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Meet Lauren Piner of Pawsitively Pooches in Denver, Aurora, Littleton, Lakewood, Commerce City

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Piner.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Pawsitively Pooches started in September of 2010 when I was laid off from CitiFinancial. I had always wanted to own my own business and even went to college with it in mind. I had planned to open a dog daycare but that seemed really daunting at the time. So, I started dog walking figuring it was low, almost no, overhead and pretty simple at least in the beginning. I planned to give it 6-12 months and see how it was going. After about eight months, I was making enough to get by and by 15 months, I needed to hire someone because it was more work than I could handle. Now, nine years later, we just hit a record 405 walks in a week and I have a staff of 20 working for me.

Getting from, “Maybe I’ll try dog walking” to “I own a successful dog walking company”. The journey included a lot of ups and downs, a fair amount of derision, and a lot of credit card debt. It was painful, exciting, fun, scary, thrilling. There are things I would do differently, mostly ask for help sooner than I did, but overall, I’m happy with where I am and I learned a lot.

Has it been a smooth road?
I don’t think a new and growing business is ever smooth though I’m sure some go better than others. My biggest challenge was growing too quickly. I didn’t have systems in place that allowed me to keep track of client billing which ultimately ended up in me paying dog walkers and not getting paid by clients. I spent so much time trying to find the best option and picked the wrong one which meant it took over a year of being aware of this problem and trying to fix it before it was actually fixed. I’m still not really sure how much money I lost but I know it was a lot. In the end, I was left with enough credit card debt that interest alone was almost 500/month. Even though I was finally able to pay myself, I was struggling to make ends meet and keep the cards from climbing higher, never mind paying them off. There have been many challenges but this by far is the biggest one.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Pawsitively Pooches – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
Pawsitively Pooches does dog walking all over the Denver Metro area. We have a variety of offerings to meet the needs of all kinds of Pooches and their people. We pride ourselves on our customer service and our small company feels. We’re locally owned and operated by a team of some of the smartest women I know. When you call or text us, you talk to real people and you can always talk to me. We work early mornings, late nights, weekends, and holidays. We’re here for your pooch when you can’t be.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love that Denver has so many different people, many of whom didn’t start here. It means that in many ways, we are all here intentionally and probably for similar reasons. Of course, it’s a great city which means a lot of people want to live here and the traffic is starting to be a bother.

Pricing:

  • 30 Minute Dog walks range from $19.50-22
  • 15 min to 60 min ranging from $13-39

Contact Info:

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