5 Tips for Building a Business Plan for a Successful Dog Grooming Franchise

Running a dog grooming franchise is a great way to combine profit and passion, giving you all the benefits of running your own business while allowing you to care for pampered pooches each working day. That said, the pet grooming sector is a very competitive one, and if you want to thrive, these five business plan building tips will help your dog grooming business to thrive in a saturated market.

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The biggest market driver in the pet care world is the stable UK cat and dog population, and the total estimated value of the pet care market is £6.5 billion [Pets at Home Group]. This in mind, it’s clear to see why so many want to start a dog grooming franchise. The demand for services like dog grooming, dog walking and dog sitting is sky high, and this is something you could absolutely capitalise on, if you entered the industry in the right way.

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>> Read more:

• A Day in the Life: What It Takes to Run a Dog Sitting Business
• Dog School Franchises in the UK
• Attention Animal Lovers: Here Are 4 Dog Care Franchises You'll Love

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How to build a business plan for a dog grooming franchise

When you’ve chosen the dog grooming franchise that’s right for you and committed to an investment, you should get right on building a business plan. A strong franchise business plan is very necessary for franchise success. Not only will you often be required to present it to your franchisor during the initial investment stages, but you’ll also have to present it to a bank or other funding body if you’re seeking financial backing.

Most importantly of all, though, your business plan will be something that you benefit from. It’ll be a bible for your pet grooming franchise. Something that you can regularly look back on and dynamically update, using it to measure your progress towards goals and keep yourself on track. Every franchise business plan, regardless of the industry or company that you’re investing with, should include the following elements:

• An executive summary
• A business description
• Product/service descriptions
• A management summary
• Market analysis
• Operational details
• Business premises details
• Sales and marketing plans
• Financial projections and requirements

Beyond those core components that must be covered in order for your business plan to be truly considered comprehensive, here are five tips for building a business plan specifically for a dog grooming franchise in today’s competitive pet care industry. Follow each one, and you’ll be able to make a career change with a dog grooming franchise smoothly and effectively...

1. Give financially sound reasoning as to the type of dog grooming franchise you’ve chosen to run (mobile, salon-based or home-based)

A day in your life as the owner of a dog grooming franchise might look very different between one type of investment and another. Some groomers operate out of a premises, while others work on-the-go or in the homes of their canine clients. Be sure to explore, as you detail your business in this business plan, why you’ve chosen the type of investment that you have. Did you choose to go mobile so that you could provide a huge amount of customer convenience? Or salon-based, so that you could benefit from foot traffic?

2. Detail all your products and services, emphasising any unique features/elements

This is particularly important if you plan to share your business plan with potential financial backers, as they’ll not only want to know they’re investing in a known quantity - they’ll also want to know: What makes your dog grooming franchise distinct? What makes it able to compete with all the other options in the grooming market as it stands heading into 2022?

We specialise in dog wash services which include full clips or trims, intensive shampoo and coat conditioning, hand drying and styling, nail clipping and I.D. chipping. Our customers keep on coming back as we offer optimal convenience, less pet stress, one to one attention, no cage drying and all-natural products. - Dial a Dog Wash

3. Conduct plenty of industry analysis and identify grooming market gaps/niche areas you might fill

If you’re going to become a dog groomer and attain long-term success, market understanding is something you’re going to need in spades. It’s something that you’ll definitely cover during your initial training programme, but that doesn’t mean you need to wait until that moment to broaden your horizons. There’s no better place than your business plan to get to know the industry in which you’re investing your money and the competitors that you’ll be vying with for business.

4. Detail your dog grooming franchise’s various insurance needs and plans

In pet care, unpredictability is to be expected. After all, you’re dealing with guests that might struggle to vocalise their concerns—in any language other than barking, that is. Succeeding in the midst of this unpredictability is a practice of training, setting risk management procedures, and investing in strong insurance coverage for those moments when accidents happen. - Gingr

Insurance is always an important consideration when you’re starting a franchise, but particularly so if you’re choosing to enter the field of pet care. Therefore, this is something you should pay extra attention to within your business plan, from public liability insurance and CCC (care, custody and control) insurance all the way to add-ons like equipment cover and professional indemnity.

5. Make financial projections and details as accurate as possible by costing all the way down from the initial investment to the individual pieces of required equipment

Even smaller costs and fees impact the accuracy of your projections, so ensure that your franchise business plan is accounting for as many details as it can on the financial side of things. One of the biggest advantages of a dog grooming franchise is the availability of low cost investment options, but this isn’t to say there are any no-cost investment options. From the clippers, scissors and combs to the perfumes, ear powders and shampoos, it adds up.

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>> Read more:

• Why Is a Business Plan Important?
• 4 Reasons Why You Should Take the Time to Create a Business Plan For Your Franchise

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These business plan tips will enable you to start a dog grooming franchise that soon achieves profitability

If these business plan tips have left you raring to start a dog grooming franchise this instance, stick around on Point Franchise and browse the range of available dog and pet grooming franchise investment opportunities. Make sure you look into Dial a Dog Wash, which is one of the UK’s best-loved mobile grooming providers.