market research-small business

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SarahRicoh

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hey all.

just want your thoughts on setting up a pet business... i am based in.gloucestershire and i just want to know wether theres room in the market as there seem to be a few around..

also i am experienced with most animals so want to know what you guys think i should offer! (ie. what youd want?)

i can exercise/look after horses/learning to clip
house sit dogs & cats/bath and groom certain dogs/dog walk/care for small animals
poo pick/muck out etc..

any other services i could offer? potential for it to earn me money?

*cookies :) *
 
I seem to recall that remark about paying someone to poo-pick coming up a few times on this forum - are there really a lot of people who would pay for that?
 
I think there is always a market for this. I think references are really important though, i wouldn't have anyone do anything with my animals unless i knew for sure they were entirely trustworthy. I personally wouldn't pay for poo picking, I find it therapeutic :D
 
Hmm, I think you need to do lot of research in your area, and see how many people are offering the same thing, and at what cost. I know in my area the market is flooded with young girls wanting grooms jobs, which was what I was doing a few years ago, and found it hard to compete with girls that were older than me & had done more.

However, no one in the area was doing breaking & schooling freelance, and as I had done this all through my childhood & as an adult, I figured why not! Loads of yards do it, but the thing that made me different is that I go out to the persons home, and they are fully welcomed to be as much involved as they want, which a lot of yards don't offer, but a lot of people want to do, but don't feel confident/experienced enough to do it alone.

My pricing structure is largely based on what lessons cost per hour, and I also looked into people who worked with ex-racers, who I found to charge similar to what I thought was fair. I do multi-booking discount, as well as seasonal offers that make people more inclined to book.

I am lucky in the fact that my BF is a Nerdwad and made my website for me, and helps with my advertising.

You definitely need to be offering something different/better than other people in your area.
 
We had a lady where I used to live that offered a very similar service, I remember us paying a premium for her as she had done a course in animal first aid and also had a CRB check which we found reassuring and worth paying a bit extra for

She also used to offer a dog sitting service where the dog lived with her retired mum in her house so that it had 1 to 1 care for at least most of the day, this was good for dogs that wouldnt tolerate just a twice a day visit

She offered a 'taxi' service for pets too - mainly to and from the vets and this was popular with people

Be prepared for the unexpected though, our house was burgled while we were on holiday and the poor lady opened the front door to utter devestation that day and our two house cats were missing, she didnt miss a beat though and had the police there pronto, the cats found, the back door boarded up and the place tidy within the day

She was worth her weight in gold :)

I'd maybe get youself some hands on experience with small furries and birds too - lots of people have these as well as cats and dogs and a pet sitter that cannot look after everything is not very useful - perhaps a pet shop would be of help there

chicken sitting is another good option if you live in an area where there are lots of pet chickens, all of my friends that do this are fully booked 6-8 months of the year - they have a coop and run themselves and people bring their chickens to them. Each set of chickens must have a different coop and run though, different groups of chickens cant be mixed
 
You should look into reptile care as well. Some are quite complicated to look after. I'm sure that an owner would appreciate a knowledgable carer especially as some reptiles can be worth a small fortune.
 
Doggie day care.

They have them in the US, but never heard of any here.

If the price was competitive and I was in a restricted working pattern (like I used to be) then I would consider it.
 
thanks guys :) i have experience with guineapigs and rabbits as i have some and hamsters too..

reptiles is worth considering and i never even thought about chickens! i have been crb checked for a previous job :)
 
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