Courtney DeDi founded DiOGi Pet Services in 2010 to provide exemplary, professional dog walking and pet sitting services to the in-town Atlanta neighborhoods specializing in caring for pets with behavioral issues and special needs. What began as a 2 person company, DiOGi quickly gained the confidence and love of Atlanta's people and pets. Today, with more than 23 employees, DiOGi has become Atlanta's number one resource for professional pet sitting, dog walking and dog training.

Courtney has always had a love of pets and has been working in the pet industry for more than 14 years. She is a PetTECH Pet First Aid and CPR instructor, a member of the ASPCA, has volunteered for many different Humane Societies, organized fundraisers for EARS – (Emergency Animal Rescue Services) during the Hurricane Katrina Rescue Effort, worked as a dog handler and Assistant Manager for Central Bark Doggy Day Care in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, and is now the Executive Director of a nonprofit called DiOGi CARES in addition to volunteering with other pet rescue groups. She is a graduate of the National Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program and continues to participate in small business programs to continue shaping DiOGi Pet Services into the best dog walking and pet sitting company possible. This summer, Courtney is opening Club DiOGi, a boutique, high-end daycare and grooming salon. She and her staff are committed to providing the best care for all of Atlanta’s pets when their humans are at work and play.

In this episode Britt and Courtney talk about how she hustled extremely hard to get her business off the ground and had several jobs while she got it going. They discuss why it’s important to have a side income while you get your business going, when to bring on your first team member and how to put systems in place to be able to support 23 employees. Courtney shares how she networks like a boss and gives back to her community. Courtney is an inspiring leader who is dedicated to creating a company culture that stands behind her values and mission.

Britt and Courtney also discuss how she has implemented team building strategies within her company to tackle her biggest pain points in a positive way. Most recently, Courtney and her partner Katie came up with a genius “squad” concept to identify leaders in their company and created fun monthly competitions to inspire more teamwork and communication amongst their staff. By creating more leaders within their organization it gives their staff more upward mobility within the company and allows the company to ensure quality and consistency, which in turn leads to more success for everyone involved.

In this episode you’ll learn:

How to start a pet care business with zero upfront capital
Whether or not you should go cold turkey and start your business, or have a side gig while you get it started
How to network like a boss and be a leader in your community
How to open a boutique dog daycare to complement your dog walking business
How to know when you should bring on your first team member
How to create leadership roles within your company and create fun goals to achieve a positive culture
How Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business program inspired Courtney to scale her business and achieve her dream of opening up her boutique dog daycare
Why finding a niche is key to creating a successful business
How Handlr has helped DiOGi continue to scale by offering a local and professional option for ondemand scheduling for their clients
Why it’s important to offer your clients an ondemand app so that they don’t look for the convenience that apps like Wag and Rover offer
How using Handlr keeps your client list private and protects your business’ assets by providing a three-way chat to give your clients, management and staff a way to streamline communication
Why it’s better to find a software that works well for your business instead of building it from scratch
How to create a company culture when you own a mobile service business
Why Club DiOGi is a whole new type of doggy daycare that is committed to protecting your dog’s mental and physical well being. Club DiOGi provides a calm, safe and fun space for little dogs. By providing small, personalized groups, training games, Zen nap rooms, and even doggy puzzles, Club DiOGi aims to treat their canine members like royalty.
How to plan and budget for opening up a brick-and-mortar business
How to be a rockstar entrepreneur

Courtney’s favorite saying:

“I will not be governed by the tyranny of immediacy” - unknown

To learn more about DiOGi and keep up on the launch of Club DiOGi, visit http://di-o-gi.com/.

Do you own a dog walking business and you're thinking about becoming a dog trainer, but don't know where to start? Have you always dreamed of working with dogs and becoming an expert? In this episode of Handling Business, we sit down with Kim Sauer of Sit n’ Stay Professional Pet Services who is a true expert and leader in the pet care industry.

Kim Sauer's fascination with dog training took off in 1997 when she started assisting a local trainer using a clicker in exchange for helping her with her own aggressive dog. Her interest grew as she learned how much she loved working with animals and enjoyed seeing the transformation in both the dogs and the owners. Kim opened her pet sitting and dog walking business, Sit n' Stay Pet Services in hopes that the fields would complement each other. Kim hired her first employee in 2005 and has steadily increased in size over the years to now have 30 pet sitters and dog walks, an office manager and 5 trainers on her team.

Kim first earned her certificate from Animal Behavior College in January 2002 becoming an ABC Certified Dog Trainer and then later became a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT-KA) in March of 2006. She is also an AKC Canine Good Citizen (CGC) and AKC STAR Puppy Evaluator. In 2006 Kim became an ABC Mentor Trainer and also a CATCH Dog Training Program Mentor Trainer and is now helping others to realize their dream of becoming a dog trainer! Kim became a PetTech Pet First Aid Instructor back in 2006 and in 2012 became a Mentor Trainer with PetTech, helping others to become PetTech Instructors as well.

Kim's specialty is working with families owning pets who plan to bring a baby into the household. She was the trainer for the SPCA serving Erie County's Baby Ready Pets Program for 7 years, the the trainer for the SPCA serving Erie County's Teaching Love and Compassion Program (TLC) to inner city at-risk youth program for 5 years, and the trainer for the SPCA Serving Erie County's Paws for Love Therapy Dog Program Evaluator. Kim is also a current Licensed Educator for the Dogs & Storks Program and the Dog and Toddlers Program.

Kim credits most of her education to her own dogs- Blaze, Nigel, Greta, Coop and the many cats and sugar gliders she has shared her home with. Kim believes that every animal (and human), come into your life to teach you something.

In this episode you’ll learn how to...

Become a certified trainer and develop a solid program or partner with other programs who already have great resources, handouts and outlines
Enroll in a dog training program with CATCH Dog Trainers Academy, Karen Pryor Academy or Animal Behavior College, and work towards becoming a Certified Professional Dog Trainer which is a separate certification from a dog training program
Become a mentor trainer through CATCH or PetTech as a way to give back to your community and bring in a good flow of potential dog trainers for your growing dog training business
Find great employees and motivate them to be dedicated to your team long term

Books that Kim loves…

Entreleadership by Dave Ramsey
The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks

A favorite takeaway…

“You can’t train people to be friendly, you need to hire friendly people. You can teach people how to take great care of animals, but you can’t always train people to have a certain personality type."

To learn more about Kim Sauer, find her at sitnstaypetservices.com.