Grooming and Booming: The Pet Biz

GROOMING AND BOOMING: UNLEASHING THE U.S. SMALL BUSINESS PET INDUSTRY SALE CHANGES FOR U.S. PET RETAILERS FOR STARTERS: Percent of pet retailers Pet retailers saw sales increases in only two categories-dog The past couple of years has heralded widespread change for small businesses in the pet industry. Here, we look at various categories in terms of sales and advertising, as well as breakdown the pet industry as food and fish food and aquarium supplies. Here's a snapshot of how sales for pet retailers changed from 2008 to 2009 across inventory categories. DOG FOOD a whole. UP: UNCHANGED: DOWN: | CAT FOOD UP: UNCHANGED: PET INDUSTRY BREAKDOWN DOWN: | 27% FISH FOOD AND AQUARIUM SUPPLIES UP: | 50% UNCHANGED: ||| Every year an estimated $41 billion is spent on U.S. household pets. DOWN: | | 26% BIRD FOOD & SUPPLIES That's double the amount pet owners UP: | | 29% used to spend nearly fifteen years ago. UNCHANGED: 31% DOWN: Around 63% of U.S. households have pets. SMALL ANIMAL FOOD AND SUPPLIES UP: | 39% UNCHANGED: | 28% DOWN: || 63% |33% REPTILE FOOD AND SUPPLIES DOGS, STILL MAN'S BEST FRIEND: Where Do Pet Stores Make UP: | 34% UNCHANGED: | DOWN: | | 249% the Most Money? GIFTS AND SPECIALITY ITEMS Dog Supplies UP: I | 4% UNCHANGED: | DOWN: | 21% || 31% 12 YEARS OR BUST: WHAT TYPE OF BUSINESS ARE YOU? Dog Food 25% The average pet store has been in business for 12 years. Interestingly, more than half of all pet stores are either Sole proprietroships or Limited Liability Companies. Services 14% Cat Food 7% All Live Animals Bird Food & Supplies 7% PETS 12% Reptile Food & Supplies 5% Fish Food & Aquarium Supplies Gifts & Novelty Items 5% 4% Cat Supplies & Accessories 4% Pond Supplies & Accessories Sole proprietorships 30% 2% Other 30% Limited Liability Companies Small-animal Food & Supplies 12% S-corporations 28% 8% C-corporations 4% Partnerships (3%) Phone Directories (33%) Other FAVORITE FORMS OF PET STORE MARKETING (4%) Magazine (33%) Referral/word-of-mouth Pet Age's 2011 retailer report found that pet retailers increased their marketing budget in 2009. Here are the most popular forms of pet marketing. (5%) TV PETS [7%) Radio (7%) Direct Mail (14%) Newspaper (22%) Internet/e-mail 5 STARTUP IDEAS FOR A SMALL PET BUSINESS 1 Pet Photography 2 Dog Clothing and Accessories Owning your own pet photography business can be a fun and rewarding enterprise. Owners of pets as varied as dogs, cats, reptiles, horses, champion livestock, birds, and even fish can all be potential customers. One creative suggestion: Got a love for pooches? Given that man's best friend in the animal kingdom is the dog, why not considering making clothes for them? There's an endless Create themed backdrops and costumes for the stream of potential business for this idea - especially in a world where glamour is associated with more than just celebrities. Start designing original sweat- ers for small dogs in cold cities. Or, become a retailer for animals. Depending on the client, an animal pho- tographer can expect to make anywhere between $20 to $40 an hour. Don't forget to tell them to smile! designer dog duds. 3 Pet Sitting 4 Day Spas More and more people who work full time jobs or go on vacation Day care spas are becoming increasingly popular. A good startup option might be to rent out a space and convert it into a dog day care spa, complete with water features, fenced outdoor space and indoor couches to ensure your clients hire pet sitters to watch, feed and walk their pets. If you want to work on a small scale, you can be the pet sitter. But if your intention is to operate full time with an eye on growth, you'll need to hire or contract additional pet have all the creature comforts sitters. they're used to at home. Obedience Training Dog obedience training is a multimillion-dollar industry, and continues to grow as more and more dog owners realize the benefits of professional obedience training. This small business can stand out even more if you become one of the few to obtain certification and professional training. Rates for in-home training range anywhere from $30 to $50 per hour. QuickBooks Online intuit. SOURCES: petage.com, reuters.com, entrepreneur.com