2013 will mark the 10-year anniversary for In Home Pet Services, Inc. (IHPS), and what a decade it has been! Robyn Elman the founder and President started IHPS out of her home, (and the current Northeast Queens & Great Neck location,) offering pet sitting and dog walking services back in 2003. Robyn wasn’t someone from the corporate world who turned to the pet industry, but yet a former zoologist at the Wildlife Conservation Society at the Bronx Zoo. Once she realized that being a zoologist wasn’t her true calling – she took a job as the store manager at Pet Menu, a large pet supply store in Queens. While loving working at Pet Menu, Robyn always had the yearning to be an entrepreneur and own her own business, and started IHPS part time on the side. Little did she know she would quickly expand, in 2006, IHPS into the only franchise pet sitting company based in NY, and one of the most successful pet sitting companies in the country.
Today IHPS has 8 locations, 7 of which are franchisees all throughout Queens, Brooklyn, Nassau County and soon to expand into Suffolk County on Long Island. With 19 employees and well over 1,000 clients at her Northeast Queens location alone, Robyn continues to provide steady employment during the recession when many businesses were having layoffs. IHPS’s growth took off during the recession gaining 6 of the 7 franchise locations starting in late 2008 and proving that pet owners want the best pet care they can get regardless of the economy.
Robyn was awarded the Pet Safe Educator of the Year for 2011 by Pet Safe Coalition and IHPS was voted Best of 2012 (1st place) and Best of 2013 (2nd place) for best pet sitting and pet boarding company by readers of Long Island Press newspaper. IHPS also offers Pet CPR & First Aid Classes, and Robyn teaches the classes monthly as she is a certified Pet Tech and has been teaching the class since 2007. All of her franchise owners and employees are trained in pet CPR and first aid, the only pet sitting company to offer this serious peace of mind for their clients.
“I always had family members asking, ‘How many clients do you have now?’ as they were always amazed by my growth. They would joke how I would have 1000 clients one day and I always responded with a laugh and brushed it off as something not in my reach. While I worked day and night, and always had high ambitions, I never dreamed that In Home Pet Services would be what it is today,” said Robyn Elman, President of In Home Pet Services. She went on to say, “My hard work and dedication has really paid off. I am rewarded every day, by making so many pets and owners happy, by providing jobs to the community, and my helping fellow entrepreneurs succeed and own their own successful pet business. I am always striving to do more and make IHPS better - but when I take a step back and look at how far I come - I am very proud."
IHPS also offers many ways in which they give back to their community, doing yearly pet food and supply drive call ‘MayDay for Mutts’ to give to participating animal rescue groups. IHPS have collected thousands of dollars worth of pet food and supplies for many different rescue groups. They also have monthly free ‘Smushed Face meetups’ run by Heather Lehrman the owner of the IHPS of Nassau’s Gold Coast – who just happens to own a Boston terrier. Robyn has also been featured as an expert speaker at local networking events and always goes out of her way to connect with others in the pet industry.
A regularly featured guest on News 12 Long Island’s Animal Island segments, Robyn offers very important pet advice to the viewers. IHPS is also regularly featured on FIOS 1 news channel, MyLITV and has been featured in several articles offering pet information and advice in local and national magazines and newspapers.
What is next for IHPS? Robyn continues to strive to find more dedicated animal lovers to expand IHPS into Suffolk County, Westchester, and throughout the Tri-State Area. “I want to provide pet owners everywhere the same level of service and dedication that our current clients throughout Brooklyn, Queens, and Nassau now experience. People are always amazed to find out how affordable owning your own IHPS location can be. We want to find people with a passion for pets over people who just want a large bankroll. Our first priority is the care of our clients pets, and we can’t wait to offer that to more locations,” stated Robyn Elman.
About In Home Pet Services, Inc.: In Home Pet Services (IHPS) was started in 2003 by Robyn Elman, a former Zookeeper at the Wildlife Conservation Society at the Bronx Zoo, who also has a degree in Biology from Binghamton University. With her love of animals and head for business, In Home Pet Services has quickly expanded to 8 locations, 7 of which are franchised. IHPS became a New York State Corporation in 2004, trademarked the In Home Pet Services name, and in 2006 created the franchise system. The first franchise location opened in Brooklyn, NY in April 2008. Services IHPS offers are: pet sitting; dog walking; doggie day care camp; in-home boarding; bird clipping and more. Robyn is also certified in and teaches Pet First Aid & CPR classes throughout New York City, Queens, and Long Island. Robyn was awarded the Pet Safe Educator of the Year for 2011 by Pet Safe Coalition and IHPS was Voted first place for Long Island Press’s Best of LI for 2012, and 2nd place for Best of LI for 2013 for the Pet Sitting/Boarding category. Robyn has been featured on HGTV and in Entrepreneur Magazine, Animal Wellness Magazine, Queens Courier, Times Ledger of Flushing, Queens Ledger, Newsday, Long Island Business News, Long Island Press, Pet Product News International Magazine, Pet Age Magazine, The Pet Gazette, South Bay’s Neighbor, Great Neck News, Nassau Parent, LIPetPlace.com, KJOY.com, TPPC.tv, Examiner.com, Patch.com, TopNewFranchises.com and featured regularly on News 12 Long Island’s ‘Animal Island’ show and also on TV on MyLITV.com and Fios1.