Margo R. Jeffries Blog: 5 Franchise Opportunities For Dog Lovers

(That’s me and #Bear. We rescued him 2 years ago.)

Are you a dog lover? I am-and I’m not shy about it.

For example, #Bear gets a lot of mentions on Facebook. Heck, he even has his own Twitter account!

You should follow him on Twitter @FranchiseDog. He’s pretty funny. Anyway…

Here Are 4 Dog Statistics You Should Know

According to the ASPCA, approximately 44% of all households (in the U.S.) have a dog. It gets better.

Since the 1970′s, dog ownership rates in the United States have tripled.

Dog owners are expected to spend over $1400 annually-just on veterinary care, according to information I found on the Humane Society’s website.

And the average dog owner spends 38% of the over $50 billion spent on dogs annually in the U.S. on food. Another 22% is spent on supplies and medicine. (The rest is spent on veterinary care.)

You want some of that?

5 Franchise Opportunities For Dog Lovers

I’m going to cut to the chase.

If you love dogs, and would like to own and operate a franchise business that caters to your fellow dog lovers, the 5 franchise opportunities below may be worth a look.

(Disclosure: I’m not being paid a single dime for mentioning any of the 5 pet franchise opportunities below.)

(Joe Bair, who I graduated high school with, sent this picture in. I had to share it!)

Caution!

Before you get too serious about buying a franchise opportunity that involves one of your passions, be careful. You don’t want to end up owning a business that keeps you so busy with “other” stuff, you can’t do what you set out to do-and what you really wanted to do when you invested in the franchise.

Check Out These 5 Franchises For Dog Lovers

Sit Means Sit

This dog-training franchise has grown in leaps and bounds over the past few years, and franchisees get to capitalize on a badly needed service. (Have you ever tried to train a puppy?)

From the Sit Means Sit website:

Starting a professional dog training franchise with Sit Means Sit allows you to take advantage of the largest and most successful U.S. animal based dog training company in the history of the United States. If you’re looking for an exceptional national company providing a unique top-notch service in a recession-proof multi-billion dollar industry, this is it.

The founder of Sit Means Stay, Fred Hassen, seems like a good guy. We met through Facebook several years ago and I’ve been able to watch his dog-training franchise grow from afar.

Go to the Sit Means Stay franchise website to learn more about this opportunity.

Who knows; maybe you can train your dogs to whisper to each other like my friend, Brian Moran, did.

Wags N’ Wash

What a cute name, right?

(Ellie The Wonderpup will definitely need a wash, soon. Those bones smell!)

Ellie’s owner, my friend, Jeff Shuey, includes lots of “Ellie” pictures on his Facebook Page.

Anyway…dogs-especially when they get wet from rain etc., tend to reek. That means they need a bath. Enter Wags N’ Wash-a place where you can get your pup washed-and smelling really nice. And more.

From the Wag’s N’ Wash website:

Wag N’ Wash offers a unique business opportunity in the rapidly growing pet care industry. Our four revenue streams take advantage of a huge segment of the pet market, and include a retail center that offers high quality food, toys, bedding, and supplements, a bakery that offers human-grade freshly baked treats, a self-service wash with our own line of proprietary shampoos, and a professional grooming service.

A bakery?

Yup.

Check out their franchise website.

I wonder, if as a franchisee, you’d be able to charge extra for Taxi’s GIANT ears?

Thank you, Shelly DeMotte Kramer, for sharing Taxi with my readers!

Pet Supplies Plus

The investment for one Pet Supplies franchise is substantial.

That’s because of:

A. The store size

B. The incredible amount of inventory franchisees must carry.

The total upfront investment ranges from $549,400 – $1,097,400, and you’ll need to have a net worth of $750,000.

Use My Free Net Worth Calculator

Here’s some information about the Pet Supplies Plus franchise opportunity-from their website…

PSP beats the competition by providing our Neighbors consistent, knowledgeable service and unbeatable prices. As a PSP Franchisee you can become a part of this successful strategy. As mass marketers’ sales slump, pet specialty retailers are trending upward. Our successful business model allows our franchise owners to:

Be profitable at smaller volume levels
Enter smaller markets and trade areas than our competitors
Carry brands that many competitors cannot

This is an opportunity for you to impact a market as a franchise owner.

(I shop at the Pet Supplies Plus franchise near my Castle. I purchase supplies, plus Grace (my daughter) and I give #Bear a bath there a few times a year.)

Giving your dog a good bath can do wonders for his coat, as you can see here.

(That’s my friend, Kevin Goodman‘s dog, Wolf. Nice coat!)

Fetch! Pet Care

This dog franchise is on the opposite end of the investment spectrum.

An investment between $34,895- $48,500 is all you need to open a local territory.

About* the Fetch! Pet Care franchise opportunity:

Founded in 2002, Fetch! Pet Care is the nation’s largest and most trusted provider of professional pet sitting and dog walking services. We provide everything from dog walking, to pet sitting, private boarding, pet taxi and more – satisfaction guaranteed.

Fetch! Pet Care is America’s largest and most trusted pet sitting and dog walking franchise servicing more than 1,500 communities nationwide and we’re constantly growing.

*The information above is from the Fetch! Pet Care website. Go here

Dogtopia

Today’s dog parents don’t want just anyone taking care of their dogs while they’re away on vacation etc. They need to feel that their dogs are safe-and having fun when they’re boarded. And they’re willing to pay for that peace of mind. That’s where Dogtopia comes in.

From the Dogtopia website:

Our modern facilities provide a healthy, safe and fun environment for dogs to socialize and play in, supervised by a highly trained and loving team. Our multiple, spacious playrooms allow us to separate our guests by size and temperaments.

A few bullet points:

Their target customer is the largest demographic in North American history – the female millennial, our secondary customer is the second largest, the baby boomer
Strong business model with labor costs as the only key variable expense
Best-practice sharing workshops with leading franchisees

Dogtopia franchisees are required to have a minimum of $150,000 in liquid capital to be eligible. That’s because the total investment amount ranges from $367,625 – $837,075.

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If you decide that a pet franchise could be right for you, and you’d like to make sure you are doing everything right in your search and research, I have just the thing to help you win. Look

A Thank You

To my friends, enemies, and relatives on Facebook: Thank you!

Before I put this post together, I put out a call for dog pictures, and your response was overwhelming! Close to 80 of you shared pictures of their canine kids. (Someone even sent me a picture of a spider. Why? No idea. Karen D. does stuff like that a lot.)

I couldn’t post every picture…but thank you for sharing them with my readers!

Here are a few more doggies from my fellow dog lovers!

(These are Stanley Prokorat Stanislaw’s dogs.)

(My high school buddy, Rick Brenis, just got this little pup.)

(Stacy Kitay works with dogs all day long. Here is one of her doggies.)

(My little cousin, Melanie, wanted the world to see “her” dog. She has rescued dozens of dogs; animals are her passion!)

(Carole Cohen has a dog. She also knows how to sell houses. And she’s one of my biggest fans!)

(Rosanne and I went to middle school together. Her family obviously believes that two Bernese Mountain Dogs are better than one.)

(Desiree Wolfe and I are involved in a cool Facebook Group. This is her dog)

(I used to work at a restaurant owned by Marie Lograsso Cirino’s parents. This is Cody. Unfortunately, Marie and her family lost Cody a couple of weeks ago. )