How to Start an Animal Delicatessen and Pet Store

I have always loved animals!

I have always been in tune with them, it's as if I could read their thoughts and I could speak to them with my own mind. Needless to say people always thought that I was a bit strange! I didn't care though as I always had plenty of animal friends to keep me company and the days full.

When I married my husband and was pregnant with our first child, we purchased our first two bedroom house, those first months were wonderful, but my heart was longing for my animal companions, so my husband agreed to purchase our first puppy, we scoured the local newspaper and there were some German Shepherd puppies in Wentworth, I had grown up with a German Shepherd named Chiquita and was heartbroken when she had died at thirteen years of age, so in the car and over to Wentworth we went.

It was dusk when we got there and through the dimming skies I could see the mother German Shepherd on a chain near some old car bodies barking our arrival; She was horribly thin, her ribs jutting out with matted and dirty hair, and as she strained at the chain her large empty teats swung from side to side, I felt a wave of pity for her as she was obviously a seasoned mother or just a breeder to the owners, with no thought or care given.

That first puppy died before I could reach the vet after only one and a half days, the next time I swore I would only buy from a professional breeder!

A few weeks later we answered another add for a pedigree puppy this time, he was huge, black and fluffy, when he waddled over to me and plopped his bottom on the ground just in front, then, proceeded to chew my shoe keeping his upturned eyes upon my face Shannondoc Browlf or Ben to his subordinates came home.

What a difference in the mothers and their offspring, from painfully thin ribbed body and a poor patchy coat to a Dam with full glossy fur and almost fat in appearance, she most certainly didn't go lacking in anything, and except for her slightly filled (and hardly showing I might add!) teats you couldn't tell that this dog had had pups at all!

The good care that was given to Bens Dam and Sire showed in the size and robustness of the puppies, I remember sitting on the lawn of the breeders house while this chubby puppy contentedly chewed my fingers and shoe laces while his owner went over all of his requirements, from feeding, grooming, health and registrations with the Victorian KCC, I was duly impressed!

After Ben came Cindy and with my own breeding prefix I started showing my dogs, then came Kerry (much to my sister Kerri's disgust at using her name on a dog) and many more German Shepherds, after breeding and showing German Shepherds for thirteen years I found I would have to wait between each show to get any quality pet care products as all that was offered at the supermarkets at the time were bars of pet soap that gave the dogs dandruff and eczema, so I was constantly on the lookout for quality products and pet food that would give me the "Winning Edge" and while looking for products for my own animals I also noticed there was much need for products for other pets as well. The food that was available at the time was of a very poor standard, being only tin food or fatty off cuts and scraps from the butchers.

We humans are a funny lot we are always looking for lean meat cuts for the sake of our cholesterol levels and heart disease yet we are quite happy to feed this rubbish of large quantities of fat, gristle and bone to our best friends and then expect them to stay healthy. So with the health of my own pets in mind and a loan of just $2000.00 from my husband I went about starting my own Animal Delicatessen and Pet Store determined to give our much deprived pets a choice of quality lean pet foods and quality products.

THE FIRST STEPS TO BUSINESS.

STEP 1. DO YOUR HOMEWORK!

In what area would you like your business situated?

Pick a busy location; does it have plenty of people walking past the front of the site?

Does it have ample customer parking with easy access to your store?

Humans are a generally lazy breed, if they can not park within a few feet of the door they will drive around for ages looking for a park, or move on to your competition where the parking may be easier.

Do you have wheel chair access to your place of business?

The invalid are people too! They need to be made welcome into your store and this way they and their friends will visit regularly, pet therapy is wonderful for the handicapped, and you will find they buy big on their animals, (fish tanks are popular, and think of all the repeat sales!!!)

How much work does the building need?

Make sure you know how much the landlord is prepared to do and how much you can afford to do yourself.

Before you spend anything on the building or partake in any work both parties should decide what they are willing to do or pay for then put their agreement in writing, signed and witnessed.

If the building you have chosen needs a lot of work there are many ways you can save money and if you are prepared to do most of the work yourself you have a bargaining tool to put to the land lord when you go to work out the final amount of rent you pay for your proposed store. You may also be able to bargain a rent free period for works carried out!

