Welcome To My New Website
Welcome to my brand new website. Whilst I have been offering pet services in Salisbury since 2012 but some recent events meant that I needed to make some changes to aspects of my business. Perhaps a short history lesson will explain things better.
Why The Need For A New Website?
Back in 2012 I had recently retired from the Royal Air Force after serving 22 years. Having always enjoyed being around and sharing my home with pets I decided I wanted to become a pet service provider. Rather than starting my own business from scratch, I decided to purchase the Salisbury franchise of Paw Pals.
Fast forward to 2024 and the owner of Paw Pals UK Ltd informed the various branch franchisee owners of his intention to cease trading. Rather than buyout the existing website design and branding I decided it was the perfect time to start fresh. Coming up with a new business name isn’t always an easy task. Since I am well known locally both as Amanda and Paw Pals I eventually decided on the domain name you see here.
Since I’m not a tech expert and I’m very busy offering pet services I decided to outsource the design and maintainence of my new website. I contacted another dog walker based in Northampton whose blog I had read from time to time. It contained some useful articles about the business side of running a pet services business and it was even how I found out about Lintran dog cages which I now use in my own dog walking vehicle. I knew that he also had a small web design business and after speaking to him about my needs I decided to proceed.
What It Means For Existing Customers
Essentially nothing changes for my existing customers. I’m still offering the same services including dog walking, cat sitting and pet sitting for other types of pets. My company name will remain as Paw Pals Salisbury Limited (registered with Companies House) but I will be trading as Amanda’s Paw Pals Salisbury. My invoices to customers will start to contain the new name once the bank have been informed and actioned the change. The insurance company will also be notified of the new business name as well. All current contracts will be legally transferred over so there will be no need to sign new ones. My Google business profile and all the kind reviews from customers will also carry on but the name will change very shortly to reflect my new brand.
Future Plans
I don’t plan to make any real radical changes to how I run the business. Having worked for more than 10 years already I have a good understanding of what people look for in a pet service provider and also what works best for me. Breaking free from the franchise will give me slightly more independence and I should be able to make changes and give updates in a more timely manner. I plan to use this blog to share news about my business but also other articles that may be of interest to pet owners both in Salisbury but also nationwide.
There are not any plans currently to start becoming active on social media. Many customers like the fact that I do not use a signwritten vehicle when I park outside their house. For the same security reasons I want to think carefully and get agreement before I post photos of the dogs I walk and tag locations where I walk dogs. Currently I only share images and videos with the owners directly.
Thanks for reading this first blog post. If anyone has any questions about the changes mentioned feel free to contact me directly and I will happily answer.
