
Show Notes
Pressing pause on a business is rarely as clean as shutting the doors. Sometimes it simply goes quiet. No big announcement. No official closure. Just life shifting focus elsewhere.
After 18 months of near silence, the dog training side of the business is being reconsidered, not because CBA is going anywhere, but because the demand never fully stopped. Enquiries have continued. The audience is still there. Google Business is still live. There is proof of life.
This episode explores what it really looks like to resurrect a service business that has been dormant but not dead.
The first mindset shift is crucial: you are not starting from scratch. There is an existing Facebook group with 326 members. A page with 1.7k followers. Inbound enquiries still landing despite doing nothing for a year and a half. That is not a cold start. That is warm ground.
Restarting properly is less about complicated funnels and more about visibility and trust. When people have not heard from you in 18 months, the fastest way back is honesty. A simple public reintroduction. A post acknowledging the gap. Human, direct, slightly self-aware. Trust rebuilds through consistency, not perfection.
If immediate cashflow were needed, the strategy would be simple and proactive: direct outreach. Messaging the existing audience individually. Reintroducing via video. Asking a clear question such as, “Who do you know that’s just got a puppy and needs help?” No elaborate campaign. Just conversation. Service businesses grow through relationships, not algorithms.
Showing up publicly again would follow quickly. Drip-feeding value into the group. Talking about real puppy struggles, biting, toilet training, overwhelm, unrealistic expectations. Sharing practical, usable advice. Re-establishing authority by being helpful.
An easy next step would be essential. A Zoom session to reconnect. A local in-person meet and greet or mini workshop. Trust accelerates when people can see and hear the humans behind the brand.
Our Socials and Important Links:
https://www.tiktok.com/@letstalkdogbusiness
https://www.youtube.com/@LetsTalkDogBusiness
Website https://www.caninebusinessacademy.com
Community Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/caninebusinessacademycommunity/
Our Book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1068791705?dplnkId=5f9c7bc7-26fa-4f85-b1aa-a1230cb9599a
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In this episode we get honest about one of the biggest struggles facing dog trainers and behaviourists: knowing what to charge for your services and feeling confident enough to believe you deserve to earn a decent living. We look at why trainers can end up undercharging, separating training from behaviour work, and believing they need more qualifications or a more impressive title before they can charge more.We discuss why the value of your work isn’t determined by how “simple” a dog’s problem looks, and why the real thing you are being paid for is the impact you can have on someone’s life. Then, we explore how to stop comparing yourself to other people, recognise what you are actually good at, and build a business around the work you genuinely want to do.KEY TAKEAWAYSYou Are Solving Much Bigger Problems Than You Think: Clients aren’t simply paying you to show them how to train their dog. They are paying you to help them solve a problem that is negatively affecting their life, one that is maybe even making them think about giving up their dog. Understanding that changes how you see your value, your service and what you can reasonably charge.Stop Thinking of Yourself As Just a Dog Trainer: Most of the time dog trainers do far more than simply show a client a technique. They use their experience to identify the root cause of an issue and actively coach and support owners until their problem is solved.You Don’t Need a Bigger Title to Be Worth More: The pressure to become a behaviourist or collect more qualifications can come from a belief that you need external validation before you are good enough to charge properly. In reality, all dog owners are really interested in is whether you can solve their problem.Stop Trying to Be Someone Else: Just because you can work with certain types of dogs or behaviour cases doesn’t mean you should. Understanding what you genuinely enjoy, what you are good at and where your strengths lie will help you to build a business that actually suits you.BEST MOMENTS“I was making like £15, £20 grand a month in some months.”“You can be the reason they keep the dog, and you can be the reason they love their dog again, and you can just make that difference.”“That's what you're being paid for. That's why you should be earning a decent wage. That's why you do deserve it.”“To warrant that fee, I need to become a behaviourist. I need to have level five, level six, all the stuff masters. No, you f**king don't. No, you don't.”“Someone is not reaching out to you for you to show them what to do. They're reaching out to you for you to help them work through it.”IMPORTANT LINKS https://www.caninebusinessacademy.com/gsd-buisness-accelerator https://www.tiktok.com/@letstalkdogbusiness https://www.youtube.com/@LetsTalkDogBusiness