Contact the office of fair trading and get all the information you can on your rights as a renter and also that of your intended customers, the department will answer all your questions and will also give you information pamphlets, it is very easy to make mistakes when you are new to business, unfortunately your mistakes do not go over well with customers and remember the best or worst advertising is always word of mouth.

Be sure you know your rights and that of your customers.

See your local councils planning department and be sure the store you have chosen is in the right zone.

Is the area to be re zoned in the foreseeable future?

Do you need to register your new business with the council?

Registrations vary from council to council, some councils also carry a current copy of the code of practice for pet stores with the animal by laws department; this you will need as the basis for your minimum cage requirements.

I have found it is always better to build the animal pens and cages larger than the required minimum as this goes better with your customers who don't like to see animals in small cages every day, if your customers see the animals have room to sleep comfortably and even play you will soon get a reputation as a caring animal lover and your reputation will generate more business, even against those similar stores near you who only have minimum sized cages.

Try to organize information days in the preschools and kindergartens, the more your stores name is passed around the more customers you will get through your doors, give the children a show bag with small low cost products for their pets, these can also include information sheets about their animals, and of course your stores name will be all through the show bag with your fridge magnets included, after all it is mum and dad that hold the money and the children who do the nagging????

STEP 2. WHAT IS A NAME!

The name you choose for your business should be well thought out, it needs to be short or easy to remember and say by yourself and your customers as you will have it for a very long time.

Your name should be something you can be proud of as you will have it on all of your stationary and correspondence.

People often incorporate their own names e.g.

"Joan's Pet Emporium."

This is good if you intend on staying just one store, but if you intend to franchise your stores at a later date - not every one is named Joan!

If you do decide to use your own name make it short and sweet, you will also find that as you are using your own name you will not have to register the business name with the office of fair trading, but this is for Victoria, you are best to check with the department in your own state.

You may think there's no way that my little store could be big enough to franchise and without a lot of hard work or ambition it most likely wont; but then I'm sure the owners of the pet chains such as Pets Paradise and Pets World didn't think like that when there first small stores were opened.

Be sure the name rolls off your tongue as it can be an embarrassing tongue twister when ever you answer the telephone.

Always answer the phone with a cheery "Good Morning/Afternoon - (the name of your store) - this is - Your name - speaking how may I help you".

As you can see a difficult or long name can be confusing to you and your potential customers.

By answering in this fashion the customer knows that he or she has the right store and to whom they are speaking, and gives them a little personal touch too.

STEP 3. WHAT DO YOU SELL?

What animal do you know most about?

When you were a child did you have a dog, cat, pet budgie or canary, or may be some pet mice, lizards and insects?

What do you know about them?

What do you feed them?

In what type of cage or house do you keep them?

What do you do to keep them healthy?

These sorts of questions are what your average customer will ask you, so therefore you will have to call upon your own bank of knowledge.

There are a wide range of animal books you can obtain from any number of sources, your first should be from your wholesalers as these are the books you will be selling to your customers therefore you should know what is in them! Another is from a local book store, if they don't have the books in stock they will usually get one in for you, and another is the local library.

Books to look out for are How to care for, how to train, and identifying diseases, this will give you the background knowledge you will require to guide your customers to purchasing the right products, your customers will look to you to know your products so use them on your own animals and test how they work on various situations and conditions.

Ask your customers to let you know how they went with a treatment you have recommended, this will show you care about their pets and you can use their observations about the products for your ever expanding library of knowledge.

Never be afraid to take advice that is given, you can always sort out what is good or bad as sometimes terrific ideas can be put to good use.

I always encouraged the input from staff, this made them more of a team and gave me great results in there overall performance.

STEP 4. WHAT LICENSES OR PERMITS WILL YOU NEED?

You will need a name for your business, this can be obtained by contacting the office of fair trading in your capital city, to register a prefix you must have five choices, list the names you prefer from first to last choice. You will be billed approximately $70.00 - $100.00 when your name has been approved. With your business prefix you can now open a business Bank Account, at this time also see about getting an eftpos machine installed as the ease of shopping with plastic money is now how most impulse shoppers purchase their goods, most of your sales will be approximately 75% impulse buying.

