulfilling life together, right? You have the passion, dedication, commitment, and interest. But knowing what your vocation is, can be quite different from knowing how to turn it into a reliable and stable source of income.

If you want to help people and dogs more than you want to be in control of building up a business, then I’d actively encourage you to start by looking at your employment opportunities. Could you apply to work within someone else’s organization? Or might you be the perfect candidate to work within a rescue or shelter organization? Are you keen to work with assistance dog charities? Too often, there is the assumption that the only way to be a dog/animal trainer is by striking out on your own, but that’s just one of many ways that you can work with people and their companion animals. For the past two years I’ve been running webinars focused on helping animal trainers and behavior consultants love their businesses just a little bit more. With this in mind, I will now ask you to consider three topics that you can start taking action on today:

#1. What are you doing in your sessions? #2. How much are you charging? #3. Is your business taking care of your sanity?

• How can you use your time, and your client's time, most effectively? • Incremental learning works well for dogs and humans. • Stop trying to fit everything in! Here’s a practical example that we implemented in my business. We created what we call our Three Week Intensives as a way to teach the core dog training skills rather than weekly classes that cover lots of ideas (see Fig. 1 on p.21). These sessions are taught to a maximum of two clients at a time, and each session lasts around 30 minutes. So, for example, teaching loose leash walking would include: • Agreeing on equipment (management vs. training). • Teaching three key skills: 1. Attention/focus. 2. Staying by your side (stationary). 3. Staying by your side (moving). • Three sessions minimum – progress depends on dog and human. • Any additional sessions are optional, based on individual needs.

Packages vs. Single Sessions Another thing to consider is what we call Relationships (i.e. packages) vs. what we like to refer to as OneNight Stands (i.e. single sessions). Ask yourself whether you are aiming to create lasting change for a partnership or provide an entertaining diversion? Both are great goals to have, but they are achieved in different ways.

I recently sat down with my colleagues to evaluate our models and packages, because we all had a vague sense that things were not as good as they could be. The outcome was a clear statement that we want to work with fewer clients, see those clients more often, and concentrate on enabling clients to be successful problem solvers in their own right. That means the only single sessions we offer now are assessments (usually for court cases, adoption or similar).

Here’s the honest truth – it’s hard to run a successful business. Let’s face it, you got into this because you want to help people and their animals have a more fulfilling life together, right? You have the passion, dedication, commitment, and interest. But knowing what your vocation is, can be quite different from knowing how to turn it into a reliable and stable source of income.

Let’s examine each one in detail:

#1. What are you actually doing in your sessions?: Having clear structures, templates and processes may appear to be much less exciting than just heading straight into a session to help a guardian and their dog, but when your client knows what to expect, the session will flow more smoothly, and you’re more likely to see positive results. • Benefits for clients: s They want to know the plan for them and their dogs and what is expected at each step. s They will have an idea of how you are going to get them to their end goal(s). • Benefits for you: s You really don’t need to individualize absolutely every aspect of every session. s Essential if you ever want to work in a team or employ other people. Utilizing templates and protocols is a lot like learning the rules for driving a car. Once you have learned the basics, it frees up your brain to concentrate on other details. In this case, you will be able to focus on more subtle aspects of relationships with your clients and their dogs. Deciding what to leave out of each session might be easier than deciding what you want to include. As such, consider the following: • Be clear about the purpose of EACH session or interaction. • What are the absolute essentials that you must do, or explain? Each package we offer has time for review built in and we concentrate on helping the client acquire the essential skills rather than teaching the dog a specific behavior. This involves: • Creating an individualized package from standard components, including: s Weekly/twice monthly/monthly Skype calls and video reviews. s Phone calls. s One facetoface plus a Skype session per month. s Rehab/group support session. s Advising on what’s best for the client and dog – use your expertise. Here’s some feedback from client Laura and her noise sensitive lurcher, Roman, who struggles with other dogs: “Thanks Morag, for the Skype session yesterday. I find it really useful to talk through a situation

Get Reflective! Ask yourself: • Have I always wanted to be an entrepreneur? • Why am I in business anyway? Or thinking about going into business? • Has my professional training or previous experience prepared me for this?

© Can Stock Photo/cynoclub Taking the time to ensure clear structures, templates and processes are in place helps clients know what to expect and, in addition, training sessions will flow more smoothly with positive results more likely

with you as it helps me work through it, analyze it and find a solution. This is more helpful to me personally, than saying, I have a problem, what do I do?”

To summarize thus far:  Structure frees up your brain to work with the client in front of you.  Use your expertise to craft the best options for your clients, focusing on helping them acquire essential core skills.  Screen potential clients to avoid one‐night stands, unless that’s what you are looking for.

