Episode 431: Attracting Great Employees for Your Pet Sitting/Dog Walking Business

?   Struggling to find good help? Feeling like your team’s falling apart faster than you can hold it together? You’re not alone—and no, it’s not just because “no one wants to work anymore.” Let’s cut the fluff: The job market isn’t broken. Your systems are. If you’ve been panic hiring, training people on the fly, and praying they don’t ghost you two weeks in… that’s not a hiring problem. That’s a business-building problem. This episode is a wake-up call for every pet business owner who’s ever said: “I can’t find good people.” “I hired three and they all disappeared.” “Why does it feel like I’m always starting from scratch?” Because what’s actually going on? Your hiring process is random, reactive, and frankly... exhausting. But here’s the good news: You can fix it—and I’m going to show you how. In this episode, I’m breaking down exactly why your hiring process keeps failing you—and the real, practical steps you can take to build a team that’s reliable, loyal, and actually loves working for your business. I’m dropping truth bombs.I’m calling out the mistakes most business owners don’t even realize they’re making.And I’m giving you a 30-day plan to turn the whole thing around. So if you’re tired of spinning your wheels, losing sleep over staff issues, and constantly feeling like your business is one resignation away from disaster… In This Episode, You’ll Discover… Why “no one wants to work” is a dangerous myth The real reason your job posts aren’t attracting quality applicants How panic hiring is killing your business The secret to building a system that attracts, hires, and keeps rockstar employees A 4-week plan to overhaul your hiring process in just 30 days  Timestamp Highlights: [00:57] – The hiring truth bomb most business owners don’t want to hear[03:36] – What good employees actually want (and why you’re not giving it to them)[08:11] – The trap of panic hiring and how to avoid it[10:20] – What a hiring funnel actually looks like (and why you need one ASAP)[16:35] – The 30-day challenge that will change everything  Notable Quote: “You don’t attract great employees by chance. You attract them by design.” Resources Mentioned: Jump Consulting Mastermind Loved this episode? Screenshot it, share it to your stories, and tag @BellaVasta! Watch all our Podcasts on YouTube Previous podcast episode: ? Transcript 00:04 welcome back to another episode of Bella in Your Business my name is Bella Vasta and today um we're going to get right on into it but before we do I want to encourage you uh to please like or subscribe wherever it is that you listen to this um this podcast uh we just recently started putting them all up on YouTube so if you like to to watch you can actually watch these episodes on YouTube or you could still listen on whatever your favorite podcast uh episode listener is look I talk to businesses all day like every single day and I can't tell 00:42 you how many times over the past 20 years I have heard "Bella I can't find good people." Or "No one wants to work the job market's terrible i hired three people and they ghosted me after training here's the thing i'm about to drop some truth bombs today that might be a little uncomfortable but they could also completely transform your business so are you willing to get a little uncomfortable to maybe change the face of your business i'm not kidding cuz today that's exactly what I'm going to 01:14 show you so let's start off with the real problem let's cut through the fluff because you know I'm a non no nononsense person you're not struggling to find good people because no one wants to work anymore it's just not the truth good employees exist they're out there right now working for businesses that have their act together the real reason you're struggling is because your hiring process is most likely random reactive and if I'm being completely honest it's exhausting 01:47 it like it's like I'm going to date myself right now but you know that song this is the song that doesn't end i'm sorry if that's in your head the rest of the day today but that's how some of your hiring processes are and because of it then you wonder why people who either apply never show up for the interview after 2 weeks or worse they stay but they do such a terrible job that your clients are complaining and get you're constantly putting out fires you're constantly retraining them it's not a hiring 02:20 problem my friends that is a business building problem and think about it this way would you want to work for a business that always hires when they're in crisis mode would you want to work for a team where the job description clearly shows the owner through it together in 15 minutes would you want to work for someone where the onboarding consists of follow me around for days and and try to remember all of it and then you're out on your own of course not and neither do the quality employees that you're trying 02:55 to attract consider this scenario imagining a petsitting business where the owner posts jobs at midnight when they're exhausted and at a after a long day of petsitting their job descriptions are vague and focused on entirely what they need not what would attract a candidate and their onboarding well it basically doesn't exist but no wonder they can't find good people the entire process is screaming "This business is chaos. 03:29 " Now contrast that with a business that implements hiring processes like clear distinct hiring processes they have a multi-step interview process that filters out people who aren't serious and they have a comprehensive onboarding so that it makes the hires feel new uh confident and prepared the second business is never short on quality applicants even in this so-called tight labor market they have eager people working for them the difference isn't luck it's systems and I literally see this i see this between the free Facebook groups and 04:05 where people start getting really discouraged and they decide that there's no one to hire out there and they all kind of like gather up around the watering hole and then they all start agreeing the stinking thinking and then there's like this magical place where there's a ton of people that aren't having trouble hiring because they've built out these systems i literally see the contrast and I'm not kidding so what real employees want you want to talk about that what they really want are 04:37 it's not just about money and unfortunately a lot of you throw money at the problem quality people the kind that show up on time follow your process and genuinely care about the pets that they're looking after they don't want chaos especially when they're not making big bucks they don't want to be dumped into your business with zero training no clear expectations and a boss who's texting them at like nine o'clock at night because they forgot something important okay listen if I if you're 05:06 feeling uncomfortable right now I'm not trying to make you that way but hopefully you realize that something's got to change and I'm here to help guide you through that what they do want is something that's very simple first they want clarity they want expectations doesn't everyone clear job descriptions clear understanding of what success looks like they want to know exactly what they're signing up for before they start second they want consistency we just want that as humans honestly a consistent schedule 05:41 consistent communication consistent policies they don't want to feel like the rules are changing based off of your mood every week and third they want communication they want regular check-ins feedback on their performance and a boss who actually listens when they have questions or concerns they want to feel heard and valued this is uh this reminds me a lot of those situations when an employee says "I'm not comfortable visiting that dog. 06:09 " Because something about their Spidey sense says that something's off and the business owner might force them to keep going or go with them to try to get them acclimated and not just uh acknowledge and respect their feeling for I don't want to be around this dog the final thing that I want to bring up is that they want to feel like the company has their act together a business that's organized and professional and treats them like a valued team member like they've done this many times before is not a 06:38 disposable resource so here's the thing if your hiring strategy is let's see who applies and we'll figure out as we go you're setting yourself up for constant turnover and burnout and I'm willing to bet that it's not a them problem it's a you problem again I know this is going to rub some of you a hard way today but stick with me okay because I'm going to give you some solutions i want you to think about this scenario and this might be really close for home a dog walking company above offers the market rate 07:12 wages and flexible schedule yet they can't keep anyone for longer than a few months but they think it's the rates no one wants to work because it's not enough money when they examine their process they discover that the new hires feel completely abandoned after training there's no system for them to ask questions no regular check-ins no clear path or for advancement there's like no vision right they're they're just thrown in the deep end and expected to swim now imagine if they implemented a system of 07:44