6 Steps to Growing Your Pet Business to Six Figures
By Louie Torres
Can you really make six figures running a boarding facility, doggie daycare or a dog training business? Yes! I’ve seen it happen over and over again. All you need to know is the right way to scale.
Americans have fallen in love with their pets during the last 30 years as pet ownership exploded from 56 percent to 68 percent of all households. Even better, pet owners are willing to spend money on their precious four-legged family members, meaning there has never been a better time to join the pet industry. From grooming needs to somewhere safe for their fur babies to stay while they are out of town to a little help with behavior problems from pet trainers, there are numerous needs pet owners have.
All of this means there is serious demand out there for skilled pet business owners. You can leverage that demand and grow your pet business—but only if you’re smart about scaling. A pet daycare facility can mean your days are filled with fun, but it also can be a great responsibility to have another pet’s life in your hands. The great thing about daycare and boarding facilities is you have control over the growth of the business, but it must be scaled carefully in order to safely care for the pets.
Here my top six tips to growing your pet care business:
1 Invest 10% of your earnings into marketing. One big mistake a lot of pet businesses make is that they rely entirely on word of mouth and referrals to find new clients. But if you aren’t willing to invest in finding new clients, then you have to ask yourself, “Can my boarding facility be called a proper business yet?” Keeping dogs without a reliable system for proactively finding clients is really more of a hobby than a business.
2 Invest in personal development. Every business owner from the one-person show to the CEO of a Fortune 500 company must invest in personal development. Self-awareness is the key to success. If you don’t work on yourself, you’re doomed to repeat the mistakes you make, and that’s no way to run a business. So, ask your business buddies what books, courses or online programs they would recommend and start investing in yourself.
3 Work on your people skills.I know you love dogs, but dogs don’t pay bills. Who pays bills? Dog owners, of course. So you must learn good communication skills. Study some of your favorite business coaches and sales people that you admire. Look at what techniques they employ and start practicing.
4 Train yourself. Scaling a business takes discipline and consistency, so train yourself in these skills. Ideally, you want everything about your business to run like the flywheel on an engine. Take the time to create the right systems and processes and you will waste less time on the stuff that doesn’t put money in your pocket.
5 Hire a salesperson. Once you start getting more clients than you can handle on your own, you’ll start thinking about hiring others to help you out. Another big mistake boarding and daycare facility owners make when they’re ready to hire employees or contractors is that they neglect to hire someone to help market the business.
While word of mouth will get your business off the ground, it typically will not result in a steady stream of clients. So, how do you get a steady stream of clients? You hire an amazing salesperson (or become one yourself)!
Instead of trying to close clients on the phone, you want to close clients in person. So, once you hire that amazing salesperson, you want them hitting the phones to pre-qualify customers and set up in-facility appointments and tours for you. Then you get to meet the prospect and close the sale.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions when you’re working to close a deal. If they seem hesitant, ask them what’s holding them back. This will help you address their objections and give you critical feedback to make you better at sales.
6 Create a fantastic facility. Now that you’ve reached new clients and proven you can be trusted to care for their precious pets, it is time to evaluate your facility. The environment should, above all things, be safe. In addition, the area should be playful and fun; a place each pet wants to spend time.
Dog owners want to see physical proof of everything they’re going to get from your boarding and daycare facility. Having a physical book, virtual tour or videos of other dogs enjoying their time at your facility is always a smart idea. This way they can visualize how their pet will be spending their time in your care.
With these six tips you’ll be on your way to scaling your pet business. Of course, all of this is just the beginning!
Louie Torres, CEO of Unleashed Marketing, helps dog trainers grow their business, develop sales skills and approach their customers even during the pandemic. He was featured in Pet Care, Yahoo! Finance, Thrive Global, Medium, Vocal and more. If you are in the pet business click here to learn more about his offer: https://covid19.unleashedmarketing.co/freetrainingcovid19