“I never imagined that I could make my dream job come true by opening my own dog walking business,” says Diana Mondragon, a dog lover from Mexico. Diana came to ¼ϲͼ in early 2011 to turn her passion for dogs into a pet care business. Diana proudly graduated from ¼ϲͼ’s free training, comprising six classes covering everything from marketing to licensing to operations.
It was then time for Diana to meet with her one-on-one coach, who provided her with assistance to complete a detailed business plan and application for a start-up grant. This job coach helped Diana garner access to variegated products and services to make a business a success. This included: building credit through a secured credit card and lending circles; a seminar to learn about the tax liabilities of being self-employed; and computer classes on building a website from scratch. With the help of ¼ϲͼ, Diana also obtained her dog walking certification, Pet First Aid and CPR training.
A year after she first came to ¼ϲͼ, Diana created her dream business with the clever name of Her specialities? Dog hikes, doggy daycare and sleepovers.