You will also have to register for an A.B.N Number; you can do this on line at www.abr.gov.au or go to your news agent and pick up some A.B.N Application forms. Your accountant or book keeper will also be able to apply online for you.

You can not have your telephone connected until you have your business prefix number, although Telstra may hold a business phone number for you pending the granting of your business prefix number.

You will need a Permit to operate a pet shop from your council; usual cost is $100.00 to apply and $50.00 yearly although this may differ from council to council or state to state.

This may be applied for within the city planning and permits department.

While you are at the council offices go to the by - laws department and obtain a copy of the code of practice to operate a pet store, read the document thoroughly, you will need to know and understand its contents thou rally.

To sell Native Wildlife and birds you will need a Dealers License, this form can be obtained from the Conservation and Natural Resources in your state. In Victoria this will cost you about $600.00 yearly, you may say; well I don't wish to sell Natives but unfortunately you can not sell galahs, sulphers, burkes parrots, scarlets, cockatiels and other non licensed birds without that license, so you would have to be satisfied with selling just budgies, canaries, peach face, zebra finch and Californian quail. Your customers want variety so the more you can give to them the more customers you will get into your store.

Pet Food, you only need a license to sell fresh pet's meat, such as pre packaged kangaroo, rabbit or horse meat. I found my customers preferred this to the usual tin or dry mixes that are available.

Your states Meat Authority Board will send out the appropriate license form to you. Usual cost $97.00 to apply and $65.00 yearly. Costs may differ from state to state on yearly inspections.

You do not need a license to sell chicken mince if prepared for human consumption, a chicken manufacturing firm (or where chickens are cut into steaks and prepared) here you could offer to purchase in bulk of 50 to 100 kilograms for consumption from your own animals and for resale each state may differ, this you could also check with your own state meat authority.

You will need a suitable freezer or display fridge, I have found a chest freezer is most suitable to keep the excess prepackaged pets meat, or an old ice-cream freezer as the customers can see what is in there without lifting the lid. This will also encourage you to keep it clean and well stocked. The freezer will also be necessary to keep your frozen fish and reptile foods in.

STEP 5. EQUIPMENT

Where do you find the equipment to set up your store?

Display stands will gladly be let out from most wholesalers with the purchase of their stock to fill it; they will also give quite a discount on the stock purchased.

Second hand stores are always filled with old shop shelving and cash registers, garage sales and eBay are another source of good bargains, gather together all you wish to purchase and bargain with the seller, (some shop fitting are hard to dispose of and are a good bargaining tool) have a good look at average prices for the equipment you need so you will be able to spot a good bargain and also to make sure you are not being ripped off.

Use your imagination and use what you have at hand, my first shelving was pine boards and mill blocks.

Decorate the boards with animal patterns either hand painted, stenciled or cut out of magazines with a clear varnish.

My first cash register was a set of butter boxes under the counter out of sight to the customers, when you are starting out in business no one expects thousands of dollars worth of displays or glittering stands quite often the simplest of displays is always the most effective, and as your business builds you can afford to put more into it and purchase the new cash registers and proper shop shelving and glittery counters, although my favorite design is a basic wide wooden counter top with shelving underneath and new galvanized iron fronts, it looks clean and neat, wares well and leaves lots of space underneath for your other things such as lay by ledgers, plastic shopping bags, and filing draws, all out of sight, within easy access and no clutter as nothing looks worse to your customers than a dirty or cluttered counter.

When you enter your store each morning and after the night clean up, take a look at your store and enter it as one of your customers would.

Is it clean and appealing?

Does it have an offensive smell?

Are the animals healthy and contented?

Are your display's cheerful and bright?

When you look at your displays do they make you want to buy something?

If you cant agree with any of these then it's time to change your strategies!

STEP 6. STOCK!

Let your fingers do the walking for you and get out the yellow pages.

