Latest / The Side Hustle Career Podcast with Fexingo: Second Income, Freelancing While Employed / How a Veterinary Tech Built a 10K Monthly Side Hustle in Pet Insurance Claims
Transcript
- Lucas: So there's this stat that's been sitting with me — the pet insurance industry in the U.S. wrote over three billion dollars in premiums last year, and it's growing at something like twenty percent annually. Luna: Three billion. And I bet most pet owners still don't have it. So there's a huge service gap. Lucas: Exactly. And that gap is exactly what today's guest — well, our case study — spotted. She's a veterinary technician in Austin, Texas, and she turned her day-job expertise into a ten thousand dollar a month side hustle as a pet insurance claims advocate. Luna: Claims advocate — I love that title. So she basically helps pet owners navigate the claims process with their insurance companies. Lucas: Right. Most pet owners have no idea how to submit a claim properly. They miss codes, they don't itemize, they forget the medical records. And the insurance company denies or underpays. She saw that happen every day at the clinic where she works. Luna: So she took what she already knew — the billing codes, the required documentation, the typical denial reasons — and packaged it as a service. Lucas: Exactly. She started by offering to review claims before submission for fifty dollars each. Then she expanded to full-service — she collects the invoices, writes the narrative, attaches the records, submits it herself with the owner's authorization. She charges a hundred and fifty dollars per claim. Luna: And how many claims is she doing a month to hit ten thousand? That's about sixty-seven claims at that rate. Lucas: She's averaging about sixty-five. Now, she doesn't do all of them alone — she's got a part-time assistant who does the data entry and document collection. She focuses on the actual claims writing and submission. Luna: Smart. So she's leveraged her time. Where did she find her first clients? Luna: And they said yes? I mean, some vets might see that as a conflict — like she's taking business away from their own in-house billing. Lucas: That's a good point. But she positioned it as a complement. Most vet clinics don't have the staff to walk every client through the insurance maze. So she's actually solving a headache for the clinic too — happier clients, fewer billing complaints. And she's very careful not to poach any staff or use clinic resources. She does everything on her own laptop, after hours. Luna: So the clinic sees it as a value-add. I wonder if she had to sign any kind of non-compete or get permission. Lucas: She did check her employee handbook. There wasn't a non-compete, just a standard conflict of interest clause. She made sure her side business doesn't directly compete with the clinic's services — she's not offering veterinary care, she's offering claims assistance. So legally it's fine. But she also kept her manager in the loop, which I think is smart. Luna: Yeah, transparency goes a long way. What about the actual claims process — how long does one take her? Lucas: She says a straightforward claim — like an annual exam with vaccines — takes about twenty minutes. A complicated one — surgery with hospitalization — can take an hour. She batches them: Monday and Wednesday evenings, a few hours each. Plus Saturday morning. Luna: So maybe fifteen hours a week. That's a solid side hustle, but it's not crazy hours for ten grand. Lucas: Right. And she's scaling. She's now training her assistant to handle the simpler claims, which will free her up to take on more complex cases or maybe even hire another vet tech remotely. Luna: There's a real niche here — I could see this becoming a full-time business for someone. The pet insurance market is only going to grow. Lucas: Absolutely. And the barrier to entry is pretty low — you don't need a license to file pet insurance claims, just knowledge of the system. A veterinary technician obviously has the ideal background, but someone with medical billing experience in human healthcare could probably learn the pet side in a few weeks. Luna: Are there any certifications or training programs she recommends? Lucas: She said the best training is just working in a clinic for a year. But if you don't have that, she suggests studying the common pet insurance policies — there are really only about five major providers in the US: Healthy Paws, Trupanion, Nationwide, Embrace, and ASPCA. Each has its own claim form and rules. Learn those, and you're ninety percent there. Luna: So it's a very specific, learnable skill set. I'm curious about the financials. Ten thousand a month sounds great, but what are her costs? Luna: Pre-tax, but still. That's a strong margin. And she doesn't have to buy inventory or anything. Lucas: Exactly. It's a service business with basically zero marginal cost per claim. The only real cost is her time. And she's careful about scope creep — she doesn't do phone consultations, she doesn't chase down insurance companies on the phone more than once per claim. She's very disciplined about not letting one claim turn into a five-hour ordeal. Luna: That's the trap, right? You're helping someone who's frustrated, and you want to go the extra mile, but then you're working for minimum wage. Lucas: Exactly. She learned that early. She had one client whose claim got denied twice, and she ended up spending six hours on appeals. She had to tell herself — and the client — that she could only do one appeal per fee. After that, it's a new engagement. That's a tough conversation, but it protects her business. Luna: It's a good lesson. Set boundaries early. How does she handle the emotional side? Pet owners can be very attached. Lucas: She says she treats it professionally — she's empathetic but not a counselor. She reminds clients that she's there to process paperwork, not to guarantee an outcome. And she's upfront about the fact that some claims just won't be covered, depending on the policy. That honesty builds trust. Luna: I think that's key. And it's a good reminder for anyone starting a service business: manage expectations from the start. Lucas: Yeah. So if you're listening and you work in a vet clinic, or even in human healthcare billing, this might be a side hustle worth exploring. The demand is there, the barriers are low, and the income potential is real. Luna: And speaking of real — Lucas, we should mention that the reason we can do episodes like this, digging into specific numbers and real stories, is because listeners like you help support the show. Lucas: That's right. We keep this podcast ad-free and independent, and it's funded entirely by listeners who toss in a couple of dollars a month. It genuinely makes a difference — a few dollars from each person who finds value here keeps the lights on. Luna: If this episode or any of our past ones has helped you think about your own side hustle, or given you a concrete idea to pursue, you can support us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. That's buy me a coffee dot com slash f-e-x-i-n-g-o. Lucas: Even five dollars helps. And it allows us to keep diving into these niche, practical case studies without any sponsor pressure. So thank you if you've already contributed, and if you haven't, no pressure — just know we appreciate you listening. Luna: Alright, back to the claims advocate. One thing I wanted to ask — how does she market herself beyond the flyers? Lucas: She's built a simple website with a blog that answers common questions like 'Why was my claim denied?' and 'What documentation do I need?' That blog gets organic traffic from pet owners searching those exact phrases. She also has a Yelp page and she's listed in a few pet insurance directories. She says word of mouth is her biggest driver now. Luna: So it's really about establishing authority in a very specific corner of the internet. That's replicable for almost any niche. Lucas: Totally. And she's careful about her online presence — she doesn't post anything that could be seen as medical advice, just procedural guidance. That keeps her out of regulatory trouble. Luna: Smart. What's her five-year goal? Does she want to leave the clinic? Lucas: She says she loves clinical work too much to leave entirely. But she wants to grow the side hustle to where she can work four days at the clinic and three on claims. Eventually, maybe hire a few more claims advocates and step back into a management role. She's basically building a small agency. Luna: That's the dream, right? Keep the day job you love, but have something of your own that gives you flexibility and extra income. Lucas: Exactly. And I think that's the real takeaway here — you don't have to reinvent yourself. Just look at what you already know that other people find confusing or tedious, and offer to do it for them. Luna: Pet insurance claims is a perfect example. It's a pain point for pet owners, and someone with insider knowledge can solve it. Great episode. Lucas: Thanks, Luna. And thanks to all of you listening. We'll be back next week with another real story of someone building a side hustle from the skills they already had.