h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Work this time. I'll make it brief.

Franchise the dog walking. I had found someone to take on a pilot, who was very keen, but suddenly she went quiet when I tried to set up a meeting. It's possible she wanted to be staff, not self-employed, but a response of some kind would have been nice. I am undecided whether to search for someone else, or, wait for a likely seeming person to come along. If I do find someone, I've got to set up a new ltd company, so I would own two businesses! That sounds really posh and important, but I'm already wondering which company do I belong (as a worker) and do I bill my time from one to the other, and if so, which one.

Giving up home boarding (temporarily). The biggest reason is Beauty will be 13 next month and really needs some peace and quiet in her retirement. But I am also really needing a break - sometimes months can go by before I get a day without any extra dogs in the house and often that's on a day I have other work. It's a long time without a day off, and you're working from the moment your eyes open to the moment they close. And even when you're asleep your time is not really your own.

Giving up running weekly training classes, but concentrating instead on remedial workshops, running 9 months of the year, roughly every 4 weeks depending on demand, the most popular will run every time, the others will rotate.

Getting the Kennel Club to add 'Dog walking' as a supporting module to their dog training qualification. Which they are really happy to do, and I will be sending a draft document to them next week. I was hoping to be the first person to get an accreditation in dog walking, but I still have 12 months to go before I can apply for my assessment, if I am even ready then. That's another reason to have the time off from dog boarding - I have to 'rescore' my skills later this month, and want to spend this year filling in the gaps. I did a lot last year, but still plenty of work to do. So someone else might get there first, but I will have the joy of having helped (as like the Guide modules are collaborative) shape the module.

Build on the success of my professional dog walker training of last year (the first year I was doing it 'properly' and charging for it, rather than telling people to just 'buy me lunch in return'. I have been training dog walkers for 3 years), and increase the number of dog walkers I train. My aim this year is to do presentations at some of the Kennel Club regional events - I want to be *the* name for high quality and professional dog walking, the gotogirl. And hopefully get a slot at Crufts, but I might need to have my accreditation before I get that far. Probably this will be part of the new company for 2014.

Find enough work to support putting a 'manager' into the local dog walking team, so I can be completely removed from it. My potential manager leaves uni in May, so working towards me 'leaving' in July. He'll have to manage staff 20-30 years old than himself... I barely know how to manage people myself, but I am hoping his uni education will have prepared him better, and if needed, I'll find a course to send him on. They don't need that much managing really. It means I also need enough work to support myself, as without home boarding I am not sure the business will 'pay me' enough to live of for doing nothing yet. I have a plan for something for me to do that will give me an income even if the new company can't support me, but that's reliant on an external company wanting to give me some paid work, so we'll see what happens!

PS I lied about keeping it brief... but what an exciting year for me! Just got to stop wasting time online so I can get everything done and make the most of my new time off - Sundays will always be my day off, and I should get a few Saturdays as well. :D

That sounds really businesslike. Well done you!

Training and walking dogs for people who for whatever reason can't manage it themselves is a very valuable service and I you for doing it. I'm as hopeless with as I am with children and if I lived near you and had a dog myself I could well imagine using a service like that.

That's all full of such exciting plans! I hope that in 12 months time you come back and review what you achieved - and more.

Thank you both! I'll try to come back and see what how much I achieved next year - maybe I should search a few years back and see if I wrote any more of these? :D

Finally finished and sent off the dog walker 'module' which means I list the skills/expertise needed at different levels (1 to 10) under 5 different headings (the same for all the modules). Obviously I wrote it so I 'score' 10 under all headings.

During discussions with my contact she has invited me to apply to be a 'preferred education provider' and is sending me details. Hopefully the criteria is something I already meet, or can meet. I know the first thing I have to do is look at my course content and tie it in with existing compulsory modules.

This is good news because if I can be a provider my logo gets plastered all over the Kennel Club literature for the scheme, and I would hope to get some 'speaking' slots at some of the events, and hopefully a piece in the scheme newsletter to announce it.

*does a happy dance*

Very nice

Seeing someone today who is a pet sitter about ten miles away, but struggling to find work. I want her to help me build up work for my 'manager' when he joins us in May, so she's joining me for puppy sitting today. Then I want to persuade her to either - become a franchisee, or let me help her build up work in her area for a 'short term' commission. She's already got a lot of cats she looks after, but needs more dogs, which is why she's free in the day to come to work with me.

Two dog walker training sessions booked in already, and two invitations from other dog trainers to run a workshop at their premises, which we just need to sort out dates for. So things are going in the right direction. :D