However I could become a plc, which has advantages too. You don’t legally have to pay dividends and I would have limited liability. It is also easy to raise capital as shares can be sold to the general public. But there are also disadvantages of being a plc, as you have to pay the bank interest rates and have to give dividends to the shareholders.
It is also hard to become a limited company, as you have to get a memorandum of association etc that takes a lot of time. Although if I chose to be a plc I would benefit from limited liability it would not really be suitable as it takes a lot of time and capital to set up because of the legalities involved.
Task 3
Desk (Secondary) Research
For this task I have conducted some secondary research in order to help me form my own marketing strategy.
Firstly I have constructed this map showing all the locations of Pet Sitting companies in Dorset. This will help to decide on the area my business will be based due to the amount of competition I may have in different areas.
The red dots represent the pet sitting companies and the blue dots represent the pet shops in Dorset. We can see clearly that the most pet shops and pet sitting companies are in the Bournemouth and Christchurch area. This shows that in this area there are a lot of pets as there is more demand for pet services.
I have now zoomed in on the map to show a more detailed view of the area to show where exactly the pet shops and pet sitters are.
I can see that there are equal amounts of pet shops in the Poole area as the Bournemouth area but no Pet Sitters in the Poole area. There must be a lot of pets in the area due to the large amount of pet shops so this would be a good area to set up the pet sitting business because there isn’t too much competition but still sufficient demand.
I found the pet sitting companies listed in the yellow pages and online at .
This will help me to form the place in my market strategy as I can see where my competition is and I can see if there is an area with no pet sitting companies. This would mean I would have less local competition so ultimately more customers.
This source and the results should be fairly reliable as they are all the listed pet sitting companies in Poole and the whole of Dorset so I haven’t missed any out which would provide me with inaccurate results.
Prices of internet based Pet Sitters
I have now researched on the internet in detail prices of Pet Sitters. This is what I have found.
The above extras were also added on some of the Pet Sitting companies I found.
The cost of looking after small caged animals, fish and reptiles wasn’t included on the website so in my primary research I will contact local companies to enquire about them.
(The above table came from Grandma Sandy’s Pet Sitting Service)
This information will help to construct my marketing strategy as it helps me with the price. I can base my price on this table and a variety of other sources listed in my primary research.
This information may not be totally reliable as it could not be correct as it isn’t a local company and different areas could charge different prices.
For my next piece of research I sent the following letter to the Pet Sitting companies in Dorset.
Samantha Pennington
31 Woodside Road
Lower Parkstone
Poole
Dear
I am a student at Parkstone Grammar School in year11 currently completing my GCSE Business Studies coursework.
I am researching marketing strategies of local pet and home sitting companies in order to produce a marketing strategy of my own.
I would be most grateful if you could send information on your marketing strategy and any additional information you may have, which you feel would help me in my studies, in the S.A.E provided.
Thank You
Samantha Pennington
Unfortunately none of the companies responded to the letter so I have decided (in my primary research) to telephone the companies instead.
How many pets are there in England?
The UK's multi-billion dollar pet industry is the largest in Europe. There are over 52 million pets in the UK, with over half of all households owning at least one pet. ()
This report gives a more detailed account of pet ownership in the UK.
“Around 11 million households in the UK own at least one pet. Although cat-owning households are considerably less numerous than dog-owning ones, the latter own, on average, fewer animals than cat-owning households. This has the result that, on the basis of 1992 figures, the cat population of the country, at 7 million, is only slightly smaller than the dog population of 7.3 million.
Despite lack of precise information on numbers, it has been estimated that fish are third in the popularity stakes, with budgerigars occupying fourth place. Other popular pets include hamsters, gerbils, rabbits and guinea pigs, as well as other bird species.
Although the UK pet population has grown significantly over the past 20 years, this growth has somewhat declined recently. In fact, if the relatively modest growth in the number of households over the past 5 years is taken into account, there has been an actual decline in the numbers of pets per household over this period. In the case of dogs, the number of dogs per household has declined, but the total dog population has remained virtually static.
Within the dog population the trends are unclear, depending in part on how breeds are defined as `large' or `small'. Some commentators claim to detect an increase in the popularity of smaller dogs, attributed to a variety of causes, including the expense of feeding and the adverse publicity suffered by some of the larger, more aggressive, breeds. However, recent research suggests `a slow but discernible trend towards larger dogs -- which is being stimulated by a growing number of older people with extended leisure time'.
Another trend is towards the ownership of the more independent kinds of pets, which need less in the way of constant care and attention, and which can be left unattended for relatively long periods. This trend favours cat rather than dog ownership, and it is indisputable that the cat population has grown somewhat more rapidly than the dog population over the past 5 years.”
This helps me to form my market strategy because it shows me what types of pets are owned etc which will help me construct the product part of my marketing strategy.
Task 4
Field (Primary) Research
In this task I will conduct some primary research in order to put together my final marketing strategy.