If you live in a remote area go to the post office and spend some time with pad and pen and look up the wholesalers in the major cities near you. Look for wholesalers that will cater to you best, if you can't get much of an idea from the adds give them a ring ask to speak to a sales representative.

Ask them what "they" can do for you??

Ask them to send you a catalogue for your perusal, remember you are their proposed customer therefore you have every right to ask what you are buying.

I have found that it is very easy to be swept up and taken away with all the many things that are on offer, so specialize in an area of animal care that you know fairly well and feel comfortable with and stock products that suit, enhance or compliment that field.

You will go broke trying to have everything that's offered in stock, usually there will be 2 to 3 wholesalers that will suit your stock requirements.

Some companies will deliver the stock you have purchased for a delivery charge, often this is quite minimal as they have a deal with their couriers for cheaper rates, but some charge quite high prices so talk to your local couriers and see if you can strike a deal with them also, often you will receive a discount if ordering so many boxes per month don't be afraid to ask, they are getting the extra business and you get to keep a little in your pocket as well.

Where do I get the things I need for my store such as pegboard hooks?

Small items but necessary to hang all your goods for display, very expensive to purchase as you will need 2-3 hundred of them if you purchase through the normal retail outlets.

You are now in business, so once again let you fingers do the walking and look up the wholesalers in the yellow pages.

You can save a small fortune by buying your hardware goods straight from the wholesalers. Ring around them and see what bargains you can purchase from them but be prepared to buy in bulk, so have a list of all you need ready.

Watch for going out of business sales, you can pick up a lot of store shelving, display stands, fridges, freezers, and other goods at bargain prices!

STEP 7. ANIMAL HEALTH!

Always a vital part of your business, contact the veterinarians in your local district and tell them you plan to open a pet store in their area and it could be to their benefit.

Ask if they would be prepared to give you a reasonable discount on their services to your animals!

Customers will always ask what vet you use, you will also have vaccination certificates from their clinic, you can tell your customers what veterinary clinic you use but you can not recommend the customers use that clinic specifically, as this is against the veterinary ethics and could bring your vet before the veterinary ethics board, most people will want to use the same vet for their new pet and will ask so there is nothing wrong with you telling them who your business uses, therefore they will usually take their pet for their follow up vaccinations, check ups and so on and the veterinary clinic gains another customer.

As he/she will make a profit from your business and also from the follow up business that will go their way, so don't be afraid to bargain as they are business people too.

Obviously the vet who takes on your business will be on a win- win situation and you may wish to mention this to the vet you are bargaining with, I have also used the one that the vet down the road will see my animals for less, are you willing to match or better the deal??, if they are not prepared to bargain be prepared to walk out! You may wish to choose a smaller practice as I have found the single practitioner is more willing to give a good discount to potentially good customers.

Believe me! The vet you use will soon learn that the amount of business you generate their way is well worth a hefty discount, and will want to keep your business; and those that wouldn't bargain will soon realize their mistake!

STEP 8. ADVERTISING!

Do not black out the windows of your new store as you make the necessary renovations.

Tell every curious passerby that you intend to put in a pet store and invite them to the opening, or give them a Grand Opening discount voucher.

Let the public see the transformation and the efforts you and your family have taken, while they are watching they will be talking about it to friends and family then coming back to see how far you have got, then their friends and family will be doing the same and so on and so on, all will be gaining future customers that will take as much pride in the opening as you do because they were also there from the start.

Small ads in the local news paper work very well, try to make the ads interesting and original, e.g.,

Cute Cuddly Cockers

**************************

Funny Finny Fishes

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Bold Brassy Birds

At

Betties Best Pets

1 Smith Close

03 333122

The more original your ads the better, as people will especially look out for them in the papers and once again they are talking about your store to more potential customers.

I have found repetitive advertising also works but your ads must be constant, the more often the customers see your name the less they'll remember the competitions name.

Fridge magnets!

Give them away with all your sales, be sure you pop one in each bag before your customers leave your store, if the customer has one already ask them to give it to a friend or a family member, be sure there are plenty available for customers to take, for when their "just looking", business cards will ultimately always enter the trash bin where as a fridge magnet will usually always go on the fridge, a constant reminder and easy reference to your shop, more and more people are also collecting them and swapping them therefore passing your name onto more potential customers.

