anotherroof_

Another roof, another proof.

Dog Walkers Who Are Not Scared, LLC

My daughter and her friend decided to start a dog walking business. They came to me for help.

Naturally, I sat them down and walked them through the IS-LM curve. Then demand-based pricing. Surge multipliers for rainy days. Whether a 20-minute walk at $5 creates an anchoring problem for the 15-minute tier at $3.

They wanted help with the flier.

So we made the flier.

The dog walking flier: DOG WALKING in huge red letters, a price list from $1 to $5, and tear-off tabs at the bottom.

Open the full flier → (The phone number is blurred. The dogs of the internet will have to find their own way outside.)

A few things I’d defend in front of any marketing team:

  • Positioning is crystal clear. “We do not walk the cats.” Know your customer, and know who isn’t.
  • The pricing has a decoy. $1, $2, $3, then $5. Nobody buys 5 minutes. Everybody buys 20. I didn’t teach them this. They just did it.
  • Upsells are priced at a flat dollar. “Dog has a problem with other dogs, +$1.” That’s risk pricing, and it’s honest about it.
  • The terms of service are one sentence. “If the dog sees a squirrel, that is between the dog and God.” I’ve read 40-page MSAs that cover less.
  • Tear-off tabs. The original low-code distribution channel.

The economics lecture didn’t land. The flier did. Turns out the best thing I could do was hold the rope and let them do the rest.