All good business owners know how to rise to the challenge. Right now, Courtney Vernon is learning how to rise to the challenge of running her small-business amid the current COVID-19 global pandemic. Although customers are canceling their reservations left and right, Courtney is remaining optimistic, pivoting her offerings. From initial business idea to current business hardship, this blog is her story, and as you’ll see, she is rocking her mompreneur title.

My journey to becoming an entrepreneur—or better, a mompreneur—wasn’t a grand thought. Becoming an entrepreneur wasn’t something I pondered about constantly, but more an instant action when I saw an opportunity. It began with “Hey, Wes (who happens to be my wonderful, loving, supportive, and do-anything-for-me husband), I saw a post, and someone needs a dog sitter. We like dogs, want to do it?”

His answer was of course, “yes let’s do it—let’s go for it—we can do whatever we like.”

… Showing age here but cue some 2008 T.I. That’s when the party—job—started.

We started slow, but busier than we anticipated. After just a year of working my restaurant job and running a dog sitting business from home, we knew I was more needed at home, so—yay—I quit my out-of-the-home job!

Business took off. We had dogs join our family daily. Every night was fully booked with doggie friends, more paws than feet in our home, and more love than I knew possible.

We named our business venture Just Like Home, and I took on the responsibility of Founder, marketer, booking agent, customer relations specialist, and everything in between for our dog sitting business. I was a one woman show running a small business, and I loved it.

But I also want to be clear that providing a service for dogs and their parents isn’t sunshine and rainbows everyday. There is answering questions, meeting parents, handling dogs that are perfect for our home, but also handling those dogs that were NOT perfect for our home. Mess cleanup—oh, oh, oh so many messes, bad behaviors...the list could keep going on. But we know, as a family, that the good far outweighed the trials.Trials come with any job. Being able to work from home, raise a family, be a homemaker, and still try to balance a social life is the best case scenario for us.

Fast forward to 2020. Trying to find a balance between all facets of life had pretty much fallen into place. We moved to a more fitting property for our business in 2019 and were finally settled in. I got both of my boys into new schools. Business was steady and all felt right….all was perfect. My story wasn’t over, but it was on cruise control, I felt like my head was above water, I was settling right into a good spot where I was comfortable and ready to relax for a bit….

Then—like most of you—I’m guessing, my world changed…

The world changed, and the world is still changing. We were all hit by the global force of COVID-19. I don’t know where this crisis goes, or when this ends, BUT here I am! Fighting for my business to survive.

READY!

WAITING!

RISING!

My kids (Kindergarten and Pre-K) are home from school. I've been given the task of quickly learning how to become a teacher. It’s now my job to make sure they are learning, thriving, adapting, continuing to find some kind of “normal”. On top of my new added job of homeschooling, my income depends on puppies in the door, which is taking a hit with the newly announced global pandemic.

My beautiful color coded calendar is now depressing with black crossed out names (dogs whose parents can now not travel over Spring Break). I’m scrambling to fill spaces, I’m keeping positive thoughts, and I’m doing all I can to continue rising to the challenge of a global pandemic.

I have announced new services to meet changing demands. If everyone is self-quarantined, there is little need for us to provide a loving home for our client’s animals while they’re on vacation. Instead, we’re offering evening walks, flexible pick-up and drop-off times for those working on the front lines of this pandemic, and puppy yard waste cleanup. As we live through this pandemic, our offerings will continue to shift and mold to match our customers’ needs.

With the uncertainty of the virus, I don’t know where my story will end. But I do know . . . My family WILL keep fighting, we WILL keep rising, we WILL wake up everyday and love each other and we WILL make it through this!

What are you doing for your business or professional development during this time of social distancing? We’d love to share your stories! Email us.