So as you see with little effort or cost your business, you can be as well advertised as any large store, a worthwhile investment!

Radio, I have never found of much use it is expensive and your add is only on for a few minuets, unless your add is repetitive and either very catching or annoying it is forgotten the minute it's over, a waste of hard earned money you could put into better things. If you do decide to advertise on the radio try the 7 to 9am timeslot, while people are driving to work they will usually turn on the radio for the morning news or weather report and will hear your advertisement then.

Television. Very expensive, if you can afford it! prime time is worthwhile, or when the noontime variety show or morning movie is being aired, other wise put your money into more newspaper advertising, or having your business name printed onto your car.

Yellow Pages is always good, be imaginative, use bright colors, check out how your competition advertises here and try something that will stand out from the rest, your yellow pages rep will also help you there, but don't conform to making your add look like everyone else's!

Purchase uniforms with your business name and logo; make them bright and easy to distinguish from ordinary clothes.

Make yourself, your staff and your business professional, show your customers that you know what your doing and your serious about what you do.

Your place of business should be clean at all times, but it's no good if you or your staff look like something the pups just chewed, so be sure your uniforms can be easily cleaned and possibly using wrinkle free material.

For particularly dirty jobs always use an apron or dust coats that match your uniforms or use clear PVC aprons, and remove them , fold them up, and put them away after use, therefore out of public sight.

STEP 9. ANIMAL STOCKS

Some people are very happy to sell their pets offspring exclusively to pet shops, as this is easy money and will rid them of their excess stock in one go without the cost of advertising or having many people traipsing on their properties, it also gives you some room to bargain with as you will be buying per litter, often this will be a set price each time.

Be sure you ask your breeders to ring and book the litter into your store when they are born, this will save you embarrassment when they just turn up with three to four hundred dollars worth of animals and you don't have the money, or trying to re arrange the pens and cages to make room.

By pre arranging when the animals would be due in you have at least 8 weeks to arrange the money, book the litter into your chosen veterinary clinic for their health check ups and vaccinations, (Vaccinations should be done 2 weeks prior to coming into your store, this makes it easier for the puppies / kittens and also gives them some protection against harmful diseases) and also to have a sterile cage ready. This also gives you a chance to do some pre advertising,

Coming Soon!!

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Tiny Terriers

From our best Australian Terrier Breeder!

Puppies Available from 2/5/2006

Breeders will not feel happy leaving their babies with you in the future if the cages are dirty or over crowded.

It is always a good policy to have some cages out of public view for new animals, until you have had a chance to thoroughly give them the once over and had them bathed, wormed, vet checked and most importantly immunized.

Never put an ill animal into those cages unless they can be successfully sterilized. Retain a "Hospital" cage for those you suspect of being ill, always be sure the Hospital cage is well isolated and easily sterilized in case the sickness is highly contagious, take them to the vet as soon as possible, they are better off under medical supervision and out of your store just in case there condition gets serious, the veterinary clinic is better able to cope with potentially contagious diseases.

When selling your animals give as much information as possible to your customers, they need information on proper care, nutrition, bedding, training and general health.

Free pamphlets can be obtained from your wholesalers on various pet products and animal care in general, gather the information with feeding routine, diets, helpful hints, certificates and any other information you can gather and present it to your customers in a folder or large envelope, and add a little treat such as a small rawhide chew or toy mouse or honey stick, the animals will love it and your customers will be both happy and surprised by your gesture and will be sure to come back again and again.

This report is a guide only, it will not bring you thousands of dollars every week without effort and for nothing, and I believe that a person's success lies only with ones self, but hopefully it will help to alleviate the confusion people have when starting their own businesses.

When I started I spent a lot of money needlessly on long distance phone calls chasing dead end leads that just whittled away at my merge resources.

Hopefully with this report I have enabled to take the confusion from you.

May I take this opportunity to wish you all the very best and much success in your new venture for both now and in the future!!