The playbook for a home watch business.

1. What you offer

Service	What it is
Home watch visit	A scheduled stop while the owner is away: doors and windows, leaks, storm damage, signs of trouble. A note or photo to the owner after each one.
Property check	A one-off look at a vacant house, a rental between tenants, or a second home.
Dog walking	Regular walks and attention, whether or not the owner is travelling.
In-home pet care	Feeding, water, litter, company and check-ins so pets stay home instead of a kennel.
Residential security assessment	A walk-through of the home with practical advice — lighting, sight lines, landscaping, locks and entry points — written up for the owner.
House sitting	Longer or overnight coverage, only when you choose to offer it.

Start with the services you're comfortable doing well. You don't have to offer all six on day one.

2. Who buys it

• Retirees and snowbirds who leave for weeks or months
• Families going on vacation or away for the holidays
• People who travel for work every week
• Pet owners who don't want to board their animals
• Owners of second homes, rentals between tenants, or houses for sale
• Anyone who just had a break-in nearby and wants advice on making their own home safer

3. What you need to start

Paperwork

• A business name, and the business registration your state requires
• A local business license if your city or county requires one
• General liability insurance, and a bond — clients holding out a house key will ask
• Pet care coverage if you take care of animals
• A short written service agreement for every customer

Equipment

• A phone with a good camera, and a calendar you live by
• A reliable car
• A key lockbox or numbered key tags, and a key log
• A visit checklist for each home
• Leashes, waste bags and a pet first-aid kit
• A good flashlight

4. Setting your prices

Price by the visit, and be clear about what a visit includes. Before you set a number, call around: find out what home watch companies and pet sitters charge in your town, then decide where you sit.

• Set a standard visit length and price, and a longer visit at a higher price
• Charge extra for holidays, same-day requests and overnights
• Price a security assessment as its own service, with a written summary included
• Offer a regular-customer rate for owners who book every trip
• Put the price in writing before the first visit, every time

5. Setting up each customer

1. Meet at the house. Walk every room and the outside with the owner.
2. Write down the details. Alarm codes, Wi-Fi, water shut-off, breaker panel, thermostat settings, pet routines, vet name and number.
3. Agree on the visits. How many, when, and how long. What happens if something is wrong.
4. Get the emergency contacts. Who to call if you can't reach the owner — a neighbor, a relative, their plumber.
5. Sign the agreement and log the key. The key gets a tag number, never the address.

6. Running a visit

• Vary your arrival time so the visits aren't predictable
• Walk the outside first: doors, windows, gates, packages, signs of entry
• Inside: water under sinks and around the water heater, thermostat, lights, smells, pests
• Take care of the pets, then the mail and packages if agreed
• Send the owner a short note and a photo before you leave the driveway
• Log the visit: date, time in, time out, anything found

If you find a problem, call the owner first. If it's an emergency — a break-in, fire or flood — call 911 first, then the owner. You are the eyes, not the response.

7. Finding your first customers

• Tell your own street, church, HOA and old department contacts what you're doing
• Post on Nextdoor and in local Facebook groups — see the social media plan
• Leave cards with veterinarians, groomers, realtors and property managers
• Ask every happy customer to pass your name on
• Use your Cops R Us website as the place every card and post points to

8. Licensing, insurance and the line you don't cross

Home watch, pet sitting and dog walking usually need nothing more than a local business license, but rules vary by state and town — check yours before you take your first customer.

Patrols, guarding, or anything sold as a security service is regulated as security work in most states and needs a state license. A security assessment is advice about the house. Repairs, locks and alarms are for the licensed trades.

You're retired. No badge, uniform or wording that suggests you still carry police authority.

9. Growing it

• Turn one-time trips into standing customers with a regular schedule
• Add a second sitter you trust for busy weeks and holidays
• Add services customers ask for — plant watering, trash cans to the curb, a drive-by check after storms
• Keep a waiting list for holiday weeks

10. What Cops R Us does for you

• Builds and hosts your business website, in your name — like the sample website
• Advertises your business in the towns you serve
• Plans your social media
• Answers your questions as you get going