America is a land of doggy lovers.
Over 60 million households around the country own at least one of them.
And who can blame them! There’s nothing better than a cuddly pooch to lift your spirits.
They’re a lot of work though. Some busy owners lack the means to take proper care of their dogs during the day. Love dogs and want a new challenge?
Well, you could start a doggie day care service to help out overworked owners and earn good money in the process! Sound good?
Read on to discover how to do it.
1. Upskill Yourself
It’s one thing to love dogs. It’s another to know how to take proper care of them.
Doggie day care services have a big responsibility. Owners entrust you with their treasured pooch! Their wellbeing is in your hands. With lots of excited dogs in one place, that’s easier said than done.
Make sure you’re up for the task by learning more about canine behavior and needs. You could even learn canine CPR and first-aid to handle emergency situations.
Consider volunteering in dog shelters and vet surgeries to upskill yourself. At the very least, accrue basic experience handling multiple dogs at once (such as being a dog walker).
2. Think Business
Far from a casual endeavor, doggie day care’s a legitimate business.
You need to treat it as one from the get-go! That involves various tasks. For one, create a business plan to ascertain your goals, understand the market, the potential problems, and any financial considerations.
Likewise, check with the local authorities or an attorney to figure out the legalities involved. There could be restrictions in place regarding what’s allowed for a home dog care business.
You might even need to purchase a license. That, in turn, will require an inspection of your property to ensure it is fit for purpose in terms of hygiene and space.
3. Get Prepared
You’re going to have numerous hounds running around.
That means you’ll need all the doggy equipment you can get your hands on. Setting up shop at home? Get dog-proofing! Think kennels, beds, leashes, doggy bowls, food, treats, and toys.
Cast a critical eye on your yard as well. Do you need new fencing or more of it? Will the dogs be safe and sound outdoors and indoors? Could they escape somehow? Are there any safety issues to deal with?
Do what you can to prepare yourself for the grand opening. Here are some technological solutions that might come in handy.
4. Market Your Business
Marketing is key to the success of any business.
The trick’s to start the marketing process prior to opening and keep it up throughout business proceedings. Generating interest ahead of time will help you hit the ground running.
Set up a website and start a blog to gain interest online. Send out pamphlets into the neighborhood. Solicit friends and family to send the word out. Send out Facebook ads to targeted people in the area.
Tell everyone when you’re open, where you are, what the prices are for the day, and how to contact you. Here are some top marketing tips to help.
5. Get Dog Day Care Insurance
Don’t forget insurance either!
Insurance will be essential for your doggie day care to protect you from potential financial and legal hiccups down the line.
We could write an entire new post on dog day care insurance policies for business owners. For now, though, it’s enough to know what’s important to have on your dog day care insurance policy.
Be sure to include:
- General liability
- Professional liability
- Animal Bailee
- Business Property
- Tenant Improvements
- Business Income
You could also think about arranging workers’ compensation for dog day care.
With that all sorted, there’s only one thing left to do…
6. Open Your Doors for Business!
You’re ready to go. It’s time to open for business.
Your marketing efforts should have paid off. With any luck, you’ll have a long line of interested people hoping to hand you their dog for the day.
We recommend starting slowly. It’s tempting to take as many dogs as possible to maximize your revenue. However, biting off more than you can chew is a recipe for stress and mistakes. Begin with a few dogs and gradually build up.
Time to Start a Doggie Day Care business
There you have it: 5 tips to help you leverage our love of pooches and start a doggie day care business of your own.
Keep these tips in mind and you’ll be on your way to a thriving doggie business in no time.
Raring to go but want some help with the insurance side of things? Contact us today to see how we can help.
How to open a doggy daycare business and is it for you
Looking for change in career? Ever wondered how to start a doggy daycare business? Many people are unhappy with their current employment situation: not enough pay, long hours, traffic jams, and a boss that no one likes. Why are you clocking into a 9-5 that you are constantly complaining about to your friends, family, and the few co-workers? Starting or opening a dog daycare business can solve many of these issues and give you a sense of accomplishment and overall happiness in your day to day life. Sure, it can be daunting starting opening a doggy daycare business from scratch and you may be asking yourself where do I even begin? We are here to give you the proper steps into becoming your boss and pathing the way to a lifelong career in something that brings you joy! PETS! You have heard of the phrase “ Love what you do, and you will never work a day in your life” for many of us this has never been a reality, but with these tips you can be on your way sooner than you think. Below has more information on why and how to start a doggy daycare business.
Steps to consider before and when starting a doggy daycare business
Step 1: Decide who you want to be
There are many types of Pet Daycare’s catering to all types of different clients. Would you be an in-home pet sitter? Would you like to own your daycare center? What pets would you want to cater too? Dogs, Cats, Horses, Exotic animals? What pets have your grown up with and would love to learn more about and work with daily? Choosing a specific path will come with different start-up costs.
Step 2: Business Model
Depending on what route you want to take, will determine different start-up costs, business loans, or upfront investments. Starting small may be the best situation for you as you could learn as you grow. If you have been saving up and have a little bit more experience in operating a business may be a business loan fits your plan best. Marketing, advertising, and expenses will all play a role in running a successful business. Plan or your model accordingly.
Step 3: Create
Get your creative juices flowing and design your logo and name that makes you stand out from the rest when opening a doggy daycare. If design is not your strong suit, many websites can help create the look you are trying to achieve for affordable pricing to even free logo designs. Create a website, e-commerce is only getting bigger along with supplying convenience for your customers to purchase and book your services without any contact with you personally giving you more time to focus on your operations. It will also allow your prospects and soon to be clients to get to you know your business without ever having to explain a thing.
Step 4: Licensing
Get in contact with the city or county you plan on doing business in and figure out if there are specific ordinance limitations along with the proper licensing needed to operate a dog daycare in the area.
Step 5: Insurance
All doggy daycare business owners should be protecting the business with type of dog day care insurance known as business owners insurance policy. Why? Because it helps protect your business by providing liability protection, coverage for your property, your tenant improvements or the building and income generated from your business. By combining these insurance coverages, that are important to virtually every dog daycare business, a BOP can save you money on insurance rates while protecting your dog daycare business you’ve worked hard to build.
The business owners policy can cover lots of different things however it’s up to you, your agent and your insurance company knowing exactly what you need. So with that said its important that you ask and confirm your policy includes the endorsements below.
Step 6: Demographic
Know your surrounding area and competitors, figure out a price point that’s fair and profitable for the business. Do you offer a higher quality stay or are you even matched to your competitors? Knowing your worth will keep your customers and clients happy and keeping them coming back.
Step 7: Qualify
Pets can carry diseases and insects that can spread without any notice and taking in a pet that does not have all the mandatory shots could potentially shut down the doors faster than it took to open them. Come up with guidelines that will help prevent any serious situations: Temperament test, a veterinary guarantee of having all its vaccinations are up to date, and an examination ensuring the pet has no fleas or ticks that could cause an outbreak.
Step 8: Grow
Most startups reach a point where they grow to fast and eventually cannot sustain the growth. Learn to grow but at a pace you can keep up with. Every business owner wants their business to be successful and profit as much as possible but it happens all too much where a business loses its clients because they can no longer see the little picture. Stay patient and the growth will come with consistent operations and word of mouth. Stick to what makes your business stand out by sticking to what you specialize in will give you the growth you are trying to achieve.
If you have more questions on how to start a doggy daycare business or finding doggy daycare insurance contact us.