#2. How much are you charging?: How did you decide what to charge? Did you look around at your competitors, or ask what you might feel comfortable charging? Have you looked at your accounts recently and checked how much you currently earn per hour?

Price setting is a tricky part of running a business, not least because the whole issue of money and worth can be caught up in our own individual personal idiosyncrasies. But unless you are doing this as a hobby or you’re funded by a charity, it’s really important to make sure the busi

Having clear structures, templates and processes may appear to be much less exciting than just heading straight into a session to help a guardian and their dog, but when your client knows what to expect, the session will flow more smoothly, and you’re more likely to see positive results. bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb

ness aspect makes as much sense as your training plans. If you don’t feel comfortable thinking about, talking about or asking for money, your client isn’t going to feel confident spending their money with you. Consider whether your own issues are getting in the way (and understand that undervaluing your own services can have an effect on other trainers too). For instance, “socalled Imposter Syndrome is very common across a wide range of professions.” (TEDEd, 2018). One can imagine how the (erroneous) concept that you have only succeeded due to luck, and not because of your talent or qualifications, could influence price setting, performance and job satisfaction. So, you owe it to yourself, your business and your clients to examine personal issues relating to selfworth. Consider, too, Scarcity Mindset, i.e. “the belief that there will never be enough — whether it's money, food, emotions or something else entirely — and as a result, your actions and thought stem from a place of lack.” (Bell, 2019). We need to recognize how holding on to a negative mindset can make us so focused on risk avoidance that we lose sight of opportunities for growth.

Standard Price Setting When you're ready for the next step, there are a number of options when it comes to setting your fees. These include: • Base pricing (requires knowing or estimating ALL the costs). Selling Price = (Fixed Cost per unit + Variable Cost per unit) + Desired Profit Margin (%) • Value based pricing (perceived value, premium pricing). • Target return pricing (high volume sales – not us!). • Going rate pricing (what’s everyone else doing, commodities). But you’re not selling a commodity/high volume product. Even if you

cram 10 dogs into a class, you’re not the Lidl or Walmart of dog trainers (and that’s a good thing!)

Here’s how I went wrong. Some years ago, I created a standard behavior package price. While the price wasn’t set with regard to our competitors, and it was a higher price to reflect added experience and skill, it still included some significant problems: • It sold a set amount of my time (rather than the solution to a problem). • It vastly undercharged on an hourly basis. • It set us up to be challenged by some clients about the hours spent on a case. • It tried to find a price that worked for every case. • Plus, at that time we were answering the phone, doing free phone consults, writing longer reports and sending all the detail to vets, etc. etc. Here’s an alternative way to think about your pricing. Get the basics sorted and consider: • What are you selling (see Fig. 2, right, center)? s You are selling yourself – your time, your knowledge, your attitude, and your personality. s There’s a finite supply of you there really is! s Even if you have a team, or several trainers, there’s only so much to go round. s If anyone can train a dog (that’s what the public often seems to think), why should they choose you? • How much do you need to earn to cover costs? Ask yourself how much it costs to “run” your business before you even see any clients. And if you don’t know the answer to this question, I strongly suggest you make finding out your first action on tomorrow’s todo list! Expenses can include the phone bill, internet/broadband, vehicle maintenance, insurance, professional memberships, office supplies, replacing laptops and printers, admin time, website maintenance, continuing professional development, accounting fees, banking fees, and I could keep going… • How much do you want to earn to enjoy life, achieve goals and feel fulfilled? What is your time worth to you? Productive time is important because realistically we know that not all our working hours are actually productive. Productive time is where we actually contribute to the business or process – not by surfing Facebook, reading news, or sending messages to friends (see Fig. 3, right, bottom). Each session you “sell” needs to cover: • A percentage of the fixed costs. • Associated administrative costs. • Consumables used for the session. • Staff costs (time, travel). • Development of the session(s). • PROFIT. To summarize:  Make sure you have accurate figures about how much you need to earn, and what your business costs to run.  Think about what your time is worth to you – how much of it do you want to spend working?  Work out what you need to charge based on productive time, and work up from there.

#3. Is your business taking care of your sanity?: Let’s start by asking this: What are some possible signs or symptoms of burnout? • Physical and emotional exhaustion. • Fatigue. • A resulting lack of motivation and engagement. Here are the basic risk factors for burnout which I have compiled Fig. 1: Three Week Intensives

Fig. 2: What Are You Selling?

