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Is it Time to Consider a Pet-Related Business?
by D. Marie Ratliff
Published on this site: April 25th, 2006 - See
more articles from this month
If you read up on trends in business or home business, then
you've probably seen quite a few articles recently on the
pet industry. To put it briefly, more and more people are
owning more and more pets. The figures are amazing, both in
terms of numbers of pets owned and amounts spent on pets.
According to the APPMA (the American Pet Products Manufacturer's
Association), pet spending has more than doubled from $17
billion in 1994 to about $38.4 billion in 2006. And spending
is not just on basics like food or routine veterinary care.
APPMAs National Pet Owners Survey shows 27% of dog owners
and 13% of cat owners buy their pets birthday presents, and
55% of dog owners and 37% of cat owners buy their pet holiday
presents. High-end retail goods and services such as pet spas
and hotels, pet therapy and expanding veterinary services
such as joint replacement surgeries and delicate eye procedures
are becoming more common.
Baby boomers (whose children have grown up) and young professional
couples (who delay having children in favor of careers), are
fuelling much of the growth in spending. They turn to pets
to fill the void and often consider their furry companion
a best friend or member of the family.
So what does this mean for you?
Maybe not much, unless you also consider the continuing growth
of and interest in self-employment and home based business.
For many people, corporate downsizing, reduced pension plans
or health care coverage, outsourcing and the sheer desire
for financial independence are good reasons to consider starting
a full or part-time business venture.
It's this combination - the booming pet industry and the need
for supplemental or replacement income - that makes it worth
your while to examine the pet industry. After all, if you're
going to start a business, it makes sense to start one with
a growing customer base and high demand.
Not that a pet-related business means you have to work directly
with pets. Or get a degree in veterinary science. Or pay thousands
of dollars in fees to open up a pet store franchise. When
you consider that many pet owners have higher-than-average
disposable incomes and full time careers too, products or
services that go beyond the traditional can be surprisingly
profitable.
For example, if you do like to work directly with cats, dogs
or small animals, dog grooming and pet sitting continue to
be viable businesses. But they're just the beginning. If you prefer less competition, consider pet photography, or becoming
a pet massage therapist, or raising one of the popular new
crossbreeds such as Puggles or Labradoodles. A doggie day
care might be fun. There are even people who conduct parties
for pets, to celebrate birthdays and other events like graduation
from obedience school!
But you can start a pet-related business even if you can't
stand dogs or are allergic to cats. Remember, pet owners todayf
spend a lot of money both to pamper their pets and to make
owning a pet more convenient.
So you could sew designer clothes for dogs or designer dog
carriers. You can fulfill an ongoing need of pet owners by
starting a pet food delivery service, or take care of animal
waste through a pooper-scooper enterprise. You could write
a newsletter focused on the care of tropical fish, or design
and sell dog houses.
It's a purr-fectly great time to start a pet business!
D. Marie Ratliff is an authority on small business marketing
and thinks it's prudent to start a business in an industry
that's growing rapidly. Learn more about pet business at http://www.PetBusinessCentral.com.
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