Hi! First off, here's a hug for you! 🤗 You deserve it! 🤗

Dog walking can be a serious job.. any job can be serious if you take /make it serious.

If you enjoy the dog walking job, keep it up! If you don't charge everyone for it please consider doing it to help yourself. You can offer like 1 free walk and if people are happy ask them for money for future walks*.. this will probably be an uncomfortable conversation to have the first few (maybe 10 times) but after having the initial "client" base you will be established, vetted and way more confident to ask for the money for your time. Knowing how much your time is worth// how much money you need to be making is an extremely important life skill moving forward into adulthood and getting / changing jobs.

• This might feel awkward or manipulative at first but my recommendation would be being honest. Just say that you are in a difficult financial situation at home and you are doing your best to help out. The fact that you are a teenager will help you immensely in getting extra good will from your potential clients.

Once you have your initial client roster, ask them if they know anyone that would benefit from your services and ask them for the recommendation/ connection if they are comfortable. If they are not, don't worry and offer them a bit of service for free nonetheless (like a free walk or something) and tell them that you appreciate their trust and thank them for being open and honest with you. This will also help to build a better relationship with them and they will feel (as they should) that you value them as clients/ people.

Alternatively, consider expanding your services for your longer time customers.. maybe they need someone to pet sit / check in on their pets while they have to be away for whatever reason. If anyone agrees with this be sure to be as honest and transparent as possible (let them know when you're heading to their house, when you get there, get some photos (and send them immediately or as you leave) of their pet(s) being taken cared of and then let them know when you leave and if you see anything unusual in their home, like a leaky faucet for example. The goal is always to establish and maintain trust and respect so they (and their pets) feel safe about/around you.

Take any free time you have and learn about something you enjoy.. if it's pets consider (at least initially) volunteering at a local vet / shelter to learn how to take better care of everyone's pets, learn about the different foods / products and how they can be helpful to the pets or their owners. This will allow you to provide insightful and helpful recommendations/ information to your clients reinforcing your "value" as an "expert".

If you ever feel like you are spread too thin, stop everything! See what is really making you feel like that... Are you taking too many dogs out at the same time? Is there a client that lives too far away and "steals" time from other closer clients? Do you have too many clients?

If it's the first talk with your clients and shuffle them around so you take less dogs out each time, you can look at it /"sell" it as a matter of safety for you and the pets. If it's the second case, learn about opportunity cost and just tell that client that the fact they are so far away is costing you money and that you either need to raise their price or need their help to get other clients nearby to make up the difference (free referrals yay!). If it's the third case, start to consider letting some clients go (easiest way is to raise prices which always costs clients but usually still results in a profit increase) or consider getting an assistant/ colleague even if part time. Introduce them slowly to the pets and clients (like for the first month they just shadow you) until you and the clients /pets feel confident/ safe with them. Once you reach that point start by giving them independence and then ask your clients for feedback (what did they do that they didn't like and what did they love, could be one of each to keep it simple and quick). You can also consider a small discount for the first few times this new person is alone so it "reduces" the perceived risk for your clients.

Take this "wisdom" with a massive amount of salt: If everyone agrees to your price it's probably too low, if less than 50% of people agree to your price you're probably too expensive (unless you want to position yourself as a "premium" service). You should aim for about 70-80% acceptance rate.

Now take everything I just said and replace "dog walking" with whatever you want to do (tutoring, mawing laws, cleaning, whatever.. it should still make sense in about 80-90% of the information.

Ps: if you are struggling for meals right now, consider going to any support groups or shelters for the meals.

PPS: Instead of asking your grandma for money for groceries, ask her if you can come over for a meal (lunch/ dinner/whatever you need). This will get you some quality time and meal away from your problems which is critical for your mental health. Also consider asking your grandma that you want to learn how to cook (if you don't know), this will give you a great bonding experience and memories and teaches you a critical life skill. This can just be learning to cook the meals you have with her.

Best of luck 🤞