Nicola McIntosh

Growing up with horses and cats fuelled Nicola’s love of animals. School was a struggle as nothing they were offering was of interest. After being advised to keep her love of animals as a hobby, Nicola left school and studied sports for a year but soon realised that it wasn’t for her.

Nicola then decided to follow her heart and enrolled on the Introduction to Animal Care course at SRUC Craibstone. She enjoyed it so much that she continued her studies, successfully completing the NC Animal Care course in 2021.

Thinking she wouldn’t be able to run a dog walking business as she was ‘rubbish at maths,’ a conversation with an SRUC lecturer encouraged Nicola and pushed her in the right direction. She is now the proud owner of Nicola’s Pet Sitting & Walkies.

The business began while Nicola was still at college, initially helping friends and family, fitting in pet caring duties around her studies. COVID had an impact as she had more time at home and when people were able to go back to work, dog walkers were in high demand.

After setting up Nicola’s Pet Sitting & Walkies on Facebook, Nicola was approached by the Princes Trust who helped her develop a business plan. This was integral in helping direct the business and put in place systems to simplify invoicing and lessen Nicola’s maths fears.

"I set up the figures to be easy enough for me to manage, and I've got an invoicing system which does the calculations for me."

Initially Nicola promoted her business putting flyers and business cards through doors. She freely admits that the first year is the hardest and she grabbed any business she could get. As the business has grown, word has spread through Facebook and customer recommendations, and Nicola is now able to choose what she takes on.

A typical day sees Nicola leaving the house at 7.30am and finishing around 3pm fitting in three one-hour dog walks a day. Friday sees an earlier finish but then there’s the car to clean, paperwork to process or invoices to raise.

“Apart from dog walking, I also do drop-in visits for a range of animals such as cats, chickens, hamsters, guinea pigs, snakes, you name it! While owners are away on holiday I also provide overnight stays where I pet sit in the animals' home.”

Though Nicola freely admits that it is hard work running your own business and you have to really want to do it, she is working with and handling animals daily, which is a lifelong ambition. The course at SRUC helped the dream become reality.

“It's an extra qualification to assure customers that I know what I'm doing. I'm not just a little kid coming out of Academy who wants to look after dogs. It gives me some credibility."