An article recently posted to the Huffington Post reveals that entrepreneurs are going barking mad for the pet industry. According to the American Pet Products Association, dogs are found in 46.3 million homes across America.
Three small business owners share about working in the pet industry. The companies include K9 Resorts Daycare & Luxury Hotel, Zoom Room, and Three Dog Bakery.
Jason and Steven Parker started K9 Resorts Daycare & Luxury Hotel as college students and sold the business for six figures. "If you love dogs and want to get into the dog business, now is the perfect time," Steven says.
This sentiment is repeatedly noted in industry trend reports. Animal lovers should be forewarned, however, pet business is still business as usual. Zoom Room, a dog agility training center, is owned by Jaime and Mark Van Wye. They were commonly asked about interacting with companion animals all day, to which Jaime replied, “Are you kidding?”
The Van Wye’s list many complications with running a doggie day care including, zoning, staffing, and liability issues. "It's exhausting, and you don't play with dogs all day," Jaime says. "You may not even see dogs most of the day."
Christy Howard owns two Three Dog Bakery franchises in Texas. She has 12 employees among the two stores, one of which is new and the other 3 years old. Between the two, her stores bring in more than $1 million in sales. Howard runs the day-to-day operations, but co-owns the mini-franchise with her husband, who handles the financials. She also notes that cleaning costs are much higher for pet retailers than other businesses, due to the clientele.
All in all, pet business is staying strong through hairy economic times. Entrepreneurs are encouraged by the $50.84 billion spent on pets every year and a point made clear by Steven Parker, “Dogs are much easier to work with than people.”
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