There can be quite a lot of ideas for starting a business. For example, a pet store as a business is quite suitable for a novice entrepreneur. Pet products are in demand at any time, so you won’t have to worry too much about profitability. Where to start and what to consider when opening your own store?
What points to provide?
Finding out whether it is profitable to open a pet store is possible not only with the help of a business plan, although it is certainly very important for successful business. However, besides this, consider how it will be cheaper to order goods.
Find out the prices of dealers and suppliers, compare and select the appropriate option. When thinking about the assortment, consider not only the number of items, but also the fact that the most popular items should be purchased with some margin.
Find out about the upcoming animal shows and get involved in promotional activities. When your store is already open, a temporary counter can be opened at such events. Finally, if possible, conduct marketing research in the area where the establishment is expected to open. So you can find out information about services and products of interest directly from potential customers.
Types of Pet Stores
If you are opening a new business for the first time, you should pay maximum attention to your business plan. And in order to compile it correctly, it is necessary to consider which version of the store you plan to create. So, a standard project involves the implementation of exclusively pet products. A full-cycle store in which animals are also sold is characterized by a higher return on investment, but it will also require large expenses.
You will only need to purchase live goods from trusted suppliers. Finally, the business plan of the online pet store will be fundamentally different from the usual. But if you are planning a large-scale project, a site with the ability to order products for animals can be a good addition to the institution you have opened.
Format selection
To understand what it takes to open a pet store, it is important to immediately determine its features and sizes. You can open a small point up to ten square meters. For this format, you can rent a counter in a shopping center or a large store. A larger institution will occupy about fifty square meters.
Such a store will require a wide range of accessories, feed, care and hygiene products. If you draw up a business plan for a pet shop taking into account serious cash investments, you can focus on an area of several hundred square meters for a self-service hall. These outlets offer a wide range of products for animals, including medicines.
Separately, it is worth considering such an option as a highly specialized store. This is an institution created for the sale of aquariums, a certain type of animal or special feed. For such stores, you need to think carefully about the business plan, as it may well not pay off when placed in an unsuccessful area or in the absence of a target audience.
In general, a store with counters and an area of up to sixty square meters will be the best choice to start with.Offering popular feeds and accessories, you can simultaneously study the demand for less common products, and if things go well, you can expand later.
Assortment Planning
The next important point to consider before opening your pet store is the choice of goods. The average store offers products such as a variety of feeds, shampoos and other care products, accessories and medicines.
If the area of the store allows, you can also include in the assortment such groups of goods as furniture and clothing for pets. When choosing products for sale, keep in mind that cats and dogs are the most popular pets, and rodents and birds are a little less common.
Products for these animals should be included in the business plan of the pet store in the first place, and products for amphibians, insects or fish will already be an additional offer that will help you stand out among others. Also appreciate the location of your establishment. In an ordinary sleeping area, basic furniture for cats and dogs, such as houses and stove benches, will sell well.
On a busy street in the center, you can try to include premium products in the assortment, such as stylish clothes for doggies or original carrying bags.
Search for premises
When compiling a business plan for a pet store, be sure to think about exactly where your establishment will be located. Small format points can be opened almost anywhere - a sleeping area will fit no worse than the central part of the city. An ideal option for any pet store is the location near the veterinary clinic.
Separate premises in shopping centers are also a good option. Before you pay the rent and finally decide on a particular site, evaluate the area. It is important not only to determine the number of competitors nearby.
To understand whether it is profitable to open a pet store in a particular area, it is also possible by the saturation of the human flow. The more people in a day walk along the street on which you plan to open, the higher your profit will be.
Recruitment
Of course, employees are another point to consider before opening a pet store. The instructions are extremely simple: you will need a sales assistant, accountant, loader and manager taking orders.
If the format of your store is small, you can stand by the cash register yourself, also understanding delivery orders. You can also unload a small supply yourself. Accounting services can be performed once a month or quarterly by a specialist. A larger pet store, especially one that sells medicine, requires an employee with a veterinary education.
Such a specialist will be able to suggest not only good food, but also, if necessary, treatment options for a particular disease. It is important that the employee is also outgoing. A pleasant person will attract more buyers.
Advertising activity
Of course, the cost of advertising should be immediately added to the pet store’s business plan. You need to start promoting your business before opening. Place ads on nearby houses, distribute leaflets in the mailboxes. According to statistics, every fifth person in a house lives this or that pet.
Therefore, even one house, in all the boxes of which your advertisement appeared, can bring you many buyers. Think about promotions to mark the opening or local holidays. For example, when buying cat food, each client can receive a small toy.
Your costs for such a gift will be minimal, and this will create a very positive impression. An original and budgetary idea would also be a pet photography contest. Such a move is likely to attract many owners of tetrapods.
Original ideas zoobusiness
Listing what is necessary to start trading, it is easy to forget about such a component of success as an unusual approach. But this is exactly what you need to open a pet store that will bring a steady profit. Create a convenient and comfortable interior in which it will be pleasant to be, and dilute with details that attract attention.
For example, let there be a cage with a parrot or a squirrel in the trading floor, which will be live exhibits of your establishment. Make a stand with animals that can be delivered to customers on order.
Such bright elements of the pet store will attract customers with children, and simply those who are not indifferent to animals. They will come to you with interest and positive emotions. So include the costs of such items in the pet store’s business plan and don’t worry about their profitability.
Registration of necessary documents
Paper issues should also be resolved before opening a pet store. The instruction for a novice entrepreneur is not at all complicated: you only need to get permission to carry out trading activities.
It will also be necessary to sign a lease agreement for the premises if you plan to rent, rather than buy, an area for your store. If you want to trade not only products, but also animals themselves, you will need a veterinary certificate stating that they are healthy.
Before opening it is necessary to contact the sanitary-epidemiological service and fire supervision for an assessment of your premises. After a positive result is obtained, you can start trading. Doing business without documents is highly not recommended, as it can lead to numerous fines and problems.
Final counts
So, you carefully considered all the points that a pet store business plan should take into account. It's time to do real calculations. Write down how much the repair, interior and design of the sign will cost, calculate the cost of commercial equipment and take into account the purchase of inventory for two months.
The approximate amount that will have to be spent on opening a medium-sized institution is several million rubles. With a profitability of 30%, which is typical for a business of this kind, the institution will pay off within one and a half to two years. However, if you manage to come up with something special, a successful store can pay off even faster.
