The Best Job For Stay At Home Moms
As a mom of 4 finding the best job for stay at home moms was something I needed to find, and find pretty fast. I never thought I’d be a stay at home mom. I’ve thought about it, but I didn’t think it ever would happen. Not because of financial reasons, but because I did enjoying working. I went to school to be a veterinarian technician and I loved working with animals.
My first son was born and I had to stay home because of daycare- it was just too much money. After he was about 1 years old, we were able to work out our schedules to have our family watch him and do one day of childcare. Then I had to work because we needed the money, and wanted to buy our first house.
When my second son came I continued to work. I had just graduated college when he was born, so I was able to work more hours and make more money. We had to use childcare a few more days out of the week at that time, so it was getting more expensive.
Then I had my twins… It was hard for the grandparents to watch 4 kids and I didn’t want to do that to them. We knew that we couldn’t afford daycare anymore, and it just didn’t make sense to work to pay for daycare, my whole would go just to daycare. So I became a stay at home mom.
Which I was so excited about. I didn’t have a boss to listen to, and I got to see my kids a lot more. However, living on one income with 4 growing boys got tight. Three out of four were in diapers, I was formula feeding the twins after awhile, food for the big boys-it starts to add up.
My husband and I were brainstorming on what the best job for a stay at home mom would be. Something that worked with our lifestyle and schedule. I was thinking of doing data entry or something like that, but the only time I could work was at night. With my twins being newborns, I knew they would wake up and would need fed, and I needed time to sleep.
I needed something practical that wasn’t hard and hours I can do.
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The Best Job For A Stay At Home Mom Like Me
When I was younger before I had my family I heard of Rover and I thought about doing it but never followed through. I thought it wasn’t going to be worth my time, and take too much time to make extra money.
But this time I decided to look more into it and see what it was about. I read people’s feedback about being a Rover sitter. I figured I’d give it a shot.
I have been doing it for over a year now and I love doing it. Some people think I’m crazy because I already have two dogs of my own plus my 4 kids, but it beats going to a normal job, and to be honest, it’s so much easier than watching more kids.
Why Would Rover Be A Good Job For A Stay At Home Mom?
So what many people think Rover is, is a dog walking company. Well, that’s not totally what it is. The short answer is it’s kind of like a Uber for dogs. You can choose if you want to walk a dog, do a house visit, or board dogs. Rover is a company that helps promote you to the network of pet owners who are in need of someone to care for their pets.
You 100% pick your own schedule. They have a calendar on your dashboard and you can put when you’re available and when you aren’t. If you forget to update your calendar Rover will send you a text to remind you to update it so future owners can book with you.
When someone is looking to book with you, you can offer a meet and greet to see if the pet would be a good fit. You can meet at a dog park, neighborhood park, your house, where ever you feel most comfortable.
Rover gives you and the owner your own phone number so you have your own privacy and not lending your number out to everyone.
Once they owner has agreed to have you watch their pet, they do so through the Rover app and you accept it or you can decline the booking. While you are watching the pet you can text the owner updates letting them know how their pet is doing and send them pictures. This helps you get good reviews and Rover sees that and helps you get more exposure.
If you are unavailable simply tell the owner you are not available. You are completely your own boss and it’s your own business.
How you start your stay at home job
You go to the Rover site and you fill out your information. All Rover sitters get a background check before getting approved. They make sure that they don’t hire just anyone so the clients know they can trust their fur babies with someone else.
After getting accepted you can choose between the regular Rover or Rover Go. Rover Go is just like Rover but with a few extra perks. Both of them are free to do, with Go you get a little extra help. They provide a professional photographer for your profile, complementary background checks, and a boost in search ranking while you’re new.
There are things you can do that are simple to get Rover to put you higher in the search ranking. Things like making sure you send a photo to every owner each time you watch their dog. Send them updates how the visit is going. When the owner first sends a request and you respond quickly, like with in 15 minutes that makes you look efficient and dedicated. All those help you move higher in the ranking. When a client is looking for a sitter in your area you are will be the first to pop up, which gets you more clients.
In the Rover app you put what kind of dog you want to watch or not want to watch. You can say what size you will watch and age. You can even charge more if they are puppies if you want.
How You Get Paid
You pick your own rates. You can look at other Rover sitters in your area and kind of get an idea on what your rate can be. You’d want to keep it competitive. You can always up your rates once you feel like you are getting established or you can lower them if you feel like you aren’t getting enough people.
When a customer pays, Rover keeps 20-25% of what you make. That’s how they are able to stay a business. You watch the pet and 48 hours after your booking is over, the money is ready in your Rover app to be transferred to your bank account via PayPal or they can mail you a check.
When you choose the rate, you can choose if you want to charge extra for puppies, if you will provide extra services like grooming or pick up and drop off. Rover automatically charges extra for the holidays. You also have the choice to charge extra for an extra pet. The rates are completely what you want, but it’s smart to be reasonable or no one will want to book with you.
Why I think it’s the best stay at home job for moms.
So, your probably wondering is it worth it and if it’ll help you. Before I started I was a little hesitant, I wasn’t sure exactly how it was going to work or if it was going to be worth it.
When started I promoted myself on Facebook, and had a few of my friends and family members leave reviews on my profile to look like I was established. That was the only time I really ever promoted myself, Rover did it all for me.
At first I would do special goody bags for my first clients. I would make homemade dog treats, put my Rover card (they provide for you, your first 50 cards), and a thank you note. I would wrap all that up in a bandana and they loved it. The small gestures go along way.
Within about 1-2 months I was getting requests all the time. I started in March of 2018 and by May I was having to turn people down because I was booked to my capsity. Since I have two dogs and my kids, I limit myself to 2-4 dogs depending on the size and how I feel.
If I really need the money I watch more dogs. Sometimes I may overdue it, but the best thing is, it’s completely my call! No one to answer to and no one to explain to on why I’m not excepting pets.
On average I make about $600-$800 a month some months even more. I could make more if I promoted myself more and want more dogs at a time, but I choose not to promote myself because I’m getting enough requests to where I need to turn them down and I reach my max a lot.
I was very busy with Rover during the summer because of people going out of town. When summer ended I was afraid I wasn’t going to get anyone. Well I was wrong, I got people all winter long too, especially Christmas-perfect for Christmas presents!
I am happy I gave it a chance. I am completely free from having a boss and my schedule is all my own. It has been helping a lot financially and makes me feel like I am contributing financially. This is by far the best job for stay at home moms in my opinion. You watch cute dogs and get paid for it, it can’t get better than that!
