My hope in featuring a small business each month, is to help promote the business while alleviating some of their advertising costs. So much cost goes into operating an entrepreneurship, that many business do not see much of a profit.
Please take the time to read about TDR’s other featured small businesses on my featured page and help support them in their ventures!
July’s Recommended Featured Business
Mika & Koji’s Pet and House Sitting Service
1. What is your business?
Mika and Koji’s Pet Care and House-Sitting Services.
2. Tell me about yourself, your buns.
My name is Mika and my husband Koji and I work together as a dynamic duo to provide custom care services to pets of all kinds (although our most common clients are the pet parents of dogs, cats, and rabbits). We also provide House-Sitting in conjunction with our pet sitting services. Our motto is to always leave our client’s house cleaner than when we arrived! 🙂
We have two adorable bun children (bunny babies) ourselves. Momiji (girl) and Yukimaru (boy). They are both rescues who are now living their best life.
3. What inspired you to start your business?
We have both always been huge animal lovers and have had experience caring for pets in the past. Our current pet-sitting and house-sitting business originally started out very casually as some friends and a few of my yoga students started asking me to take care of their pets or watch their houses for them while they were on vacation. We soon discovered that we loved doing it, and word began to spread. We started gaining clients first through word of mouth and then also through our reviews on Rover after we created a profile on that platform.
4. How is your business unique?
My husband (Koji) and I (Mika) have the blessing and privilege of getting to work together as a team! This not only allows us to be able to take on more clients and more pet care jobs at one time, but also gives us more flexibility and freedom in our schedule. It is also super fun to get to work together and share this lifestyle!
5. How long have you been doing this?
Officially for about 3 years now.
6. What does a typical work day look like?
One of the fun and exciting things about the work that we do is that every day is a little different. There is a lot of variety with the different pets we take care of and we adapt to their routines as well. But I would say that a “typical” day might have us caring for pets at our house or a client’s house and we might also have some walks or drop-in visits for another client as well. I will reply to emails, messages, and inquiries from potential clients and also send photos and report back to current clients. I also teach several yoga and Pilates classes throughout the week, and spend time caring for and hanging out with our own bunnies as well.
7. What is your biggest challenge?
Hmmm… Right now I would probably have to say managing and juggling a packed schedule can be a bit challenging sometimes, especially when we have overlapping jobs or take on multiple clients at once. My brain gets a bit fried sometimes, haha. But it’s all good and we are super thankful for times in which our schedule needs juggling!
8. What is your most popular service?
Our most popular services are Boarding (where we take care of pets overnight in our home, kind of like a private pet hotel), and House-Sitting (where we take care of clients’ pets in their home while they are away on vacation or for business).
9. What advice would you give to an aspiring entrepreneur?
Hmmm…that’s a tough one! I would say don’t give up on going after your dream. Do your research, but also be prepared to think creatively in regards to creating your business or troubleshooting issues. Go for it and think outside the box!
10. How can someone get in touch with you?
We work both on and outside of the Rover platform. Potential clients may reach out to us via Rover, or through an Instagram or Facebook DM or via email.
Rover Link: https://www.rover.com/sit/mikaty14304
Rover Discount Code: MIKATY14304
Note: Rover is a platform that is much more geared towards dogs and cats, which is why they don’t have a separate category for bunnies yet. Currently prices are flat across the board for dogs, cats, and bunnies. In the case of special budget needs, then negotiations are possible.
Email: 321mikatsu@gmail.com
On Facebook as Mika Tamaki and Instagram as @plant.based.polyglot or @momi_yuki_diary
And The Reviews Are In!
“Mika did wonderful with Hubble. She took great care of him and respected our routine with meals. She kept us posted on everything and gave him plenty of healthy exercise. She was very accommodating to our drop off and pick up schedule. I would highly recommend her, very sweet.” …JD
“Mika was great! Very communicative and flexible on drop off times. Our pups had a wonderful time!”…Chantel
“Mika and Koji are kind and gentle people who genuinely love pets. They made my little dog feel secure and happy. They sent photos every day and kept me informed of how she was doing and behaving. I feel that Rusty was coddled and got lots of reassurance and attention. I think she will be delighted to see them again in the future–both of us will!”…Lisa
