What They Don’t Tell You About Making 6 Figures as a Dog Trainer
Listen up:
If you think that being a 6-figure dog trainer or having a 6-figure pet business is what’s going to make your life magically better…
Or if you've been conditioned to believe that being a 7-figure dog trainer is the ultimate goal and it's what you hustle and grind your ass off to achieve, then yeah... we need to have a conversation. You've been lied to.
Okay, hold up, hold up. Let's talk about this a bit.
Dog trainer sales numbers have blown up in the last 2.5 years, pushing the total market value for dog training services/dog walking services to over $1 billion. And yes, the pet industry is a $120 billion industry - but that's accounting for all aspects of the pet industry (food, vet, care, etc.). In particular, dog training is booming.
I believe all dog trainers, dog walkers, and pet business owners deserve to earn a ton of cash. You work hard and sacrifice a ton. I also firmly believe that when good people make great money, they can put it to fucking use in ways that benefit the world.
But let's talk about the truth of making 6 or 7 figures as a dog trainer and what comes with the revenue bump. A lot of you already know and have passed the $100k threshold. You know that things don’t just magically change once you gross $100k.
So You Passed 6 Figures. Okay, now what?
Nothing, that's what.
But hey, you've made it! You hit that magical 6-figure unicorn number as a dog trainer.
But it probably doesn't feel like you expected. You expected everything would be different or better once you passed your goal. No more struggles. No more worries.
You've worked your ass off. There have been sacrifices—lots of work, dogs, clients, trials, errors, wins, failures, gray hairs, disappointments, and epic achievements. Sometimes it can even feel like you sold your soul to get to the finish line.
The other thing that no one expects about hitting your first $100k, $200k, or even $500k is that there is no party or balloon drop. You most likely missed your milestone until you sat with your bookkeeper and did your quarterly taxes.
But, hey! At least you got all that money and that 6-figure dog biz. You should be grateful, especially when family members and friends thought you were insane to do this for a living.
You tell yourself, ‘I love my life. I get to go away now and then on vacation,’ but at the end of the day, can you stop thinking about the business? And the clients? And the dogs?
What's the fucking point of success and money when you’re constantly stressed and can’t enjoy it?
It's the 6-figure hamster wheel. You've "made it," but now every aspect of your business is growing and spinning out of control. With just a few extra bucks in the bank, shit, it almost seemed easier when the business was smaller...
So How Can You Balance and Grow Your Dog Training Biz?
Some gurus preach that business growth for dog trainers is all about being a "CEO." Delegate more. Hire more. Outsource more.
But isn't MORE what got you in this mess in the first place? The solution isn’t clear…
It’s common to feel lost. Alone. Guilty.
Guilty because you feel like an asshole unable to celebrate your success. Why does success feel like a hollow victory? It’s The THING YOU'VE SET YOUR GOALS ON FOR YEARS?!
The reason is simple...you've been too busy delivering dog training services, stressed out about having each dog come out perfect in their programs. You’ve been nose-down training, trying to balance it all on a thin balance beam while you juggle 78 different balls of clients, marketing, employees, dogs, more goals, software, and fires that need to be put out daily.
And the most messed up thing is that the shit stack on your desk just keeps growing despite your efforts to make it smaller.
The hard work that got you to your magical unicorn number isn't the same work you need to get past these issues in your business. You must hone a different skill set to live a balanced life and build a humming 6-figure dog training business.
So, hitting that 6 (or even 7) figure number is great. We want you to succeed and soar. When you make money, you can change the world.
But it's all about getting there the right way. And not one path is the right way. It will be different for everyone.
No matter which path you choose, just don't let your soul get sucked out in order to achieve that magical number.
