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You’ve Found the Perfect Pet Franchise- Now What?

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Finding the perfect franchise is the dream of any pet lover who wants to be a franchise owner. This is why most people scour the many pet business opportunities in an effort to find the one that is just what they are looking for. Once you have found this, you may not know where to go. Here are the next steps you will need to take with your pet franchise.

 

Create Your Support Group

For any franchisee to be successful, they need to have a support team that is there for them when things get rough. Most people just think about their family and friends for this, which is great but not a complete team. You should also have a professional team that you can ask questions of in the event that you don’t know what you should do. Make sure you talk to these people and ensure they are ready to help you as needed with your business endeavor.

pet store franchises

pet store franchises

 

There are a couple professionals that you should add to your  support team. One is an attorney for your pet franchise as you will need someone who can answer legal questions and look over your papers. Another is an accountant as they are the best professional to help you with your finances.

 

Form a Plan of Action

The next thing you will want to do is to create a plan of action. To do this, you will need to talk with the franchisor to determine what needs to be done. They will be able to give you a list of the things that will need to be done just to get to the signing of the franchise agreement with the pet franchise. From there, you will have another list of tasks that need to be completed to get the store up and running.

 

As you create the plan of action, put deadlines on these items. For large tasks, break them up into smaller tasks so that it is easier to manage and create timelines for. Here are some of the tasks you do not want to overlook.

 

Finding the Funding

If you do not have the cash to pay for the franchise and all startup costs out of pocket, then you need to find the financing you need. This is a huge task that may start with finding the funding options that are right for you, putting in loan applications, etc. You want to make sure you are following your plan of action completely in order to realize your dreams with the pet franchise with this. Do not waste time as funding is what is needed to move the process along.

 

Creating a Business Plan

Depending on your franchisor, this is something you may need to have before you even get to the signing. If you need to get a loan to fund the franchise, then you will need to have a business plan in order to do this as well. Even if it is not needed from outside sources, you should still create this. It will help you to fully realize your dream for the pet franchise and see how you will get where you want to go. If you are not sure how to do this, there are many resources you can find online to help you with this.pet store franchise

 

Meeting With the Franchisor

Even though you know you want to buy the franchise, you should still meet with the franchisor. This will give you the chance to really kick off your relationship with them, which you will have over the next several years depending on the length of the franchise agreement. This is also a great time to fully understand what is expected of you as a franchisee and how things will work. Along with this you will also want to go to Discovery Day where you will get to see a franchise in action and talk with the franchisee of that location.

 

Don’t Let Your Drive Die

As you look at your action plan and the myriad of tasks you have ahead of you before you can even open your pet grooming business, do not get discouraged. Nothing in life, especially nothing this rewarding, comes together overnight. Don’t lose your drive to be successful with your pet franchise. The drive is one of the biggest aspects to your success so make sure that this is always there. Here are a few tips that can help you keep your drive:

 

  • Keep your goals printed on something that you can look at frequently, like on the refrigerator. This will help remind you where you want to be with the pet franchise.
  • Keep balance in your life. You must make time for the business and your family but you also need time for yourself.
  • Don’t compare your franchise to others. Just because your franchise is not performing as well as a friend’s business does not mean you should dwell on this. Rather look at your own success.
  • Focus on the positive. It can seem hard to stay motivated when you see your business is down in the number of customers or other negative stats. However, try to think about how you can solve these while also looking at the positive stats, like how much your average price per customer is.

Is a Pet Store Franchise Opportunity is Right for You?

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Deciding on the pet store franchise opportunity you will go with is important. With the many options out there, it can be hard to know which one is right. The best way to do this is to really evaluate the franchise to see which one will fit what you are looking for.

 

Start by Evaluating Yourself

Before you even start the process of finding the right franchise, you will want to look at yourself first. You should think about what you are looking for out of the franchise experience. This is more in depth than just figuring out the atmosphere you want your pet store franchise opportunity to offer (though this is important). Instead, you want to think about how much time you want to invest, what your strengths and weaknesses are and how these will translate into owning your own business.

 

Look at What the Company Offers

When you buy a franchise, you are also buying into the company. This means you will be selling more than just the company’s products and/or services. You will be selling the brand. You want to find something that matches your own core values as this will make it easier for you to make money from the endeavor. On top of this you want to find something that is different from the rest. Look for a pet store franchise opportunities that offer a different twist to the traditional franchises. For instance, Splash and Dash takes the traditional concept of a dog grooming salon and turns it on its head by offering a membership service that is valuable to the consumer and offers the franchisee recurring revenue.

 

The Location of the Franchise

There are a few aspects of the location you want to pay close attention to. One is the territory to ensure you are getting a protected territory that is safe from competing franchises. On top of this you want to look at where the franchises are located. Do they put them in stand alone buildings or are they in classy, high-traffic strip centers near high-income homes? This is an important aspect to consider because location in business is everything.

 

The Support Offered

Every pet store franchise opportunity you look at will offer some sort of support. However, you want to look at the amount of support you will receive with this. You want to have help training your team members and getting your business up and running. You also want to find a franchise that will provide the tools you need to be successful, such as marketing tools. It is beneficial to also find a franchise that offers support even after you are established, such as when you have a question about how to handle a specific situation.

 

How to Make Your Choice

Once you have narrowed your list and gathered the information on these companies that match your core values and the other aspects discussed you want to look at the earning potential. Finally, before making a decision, take a look at the FDD to get a better understanding of whether or not this is the right choice for you.