Pet Franchise

8 Things to Look For in a Career

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Job Searching

The nature of the today’s American economy is more dynamic. Technological convergence and a flattening world leads the path for various career openings. The options are wide. Software innovations give way to job openings that veer from vocational and focus on individual drive. Millennials aren’t staying in the same careers. Franchising is stronger than ever. Outside of the pet franchise, out-sourcing competition is always present.

Whether you’re a neophyte in the job market, or just someone looking for a new adventure. This article outlines 8 essential things you will want in  a career.

Impact on the Industry

Does the company progress humanity in small or large ways? Do they have a unique business model? What puts this company ahead of the competition?

Today’s companies aren’t just recycling the same formulas to provide a service or product. Business is modernizing. The pet franchise is becoming more premium focused. Companies progressively use future tech.

When searching, find a company that fully embraces innovation. The company should influence and better industry standards. IT updates should be made frequently, and open-source software use should be encouraged. Services should be superior and should be done with intrinsic goodness. Many companies encourage suggestions for terminal software like the pet franchise.

Be wary of sales positions that use a large army of salesmen. Companies like this tend to adopt “quantity or quality” tactics and employment.

Be Around People You Want to Work With

What is the company culture like? Is it rigid and competitive? Or, is it incentivizing and exciting?

Many companies want prospect employees to take personality tests. This part of the application process and is becoming standard. They are trying to stop human resource disputes before they happen. Depending upon the industry of the company, this weeds out different type of people. Look for a company that is building a diverse team with varying perspectives.

Problems at the workplace are a reason many entrepreneurs are turning toward franchising. Franchising allows you to be your own boss. You can choose who you employee, consult with, and your colleagues. A franchise owner is like the president, and the presidential cabinet are their employees.

The people around you should motivate, challenge, and respect you.

Company Puts Staff First

Happy employees lead to increased productivity and retention. This inadvertently leads to more earning potential. A good website to get a gauge for this is glassdoor.com. The website does an overview of companies based on salaries, benefits, and interviews. Employees write reviews that expose companies with high turnover rates (bad sign). Bad management, pyramid schemes, and slow professional growth are all topics for reviews written.

Companies that use cut-throat functioning aren’t nearly the best ways to motivate employees. The trick is to find a company where you have agency. Franchising freelancing and getting involved in a start-up, are good places to start.

Start-ups can be exciting, but statically risky. If you interview with a start-up be prepared to work hard without any initial strong revenue. But every once in a while, start-ups strike gold. Freelancing is another good consideration. The variety of unique skillets in graphic design, writing, and marketing are opportune routes. When submitting proposals be suspicious of dubious clients. Clients paying by the letter or web sites offering too good to be true contracts are clearly a scam.

Franchising is great because it allows you to design your benefits. It takes aspects of both start-ups and freelancing. Although the franchise is secure, the shop is new, and yours. You also can apply your skills in areas of the freelance industry, or delegate to others.

 

Excitement and Passion

Are you excited to go to work everyday? Does your job stimulate and challenge you intellectually?

Don’t work at a deli if you’re vegan.

Companies and bosses should encourage you to drive your own ideas and projects. Companies that embrace the value in their employees like Google and Edward Jones . You want a company that actively is interested in your well-being.

Research a company’s motto and core values. If they do not align with your own, try and work for a different company. Company culture is important. If a company CEO’s have a different interpretation of goals, than your own, this is a red flag. Most companies with questionable values do not last long. Ethically minded companies appeal to consumers and employees.

Within the franchising realm values are transparent. The fun thing about franchises, is that you have the ability to pick where your energy and intelligence will be poured into. If you spend more than five days at the gym outside of work, why not just buy a gym franchise? If you play with your dog everyday, and spend more time bathing them than you do watching T.V., consider the pet franchise?

Well-being is combination total of income, stability, health benefits, and safety. Everything is a risk and they’re good to take. Just make sure you’re passionate about it.

Will You Grow Professionally?

When a company hires an employee it costs them a significant amount of money. Thriving companies should view this not as a cost adding to overhead but an investment in the company. They should want to cultivate employees and strengthen them professionally.

As the dynamic unfolds in the economy, companies are cutting costs left and right. They are prohibiting growth, staggering promotions, and curbing creative thought. Eventually this becomes a hindrance. Companies should have horizontal promoting. Vertical mobility should not be the only thing rewarded.

The most ideal company to find is one that adopts laissez-faire. Companies like this are slow to hire. They find the minds they like and devote themselves to making excellent employees.

An option for those not in favor of cubicles is available. When structured 9 to 5 is not ideal. Franchising is an adventure worth researching. The pet franchise was the only industry not affected by the 2008 recession and recent numbers look good.

Uplifting Environment

Not every corporate job can look like the inside of Google headquarters. But the place you work at should hold some kind of ambience. Companies now offer free fruit, coffee, and canned drinks to help increase healthy productivity.

You can’t always work for a place that has the ability to offer incentives like this. But it is definitely a pro when job searching.

Start-ups usually offer daily lunch meals to keep employees happy (also for tax purposes). If you are working freelance you can pick and choose between coffee shops, internet cafes, and the comfort of your own home. You might also consider setting up an LLC for yourself. This can be tedious, but sometimes worth it.

Franchising is also a field in which you can control your own environment. Pick a franchise that has appealing and exciting color palettes. McDonald’s may be a secure choice in franchising, but keep in mind you will have to look at red and orange walls. Color schemes are designed to keep customers moving. Franchises in the pet franchise are known to have inviting ambience that soothes customers. Also nice, is that any artwork added to wall space is under your complete control.

