Pet Entrepreneurs Earning Big Bucks
Pet Industry Worth Billions Annually
Despite those cheering pictures of Bo, the Obamas' new puppy, there's nothing soft and cuddly about the pet industry. It is worth billions annually, a fact not lost on countless entrepreneurs who have started pet-related companies. In some cases, all that's needed is a stove, a sewing machine or a willingness to walk or scoop pooh.
Before going further it's important for this writer to state that she is the source of the information in this article.
Big Money Goes To Pet Food
While most of the big money goes to pet food manufacturers, pet insurers like Pet Plan and, unfortunately, puppy mills, pet entrepreneurs - 'petpreneurs' - are getting into the act and doing well. These fall into three main categories. The first encompasses breeders and businesspeople selling books and seminars on starting pet-related businesses. The second caters to the desires of the animals, mostly with food and toys, and the third, to their owners who want someone else to do walking duty, pick up pooh, groom, train, mind, paint portraits of, make horoscopes for, and dress their furry friends.
Warm And Funny About Dogs
Pet Plan, one of the world's biggest pet insurers, started out as a small business back in 1994 when the United Kingdom's Patsy Bloom and David Simpson invested five hundred pounds in a new idea. When they sold it two years later they made 64,900 per cent return on their money. One of the strategic elements of their success was Bloom's ability to tap into pet owners' emotions with her public appearances and marketing in general. She was particularly warm and funny about dogs. One 'injury' story featured a Doberman who swallowed a pair of tights!
A Dog's Breakfast
Karen Fraser of Trust Pet Cuisine (trustpetcuisine.com) started her pet food business when, after a recall, she found her rescued cats were eating melamine-laced canned meat. She's not alone. Other cooks make dog treats to sell at farmers' markets or through stores and some small butchers offer plastic wrapped rolls of chicken or beef off-cuts.
In Canada, what tipped the balance to home made pet food was Yap Film's "A Dog's Breakfast". In it researchers boiled the clean leather uppers of a pair of work boots and tested the "soup" from them for nutrients. It turned out to be similar to kibble.
Building Thriving Businesses
Many entrepreneurs are building thriving businesses by making pet toys, beds and clothes to sell in stores or online. Almost universally, pets give special beds and blankets the paws up, but most dogs would rather have a stick or tennis ball than a toy although cats love them. Dogs gamely wear clothes such as motor cycle tee shirts, booties, snowsuits, sweaters, jeweled collars, necklaces, party costumes and kerchiefs. Cats sneer at such goings-on. It's possible to become so successful that off-shoring the work might be an option. And at the end of a pet's life, companies like "Paws And Remember" offer pet cremation and interment.
Children Love Animals In Movies
However the pet business isn't all fun and fashion; animal trainers who, in the United States, have to be certified by the Animal Behavior Society, not only teach dogs not to run into the street but do the very sophisticated work of training animals that then go on to steal the scenes from their fellow human actors. The cries of the latter go unheeded because film companies know that children love animals in movies. Now there are television channels devoted to animals doing cute or wacky things.
Pet Owners Don't Balk At Spending
Despite difficult times, thousands of small business owners are discovering that pet owners don't balk at spending on their four footed friends. If you like animals, the pet business is a good one to get into.
Dog Superman
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