Dog Health Questions: Is starting a dog daycare and boarding facility in my area a good idea?

I live in Utah. There are a lot of doggie daycare facilities in my area of where I live, there is one up the street. I would like to open one in the next year. I have looked online there are over 100 alone in the SLC area. I am good with dogs and I would love to open one. I would also board cats, do dog training.

Does this sound like a good idea. If not what else should I do. I want to stay in the pet business, I love horses, I thought of opening a horse boarding facility that is to much money.

Thanks for the opinions and please don't be rude:)

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• It sounds like you may find it hard to get started as there are so many similar businesses in your area. It would be a good idea to find a unique angle to make your business stand out - maybe get someone to come in who can groom the dogs, do claw clipping, microchipping etc so the owners can get other stuff done whilst with you.
  
  Most important thing is insurance and making sure all the pets are vaccinated. I would never leave my pets in the care of a place that didn't fulfill those two criteria.


• You probably should not open one. Why not work at one? If there are already so many, it would be almost profitless to add another to the equation. Many daycare facilities probably have a good client base and those clients will likely be loyal. It would be hard work to develop your own client base and reputation to be good enough to properly compete in the market. Talk to other daycare owners and ask if they enjoy their business or if it's profitable. If a horse facility is too expensive, then why a dog one? They can be just as expensive. There are a lot of expenses with these sort of places that many people just don't think about. Do a lot of research, including asking owners and such.


• There's a lot that goes into opening a business and you have to keep in mind that an animal-related facility involving boarding is a 24/7 business. You will need employees (which are expensive and frequently unreliable) and you have to assume you won't have many days off.
  
  These days, people are boarding less because they are traveling less due to the economy. Our humane society shelter offers boarding and our boarding income is down this year. Doggy day care is an optional expense to people in a bad economy. It's not the best time to be the newcomer. People are going to use established places they've used before and those places are going to be scrambling to keep their existing customers.
  
  Big issues in this business are sanitation and disease control, screening for aggressive dogs and dogs unsuitable for your facility and if you are offering training, people are going to want to know your experience and if you are a certified trainer. So much of this business is based on referrals, so unless you have an established reputation, it will be hard to break in as a newcomer. Liability insurance is also expensive. It's also best to find an accountant that does small business consulting to make sure your business plan makes sense and that you won't go broke and lose your money. This is money well-spent to make sure you are not getting in over your head. You should plan to have a year's expenses saved before you open a business - this includes paying yourself - the business has to make money to cover expenses and to give you a paycheck. Otherwise, it's not worth it. And you have to assume that vacations and days off are out the window for quite awhile. You have to be willing to make those sacrifices. Most small businesses fail and given the bad economy, you have to be even more careful these days.
  
  If you don't have the experience, your best bet is to go to work for an established business and learn the ropes before going it on your own.


• I would hook up with someone who is already running one and ask them to mentor you. Ask them what worked for them and what didn't, and about expenses you might not consider and if they get burned on payments. Word of mouth would be key in this kind of business. I think if you have the land, boarding animals would be a great thing. I heard about a lady in Albuquerque, New Mexico that made a million dollars a year picking up dog poop out of people's yards. That could be a way to make money too, you could hire out people to help you with that.


• yeah, i've the same problem as you do,
  but since i get dog personal trainer,
  i don't have any problem again with that.
  source :
  www.training-dog.co.cc