{"id":14068,"date":"2013-12-19T07:08:17","date_gmt":"2013-12-19T12:08:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/?p=14068"},"modified":"2022-08-12T13:34:03","modified_gmt":"2022-08-12T17:34:03","slug":"recalling-christmas-spent-startup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/recalling-christmas-spent-startup\/","title":{"rendered":"Recalling a Christmas Spent with a Start-Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

Becky O\u2019Neil of Arlington, Va., remembers her first Christmas as an entrepreneur: She worked the entire day.<\/p>\n

It was 15 years ago, and O\u2019Neil had just started a dog-walking service, called Becky\u2019s Pet Care<\/a>. As a new mom, she had tired of logging long hours at a medical office, where she worked as an X-ray technician. \u201cI needed something a little more flexible in my life,\u201d she said. Having grown up on a farm, she decided that an animal-related business made sense. Most of the time, she figured, she could walk dogs with her 7-month-old son, Patrick, strapped to her back.<\/p>\n

What she hadn\u2019t realized is that flexibility can come with a cost. Getting her start-up off the ground required long hours, hard work and unwavering commitment \u2014 even on Christmas Day.<\/p>\n

That first holiday as a solo entrepreneur, O\u2019Neil started her day at 4 a.m., tending to clients\u2019 pets for four hours straight. \u201cI was home by eight to open presents with my son, spent an hour there opening gifts, went out and worked all day, came home at 4 o\u2019clock to have Christmas dinner with the family, and was there about an hour again, and then went back out and finished my visits,\u201d she said. In all, she took care of about 25 pets.<\/p>\n

But the marathon work day didn\u2019t dampen O\u2019Neil\u2019s entrepreneurial spirit. If anything, it fueled it. \u201cI was so excited to have a lot of business, and to be earning money, and to see my business was credible,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was a great day.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neil now has two locations, in Alexandria and Woodbridge, and has built something of a dog-walking empire in Northern Virginia. Her company employs more than 125 people, serves 3,000 active clients, and this year expects to post $2.3 million in annual revenue. Please note the business has grown since the accompanying video was produced in 2012.
\n<\/em>
\nHer family has grown, too: Son Patrick is now 15, and daughter Peggy is 13. The original plan to walk dogs with a newborn worked, at least to an extent. \u201cI could put him in a backpack and walk dogs in the sunshine,\u201d she said. But she still needed to put her son in day care when she needed to focus. \u201cHaving never owned a business before,\u201d she said, \u201d I didn\u2019t realize how long the hours would be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Within months of starting up, O\u2019Neil was juggling so much that she needed to hire her first employees. She credits the company\u2019s rapid growth to good timing \u2014 pet sitting was just starting to take off \u2014 and customer service. Over the years, Becky\u2019s Pet Care has been cited by Angie\u2019s List<\/a>, Washingtonian and Pet Age<\/a> magazines; this year, it was named \u201cbusiness of the year\u201d by the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters<\/a>, a nonprofit trade group.<\/p>\n

Today, many of the dog walkers and pet sitters that O\u2019Neil hires are moms themselves, who drop their children off at school and report to work. All pet-care providers must pass background checks, and O\u2019Neil has established a lengthy hiring process, consisting of a phone interview, an in-person interview and then a field interview (\u201cWe see how they are with a dog,\u201d she explains), to ensure good workers.<\/p>\n

Her basic service \u2014 taking care of pets while owners are at work or on vacation \u2014 has changed little over the years, and neither have the challenges. Managing keys, dealing with inclement weather, and battling D.C.\u2019s famous traffic remain headaches, although \u201cwe have definitely improved our systems over time,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

For instance, her staff now follows an emergency protocol — from spraying WD-40 into a sticky lock to calling a locksmith \u2014 if a key doesn\u2019t work and Fido (on the other side of the door) is howling. An operations manager handles the day-to-day scheduling of clients. Another manages all the pet sitters. There are procedures in place for organizing clients\u2019 keys, training new walkers and finding backups when pet-care providers call in sick. As a result, O\u2019Neil is considering opening a third location in the year ahead.<\/p>\n

Still, she said, entrepreneurship is far from easy. That first Christmas, \u201cI was terrified it wouldn\u2019t work out,\u201d she says. And while the business grew quickly, it was three or four years before she paid herself a salary. \u201cThere were times when I lived on credit cards,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

But she recommends it, especially for parents who desire flexibility. \u201cIt\u2019s absolutely a wonderful way to change your life,\u201d she said. Over the years, she\u2019s adjusted her schedule to attend her children\u2019s events, take field trips with them, or be there when they\u2019re sick. \u201cHaving Becky\u2019s Pet Care has allowed me to spend a lot more time with my children, although there were times when the business encompassed all of me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

These days, O\u2019Neil personally spends less time walking dogs and more time shepherding her company\u2019s growth. This year, she\u2019s not working Christmas \u2014 the spoils of a successful entrepreneur. \u201cI will have walkers out working,\u201d she said. \u201cI just won\u2019t be one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead, she\u2019ll be cooking dinner at her aunt\u2019s home, tending to her black Labrador Retrievers and exchanging gifts with her kids.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Becky O\u2019Neil of Arlington, Va., remembers her first Christmas as an entrepreneur: She worked the entire day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":14072,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":false,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[187,3],"tags":[19465,19444,19683,20332,19699],"class_list":["post-14068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-entrepreneur-videos","tag-personal-services","tag-animal-business","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-pet-care-industry","tag-women-in-business"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBecky's Pet Care: Recalling a Christmas Spent with a Start-Up -- The Story Exchange<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Becky O\u2019Neil of Arlington, Va., remembers her first Christmas as an entrepreneur: She worked the entire 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