Keep Options Open

Millennials receive a lot of criticism for “job hopping.” The fact is in today, no matter your professional circumstances there many options open. Companies work hard to stay relevant, competitive, and profitable.  Start-ups are exciting. Franchising gives you a world of opportunity to control the aspects you look for in a company. They provide the income, stability, health benefits, and safety we all look for in a career path.

Keep your resume updated, and your mind open.

 

4 Ways to Make Merchandise Magic in Your Pet Franchise Location

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How to Make Your Pet Franchise Retail Space an Engaging and Interactive Space for Customer Friendly Stores

Merchandising is a term coined by Candace D’Agnolo–the owner of Dogaholics, a Chicago pet specialty retail store, and refers to how products are laid out and displayed. When customers enter a store they’re usually in a hurry with a single product in mind. Those who are just browsing sweep their eyes over products, usually without giving any one item much thought. The trick is to capitalize on both these types of customers. This is where merchandising comes into play. Products laid out in an aesthetically pleasing way will draw customers eyes and interest toward the product. Ever walk into a grocery store and see the giant pyramids of canned goods on display? Customers subconsciously pause to take note of the display and any signage around it. Splash and Dash Groomerie & Boutique has assembled 4 easy steps to using merchandising to create customer-friendly retail space that not only will keep customers engaged but is proven to boost sale rates.

Appeal to the Senses

When customers walk into the store are these senses being stimulated? Are the five senses, taste, sight, touch, hearing, and smell all working together to make the visit an enjoyable experience? Customers look for cleanly places that are well organized, visually appealing, and smell great. Use of aromatherapy candles is a great way to maintain and inviting aura to your storefront, and keep the place refreshed and clean.

Lighting in retail space is key. Usually the first thing a customer notices about the space is how dim or bright the lights. Overly dim lighting can cause customers to strain their eyes to see signage and products. On the other hand, lighting that is too bright will make customers squint. Lights that are inviting are your best bet. Finding a good balance between dim and bright is crucial to highlighting products and makes customers want to stay in the store longer.

One of the best methods to appeal to tasting is to provide sample dog treats in your pet franchise location. Studies have shown that customers are more likely to purchase items that they pick up and touch. Encouraging hands-on interaction between products and shoppers boosts sale rates and is more fun for customers and their pets. If a customer has a positive experience feeding their dog a treat in the store they are more likely to return.

If you have a lot of wall space in your storefront, it is always a good idea to hang theme oriented art in the negative space on the wall. This is pleasing to the eye. In pet franchise locations, cute visuals of pets or kitschy pet paintings help sooth customers. Plus they’re fun! Blank space and bright color palettes make customers feel anxious and ready to leave. While warm color palettes and art put customers at ease by interesting them.

Colorblocking, a merchandising term is the use of non-tradition merchandising fixtures, or themed displays, is also a good idea. For example holiday motifs, health condition, life stage, and seasons are all color blocks to emulate and maximize space potential and visual appeal.

Stay Updated

Regular customers grow overly accustomed to the layout of store products and begin to disregard looking around since they figure they have seen everything the store has to offer. Gary Albert, owner of Ruff Life Pet Outfitters says that static merchandising is a huge mistake store owners should hastily avoid. Move inventory around by a schedule, and often enough to make a storefront experience new and exciting for regular customers. Items that are perpetually in inventory and display can be moved, ensuring customers have a chance to see the item when they might otherwise would have missed it.

Work with the weather. If your storefront is in a very hot region with soaring temperatures put up a cooling displays. A sign with a picture of a dog wading in water helps trigger cooler feelings for a customer. If it is cold out, display pictures of dogs in cute sweaters playing in the snow. Since the pet franchise relies on sentiments consumers feel for their animals, it is always important to keep these sentiments in mind when merchandising.

Signage and Sales

One of the biggest inhibition in merchandising display is the lack of space on the sales floor. Signage is the best way to work around this. For example, if you only have a 500 sq. ft. sales floor, but have a huge influx of pet food in the back, post signs that tell customers to refer to an associate to purchase or ask questions about items. Make sure your signs have legible fonts and are both informative and cordial.

Also, placing signs by the register–the last step in a retail experience– won’t help because it is already too late for customers that may have wanted to purchase that product. This can hold up lines and is inefficient. Place sale signage in strategic places by products which encourages a sale. A rule of merchandising is to never place products on the floor. Customers don’t usually look down. This is different in the pet franchise because pet owners usually have their dogs with them–dogs that are constantly sniffing. Retail owners should elevate products a few inches off the floor maintain product integrity, but it is ok to put bigger items like dog food closer to where a pets eyes might be.

Merchandise Matters

Merchandising items in a store you want to highlight by rotating displays is the best way to push sales for items that have not sold well. Place slow selling items in high traffic spots.This sets off top sellers and new inventory. Next to cash register, or to the right of the entranceway, are examples of these high traffic locations. Studies show that customers look right when they enter a store. Also use all of your space in a display. If you’re using a life stage–a product display that uses multiple items in a setting that mimics real life–think about every item possible that will fit.

Also place new items toward the front of the store so customers will see them as soon as they enter. This automatically creates intrigue. When a customer enters a store, is greeted by an employee, sees new items for the first time, and smells scented candles, this all makes the first five seconds pleasing and enjoyable.

Special display sections are also crucial. Placing pet franchise items like doggie treats all close together in an organized fashion helps customers browse and highlights the items. If you place dog toys in a box cluster where a customer will have to dig through the box to find an item they want, it will put them off. Only use box clusters when placing the same product in the box.

All of these tips should help you maximize the potential of the sales space you have. You might be able to make magic happen and give customers a great time in your store and keep coming back!