Starting a Pet-Based Business: The Ultimate Guide
Love animals? If you’ve been itching to get on the entrepreneurial bandwagon (while pursuing your passion), starting a pet-based business may be the solution for you. The U.S. spends a whopping $103.6 billion on pets, American Pet Products reports – so it’s never been a better time to enter the industry.
Here, Precious Petcare breaks down the basics of setting up and marketing your business. Let’s dive right in.
Top Pet-Based Business Ideas
Pet businesses come in all shapes and sizes. You could target cat or dog owners or perhaps sell products like pet beds and bowls. Another lucrative option is to provide walking and grooming services. Essentially, you will need to find a niche to stand out in this industry, but that niche also needs to be profitable, which can be a tricky balance to strike.
Here are some more pet business ideas to get the ball rolling:
- Dog daycare or boarding
- Pet supplies
- Homemade pet food
- Training and disciplining
When narrowing down on your niche, remember to play to your strengths. For example, if you love being around pets, you may want to consider a pet-sitting venture. Love the product development side of things? Opt for pet puzzles or food treats!
Keep Score with a Business Plan
According to GrowThink, every successful business has a solid business plan backing it up. To grow and scale your business to new heights, you need to be thinking long-term. What’s the name of your business? How is it structured? How big do you want it to be? What about employees? What’s your budget?
As you can see, there are a lot of questions that need careful consideration. A business plan acts as a working document that you can use to refer back to when you need support and alignment. To get started on your first draft, be sure to begin by looking up local and state requirements. Resources like the Small Business Administration or State Labor Office are excellent to start as they offer funding and grants to new entrepreneurs. Then begin to network, as that will be critical to expanding your business. A mentor in the industry will also be beneficial, as they will offer invaluable coaching and guidance specific to the pet care market. By integrating your everyday learnings and network experience, you should be on solid ground to create a stellar business plan.
Marketing Your New Business
Marketing your business is, of course, essential to get customers through the door. Leverage the power of social media, try guerrilla marketing tactics, or perhaps some good old-fashioned word of mouth spread to get started. Be sure to have a creative logo that goes well with your overall brand image and theme. Weave these branding strategies into social feeds, website, email newsletters, and print marketing efforts, so customers have a synchronous and cohesive brand image. A big part of creating marketing materials is making significant text and formatting edits to a pdf. Use an online conversion tool to convert a PDF to Word, as this will allow you greater flexibility and isn’t as time-consuming. All you need to do then is to upload your PDF, convert the file, work on it in Word, and then save it back as a PDF when you’re ready to export.
The pet care world is a million-dollar industry. People love pampering their pets with spa days, gourmet foods, luxury kennel stays, and so much more. The good news is that you can benefit from the skyrocketing pet industry sales by setting up shop right when the market is rising. All the best on your new venture!
If you’re looking for quality care for your furry friend, Precious Petcare is the solution for you. We offer overnight care, private dog walking, and cat visits, so your pet feels loved and cared for even when you’re away. Check out our services or read our fantastic testimonials here for more information.