Quick Tips on How to Start a Pet Care Business

Pet grooming is one of the most common luxury services animal owners spend money on. Many pet owners simply don't have the time, ability or desire to groom their pets themselves.

According to APPMA National Pet Owners’ survey, the global pet grooming market will grow at a CAGR of 4.19% during the period 2016-2020.

This creates an excellent small business opportunity for the people who loves animals and wants to create a business polishing fellow pet owners' animals. However, it’s not all fun and games; let’s take a look at what you’ll need to do to start a pet care business of your own:

Training

To be a successful pet groomer, one must acquire necessary skills and training either by completing a formal pet grooming program, working as a grooming assistant or by volunteering. As a pet groomer you’ll be dealing with a variety of breeds and individual animal personalities, so you have to be prepared to handle all breeds and all personalities.

Business Plan

A business plan is an important tool in managing and growing a business. A well-designed business plan lays out a vision of growth and steps needed to get there. The important thing for you to think about is why and how do you need to start a pet grooming business in the first place. For instance:

Whether you will operate out of a retail space or a mobile grooming salon: A mobile service is far cheaper to operate but, you are limited in the number of animals you can groom per day. While a full-service pet grooming business can bring in more customers and revenues at a time, but also has much higher operating costs.

What services to offer: Nails clipping, Brushing, Shampoo. Eye and Ear- cleaning etc

How to promote your business: Fliers, Billboards, Newspaper ads etc.

Budgeting

You cannot operate a business without a budget. When creating a budget, you have to understand the cost to start a pet grooming business. Here are some other things to consider when making your budget:

• Office/Salon space
• Types of equipment: Tubs, showers, Brushing and combing tools, shampoos, nail clippers, collars and leash, Scissors etc.
• Licensing/ Business permit
• Employee costs including taxes and onboarding
• Utilities such as Electricity and water
• Insurance
• Marketing and promotions

Location

Deciding a location is a tedious task. Before you start looking for a location you must have a clear picture of what you need, what you must have, what you won’t like to have, will you be offering a mobile service or opening a shop? Where is the largest population of animals you where you would extend your service? The city? The suburbs? etc.

Things you must consider before choosing a location:

• Cost: Never forget your budget
• Location/Area: Accessible and easy to find
• Visibility of your service on the road
• Foot Traffic: Pet-friendly area with lots of foot traffic
• Target Demographic: As close as possible to your target audience within budget.

 Marketing

The pet industry is one where customers are particularly active. So try to get involved with local pet events for visibility within the community. There can be a good chance to mingle directly with your target patrons. Depending on your advertising budget, you may use fliers, business cards, direct mail, phone directories and newspaper ads to spread the word about your business. If you have a large advertising budget, you may also advertise in magazines or on a local radio station.