This Is the Biggest Cost My Friend Faced as a Gig Worker -- and How She Avoided It

A friend of mine worked her way into a notable amount of credit card debt a few years back through a series of unfortunate events. First it was an issue with her car. Then she had to move to a new home and her final bill came in way higher than the estimate her movers had given her.

Since she's an animal lover, she signed up to pet-sit on Rover, an app that connects pet owners with pet caregivers. But there was one thing that got in the way of her earning a pretty penny -- fees.

When you consistently lose a chunk of your earnings

It costs $35 to set up a profile on Rover, and that's not so bad. What really hurt my friend's earning potential, though, was losing 20% per gig to the ongoing fees she had to pay.

To be fair, a lot of people wouldn't be able to connect with pet-sitting clients if it weren't for a service like Rover. But my friend found paying those fees frustrating. And it's worth noting that they don't cover things like damage to a pet sitter's home or injuries sustained by a pet sitter in the course of caring for a pet through Rover. So all told, my friend began to feel as if she was really being ripped off.

Going solo was a better bet

After a while, my friend decided to stop pet-sitting through Rover due to the fees and instead she branched out on her own. She made connections in a few different ways.

First, she made a point to chat up dog owners in her apartment complex and encouraged them to call her when they needed help. She also did a great job caring for pets, so much so that her clients were inspired to refer her to other people.

Should you go it alone?

If you've been trying to build up a pet-sitting business through a site like Rover and have been struggling with the hefty fees, then it could pay to venture out on your own, too. But you may want to wait until you have an established profile on that or a comparable site with rave reviews. And you may want to also wait until you've established relationships with a few clients who might be willing to serve as references.

For a lot of people, leaving a pet in another person's care is difficult. So it's really important to have a history of positive experiences to point to, and a list of people who can attest to how thorough you are with their pets.

Also, keep in mind that you might bear certain costs when you open your own pet-sitting service. You may need to buy extra insurance, and you may need to spend some money to advertise your business. But all told, you might still come out ahead financially by virtue of not losing something like 20% of every gig you take.

My friend no longer watches dogs for money, partly because her financial situation has improved and partly because she now has her own dog who's a handful. But the time she spent caring for pets really helped her get to a better place and build her savings account balance.

Whether you're trying to build a pet-sitting business as a side hustle or a full-time job, know that patience is really key. It may take time to build up a solid client base. But if you go about it strategically, you may find that you're able to excel on your own -- even if you don't have a profile on a popular app.