© Morag Heirs

Fig. 3: How Much Do You Want to Earn?*

© Morag Heirs

*£1 = US$1.3 at time of going to press

© Morag Heirs

from the various research literature available on doctors, nurses and veterinarians (see Resources): • Demanding workload (including dealing with highly emotionally aroused people). • Working long hours/lack of sleep. • A partner who is also in a demanding career. • Family commitments e.g. children to raise, elderly relatives to care for. • Experience and career stage (mixed evidence). • Conflicts between work and home demands. • Small proportion of time spent on nonwork related leisure activities. • Lack of effective supervision/clinical support. For some pet professionals we can also add in: • Seen as a hobby rather than a career. • Done as a supplemental job, possibly competing with the demands of family life and a day job. • Lack of preparation and training in coping skills. How many of those apply to you? And do you recognize any of these warning signs of burnout?: • Frequently working under high levels of stress.

Fig. 5: Setting Working Boundaries

© Morag Heirs

© Morag Heirs

• Stressful working environment (admin, support team, what’s around you). • Working in a way that doesn’t fit with your values or beliefs. • Being the emotional support or buffer. • Constant interference with family/other events. • Lack of control over your schedule. • Lack of regular selfcare. If you wish to explore further, there are a number of formal, validated tools to assess possible burnout (e.g. Maslach Burnout Inventory Scales) and many of them are freely available on the web. Just put your answers in and they’ll tot up your score to give you an approximate answer. For the scope of this article, we are purely looking at general signs and, more importantly, how to build a resilient life and practice!

Building Resilience To make sure your business builds and maintains your resilience, I recommend you adhere to the following steps: 1. Set a reasonable working schedule and stick to it. This means setting your working schedule to suit you. Consider: • Number of hours.

Fig. 6: Implementing a Waiting List • Times of day. • Travel: Yes? No? • Type of cases/clients. • Balance with client need/demand. • The $s you want and need to earn. It is simply not possible to work all of the hours on all of the days and continue to have a healthy life or productive career. In Fig. 4 (top left) you can see how I have compiled my own personal capacity chart. 2. Set boundaries for cases and stick to them. Are there specific situations or types of cases you prefer not to see, e.g. aggression to children in the home? Are you burned out on a specific kind of problem, e.g. owner directed aggression? Then stop taking them on! Consider instead, offering referrals. Do you have force‐free colleagues and a network of behavior consultants who would appreciate the opportunity to work with these clients? Stick to your working boundaries and include them in your terms and conditions (see Fig. 5, second top left). 3. Use waiting lists, application processes and other strategies to learn more about prospective clients and build in breathing space. Waiting lists* are easy to implement and give me multiple points to consider if a client's needs are best Price setting is a tricky part of running a business, not least because the whole issue of money and worth can be caught up in our own individual personal idiosyncrasies. But unless you are doing this as a hobby or you’re funded by a charity, it’s really important to make sure the business aspect makes as much sense as your training plans.

© Can Stock Photo/Novic Pet training and behavior professionals might find themselves risking burnout; symptoms of which can include physical and emotional exhaustion, fatigue, and a resulting lack of motivation and engagement

matched with my professional strengths. They also avoid the pitfall of trying to squeeze in a new client, but then not giving new and existing clients the time and consideration they deserve. Waiting lists can even build upon excitement and anticipation and help resolve issues of scarcity (of time and resources available for each client in a given session). Barriers shouldn't be huge or complex – filling out an application form is a barrier, as is our fee for a phone consult. And all of these get prior commitment from the potential client while letting you screen out anyone who might be better matched with another colleague. When possible, I also recommend you screen applications before you start talking to a potential client so you know what the case is about and whether you feel it will be the right match for your business (see Fig. 6 on p.22). You are not obliged to work with everyone. Nor should you be “instantly” available at all times. We do, however, offer more immediate support to anyone inside our business’s “family” (staff, assistants, puppy class attendees, previous clients etc.) and they get first refusal for evening or weekend sessions. To summarize:  We are in a profession with a high risk for burnout, often with relatively little training in business skills or in prioritizing self‐care.  Trying to help everyone, and every dog, is potentially dangerous but an easy trap to fall into when you’re passionate about your work.  You can take some simple actions to give yourself more breathing space.  And you can create a more resilient (and profitable) business model. If you are interested in learning more about running your own business, as well as how to dig in deep to create a business you can genuinely enjoy working within, keep an eye out for my forthcoming webinars (petprofessionalguild.com/Webinars). n

Morag K. Heirs Ph.D MSc MA(Hons)(SocSci) PGCAP is a clinical animal behaviorist who runs Well Connected Canine Ltd. (wellconnectedcanine.co.uk) in York, England. She has been working in academia while also running her own successful businesses since 1999, and knows that it's not enough just to be good at the job. Marketing, pricing, client communication and building a strong reputation all take a different set of skills. Her aim with this article is to help you love your behavior or training business just a little bit more.

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