Pet Sitting And Trainer Business Plan

1.0 Executive Summary

Over the years while American families have fallen in overall size, the number of pets per household has grown. Americans own over 361,410,000 pets, including 78,200,000 dogs. Statistics show that the new generations are choosing to wait longer to have children, are making conscious choices to have fewer children and seem to be filling that void with pets. This notion is further advanced by the growing amount of dollars being spent on the care for pets and the growing services sprouting up that never existed in the past. There is now pet insurance. Pets have their own advocacy groups as associations such as PETA and other local organizations have pushed for more ethical care and treatment of animals. We are seeing growing demands for better care of household animals such as required neutering in many communities. Dog parks have sprung up in every major city and hundreds of other communities. We are even seeing pets being included in family wills.

We are also a nation of travelers. It's not always convenient to take our pets with us when we travel. One of the major trends in pet care is that the old kennels are slowly giving way to animal hotels replenished with beds, sheets and amenities as luxurious as televisions and DVD players to keep the pets occupied and happy during their owners' absence. The term "kennel" is actually taking on a negative connotation because it conjures up the image of an animal prison with small cages and unhappy, forlorn-looking animals, pining for the return of their masters to save them from their misery. The new animal daycare and boarding centers are dispelling the notion that animals must be locked up to be kept safe from other animals. Another emerging canine boarding concept that COMPANY NAME embraces is one of having large, free-roaming areas where animals can mingle both day and night. This idea is an offshoot of the trend to have allowed dogs to mingle in dog-parks and more and more boarding businesses offer this as an option. This growing trend for the boarding of socialized animals actually has the animals looking forward to their masters leaving them there.

COMPANY NAME has chosen to open their location near the downtown area to take advantage of the urban movement of young, upwardly mobile professionals taking to the lofts, small homes and apartments that put them near work and near their favorite haunts at night.

The demand by city dwellers (lofts, apartments, urban homes) for both daycare and overnight boarding of canines is a growing trend. The urbanization of downtown [CITY] and immediate surrounding areas continues to move forward at a good pace. The people who are buying lofts and condominiums in this targeted area fit the profile of the primary customer for COMPANY NAME.

Our primary target customers are the young, upwardly mobile professionals who inhabit not only these new lofts and urban homes and apartments but are starting small families and one of the largest groups buying pets. These "yuppies" grew up with pets and have aspirations to own pets. Their dilemma is that they are often living in environments not conducive to raising dogs. Leaving a dog alone in an apartment while they go to work is not a great option. Dogs are social animals needing companionship from other dogs and human beings.

COMPANY NAME will offer this demographic a place to drop off their animals during the day on a part-time or full-time basis. And when they travel on business or pleasure, they will have a close location to leave their dogs in an environment that is more of a community than a temporary prison as many kennels have become. Statistics show that these yuppies have deep compassion for their pets, often treating them as children and willing to spend proportionately higher rates for the animal to be fed, pampered and cared for. COMPANY NAME will offer affordable but slightly higher rates than other boarding homes and will justify this value by providing a unique environment for the animals with high quality equipment, "kitschy", fun theme rooms for the animals staying solo, fast-shop and high margin supplies for the dog owner in a hurry. They will also offer grooming and training for the dogs during the day. Future revenue streams could include offering a pick-up and delivery service and facility rental for dog-lover association shows and galas or birthday parties.

Conclusion

The growth in this industry sector is moving steadily forward even in this weak economy. The market in the downtown area is under-served and there are enough buyers of the service to justify the launch. The game plan is to:

1. Establish solid, daily, vicinity business from the local demographics and grow the business to provide a large portion of our annual revenues.

2. Create a unique, fun and adventurous facility with excellent customer service that will make the boarding facility a destination for discerning dog owners from all over the [CITY] are who are looking to provide a different and happy environment for their pets while they travel.