Things to consider when creating business policies

Every business needs policies and procedures. As a business owner these are your guidelines to ensure consistency of your service and to help your employees and clients to learn about your business and understand, what is expected out of them.

Below are some of the things you should consider when setting up your business policies and procedures.

• Initial client interview – What should the client expect during this process? How long the interview process will go and what information is required from the client?

• Pet immunization requirements – What immunization needs to be completed before the start of the services?

• Emergency Veterinarian payment – In case of emergency you are taking the pet to Veterinarian, will you pay for the visit and is there a payment limit?

• Key maintenance and return policy – How will you maintain the security of the Key while in your possession? How will the key be returned?

• Pet identification requirements – Should the pet have an identification worn when under your care?

• Multiple pet sitting in same house – Does the client need to add all the pets in the house for service?

• Group Dog Walking limit – Mention the number of dogs that can be walked at the same time.

• Visit hours – Between what hours you will provide your services?

• Job Sharing – Will the service be provided by same sitter/walker or can be changed?

• Payment Policy – How frequently will the client be invoiced? When is the payment due? Will the late fee be charged?

• Last-minute reservation – Will you accept last minute reservations? Is there a surcharge for this?

• Cancellation policy – How many days/hours can a client cancel the service? If it is later than your policy is there a surcharge for this?

• Holiday/Weekend/Evening surcharge

• Weather/Emergency policy – How will you handle the situation in case of bad weather or emergency?

Policy and procedures should be a living document that can be updated as you encounter an unplanned situation. DoTimely User Policy feature helps you to secure the digital signatures again incase the policy is changed.