Guest Blog Post By: Brandon Butler
When you’re an entrepreneur, life can be a nonstop whirlwind of meetings, calculations, website updates, and social media management. You may plan to be a “solopreneur” with no outside help, or perhaps your aim is to run a small startup that’s mostly internet-based with a few freelancers. If you’re considering welcoming a new pet into this mixture of excitement and chaos, ensure that your new animal friend will feel safe, secure, and loved by implementing the following tips.
Keep Your New Pet Close
New mothers often “wear” their babies, and while you don’t have to strap your new dog or cat to your chest to attain a sense of closeness and security, you may want to take a page from the attachment parenting handbook and keep your new animal as close to you as possible during the day when he first comes home. Make sure to speak softly, offer as much physical affection as your new pet wants, and give him plenty of verbal reassurance and treats throughout your workday.
Spend Time Developing a Routine
Humans and animals both do best when they have a solid routine for their waking hours. If you drink a cup of coffee in the mornings, give your pet breakfast at the same time. If you take your puppy on a walk at 7:30 in the morning, try to do this consistently. Your pet will catch on to your daily routines and schedules faster than you realize.
Do your best to keep this routine in the early days of your pet’s arrival. When your pet grows older and understands the ins and outs of your house, as well as your shared life together, you will have more room to juggle schedules and make sudden changes without your pup being overwhelmed by anxiety — but now is not the time for inconsistency.
Work Around Your Pet’s Schedule at First
Though you’re welcoming a new pet, you don’t want to neglect your business due to new routines and needs. Adapt by getting the difficult work out of the way when your animal friend won’t need you. For example, you can quickly form an Idaho LLC online in just five steps, and file your quarterly taxes at nighttime rather than during the time your pet wants to play.
If you need to have a friend or trusted pet sitter come over to comfort your pet during the times you desperately need to finish some work, this can be a viable option as well. Like babies, new pets need companionship and look forward to encountering friendly faces they recognize.
Pets pick up on their owners’ stress, but if your new animal friend has a comforting place to go when things get busy, he will adapt within a short amount of time. For extra-shy animals, older animals, and those rescued from a shelter, make sure you check in frequently to assess their needs and adapt accordingly.
Starting a business while raising a new pet is a feat that can be accomplished, but you will need to use your entrepreneurial skills and creativity to simultaneously plan for both.