The number of pets is in the tens of thousands. Almost every family has one or another animal, dogs and cats, birds and reptiles.
All animals require special care, feed, accessories.
Naturally, the funds spent on caring for animals amount to billions of dollars. And the desire of entrepreneurs to get a part of these cash flows at their disposal is understandable.
Opening a pet store is the easiest way to capitalize on the public’s love for pets.
There are cases when the opening of a pet store brings the entrepreneur nothing but losses. Usually this is due to a frivolous approach to business, insufficiently accurate economic calculations and the complete absence of any plan of action.
Creating a business based on a pet store must go through several mandatory steps.
First of all, this is marketing research in order to identify the demand for the services of a pet store, determine the approximate range of future products, and find out the pressure from competitors. Proper assortment definition is critical to the future success of a pet store.
When creating an enterprise, significant funds will have to be invested in inventory.
Incorrect definition of the assortment leads to a decrease in trade turnover, the accumulation of working capital in illiquid goods. This is especially dangerous for most pet store items, as many items have an expiration date. That is, there are risks of direct loss of money in case of untimely sale of goods before the expiration date. That is why the conduct of marketing research and the processing of its results must be treated very carefully.
As for the premises of the pet store itself, its size largely depends on whether the store is going to sell live animals, or whether it manages to offer accessories, feed and other goods. If animals are present in the assortment of the pet store, then it is necessary to create conditions for their normal maintenance, equip the room with spacious aviaries or terrariums, ensure ventilation, and observe the temperature regime.
If it is not supposed to keep animals, then you can get by with a small room of 40-50 square meters of a trading floor and a small warehouse. As a rule, former apartments on the ground floor of buildings or small detached premises are used for these purposes.
The choice of location for the location of the pet store should be made based on the logic of the movement of traffic flows, the location of nearby children’s institutions and residential areas.
To place goods inside the pet store, it is necessary to purchase suitable commercial equipment, which should include open and closed showcases, shelves, stands. It is also necessary to properly plan the lighting and, in any case, provide for good ventilation, as many pet products have a strong, rather unpleasant odor.
Investments in the opening of a pet store will mainly go to registering a company, repairing and equipping the premises, and purchasing inventory. To open a small store, it is enough to spend an amount of about 1.5-2 million dollars, most of which will go to the purchase of goods.
The profitability of the pet store, although small, is from 18 to 24 percent, however, it allows you to quickly recoup the initial investment. The payback period for a store located in a good location is usually 1 to 2 years.
When creating a pet store, you need to pay special attention to the selection of staff.
People often come to the pet store without a clear understanding of what kind of product they need to purchase. In this case, the advice given to them by the sellers can play a decisive role in building a permanent circle of customers and increasing the confidence of the buyers in the pet store. It’s great to have a veterinarian on staff. In this case, you can earn additional income from consulting clients and selling medicines and vitamins for animals.
But, perhaps, the most important condition for the successful operation of a pet store is the skillful management of the enterprise and business management in general.
To avoid numerous mistakes when opening a pet store, we suggest you order a business plan on our website and get the opportunity to have a good professional start even at the stage of planning your own business.