My first method of primary research is to make a questionnaire in order to find out
- How many people in the area own pets
- What pets people own
- How many people with pets would use the service
- How much people would expect/would be willing to pay for the service
- How often they would use this service.
This is a copy of the questionnaire.
Questionnaire for Pet Owners
How many pets do you own? (Please Tick)
How many of each pet do you own? (Please put number in box)
- Cat(s)
- Dog(s)
- Rabbits(s)
- Hamster(s)/mice
- Guinea Pig(s)
- Reptile(s)/Spider(s)/Snake(s)
- Other (Please State)________________
When on holiday do you currently use a Pet Sitting Service and how often?
- No
- Yes
- More than once a month
- Once a month
- Once every 3 months
- Once every 6 months
- Once every 9 months
- Once a year
- Once every 2 years
- Less often than once every 2 years
If you answered no (to ‘When on holiday do you currently use a Pet Sitting Service and how often?’) would you consider using a pet sitting service if there was one easily available to you and how much would you consider paying for each animal per day?
- No
-
Yes and I would pay ₤________________ for each animal per day.
If you answered yes (to ‘When on holiday do you currently use a Pet Sitting Service and how often?’) how much do you currently pay for each animal per day?
- I currently pay ₤_______________ for each animal per day.
Do you consider this a reasonable price?
Thank you for participating in this questionnaire. You’re time has been greatly appreciated.
I sent this questionnaire to 100 people using convenience sampling. Convenience sampling is taking a sample in a convenient area as long as the sample is in the population under study. I have chosen to perform this type of sampling because it is simple to perform in the amount of time available and will include people with a variety of characteristics.
However the source may not be totally reliable because it only represents a few people in the population of Poole and different areas may contain larger or smaller amounts of pets therefore could create more or less demand.
This is useful for my business as I can see if there is sufficient demand for Pet Sitting in the area and how much the service is already being used which will help me form the Place part of my market strategy.
However the results may not be totally reliable because it only represents a few people in the population of Poole and different areas may contain larger or smaller amounts of pets therefore could create more or less demand.
I then telephoned local Pet Sitting Companies to find out the following things;-
- How much they charge
- Where the Pet Sitting takes place
- What kinds of advertising they use
- What services they provide
- What animals they can ‘Pet Sit’ and for how much.
This source should be reliable as it will represent existing pet sitting companies marketing strategies.
How much do Pet Sitters currently charge?
Where does the Pet Sitting take place?
From all the pet sitting companies I have looked at the service takes place in the customers own home but in one example a service is offered at the Pet Sitter’s home for convenience if necessary.
This was charged as an all day and all night stay.
What advertising the Pet Sitters use?
Many different methods of advertising have been used;-
- Yellow Pages or similar- the yellow pages were used by all the Pet Sitting companies I found in the local area. A combination of the book and the internet based Yellow Pages have been used to advertise the company.
- Web Site- not all but 48% of the companies I found had there own web-site with a full list of prices and services.
- Posters- 32% of the Pet Sitting companies I found advertised in Vets and Pet Shops using a variety of posters and leaflets. These did not contain a list of price but had telephone numbers or email addresses to contact the companies.
What different services were offered?
The most common services the Pet Sitting companies provided were;-
- Visits- visit could be a choice of daily, overnight stays, day and night stays, and week stays. This includes feeding and petting of the animals.
- Cleaning- cleaning of litter trays (if needed), cleaning hutches, cages, tanks etc. for a small extra charge. The clean bedding/litter was always provided in the charge.
- Grooming- washing and grooming is offered for an extra charge in some of the Pet Sitting companies.
What animals they can ‘Pet Sit’?
They can pet sit most domestic animals including all small caged animals, fish, reptiles, horses, dogs, cats etc.
And how much for?
This depends on the circumstances. If the house/pet sitter is visiting to feed other pets or if the sitter is staying in the house the charge is very little just enough for the food allowance but if the sitter is visiting the house purely to feed e.g. the guinea pig the cost will have to include transport etc.
The final cost is generally different for each customer.
This is useful for my business as I can decide based on the information:-
- How much I should charge
- Where my Pet Sitting will take place
- What kinds of advertising I will use
- What services I will provide
- What animals I will ‘Pet Sit’ and how much I will charge.
These will all help me to form my marketing strategy.
These results should be fairly reliable as they have come directly from existing Pet Sitting companies and represent what the 4p’s in their own marketing strategy.
Task 5
Evaluation
Product
Based on the phone calls made to existing pet sitting companies in task 4 I decided I would pet sit for all small caged animals, fish, reptiles, horses, dogs and cats. I decided this as these are the most commonly owned pets and are in demand for care as there are already companies that care for them.
The services I will provide are-
- Visits- visit could be a choice of daily, overnight stays, day and night stays, and week stays. This will include feeding and petting of the animals.
- Cleaning- cleaning of litter trays (if needed), cleaning hutches, cages, tanks etc. for a small extra charge. The clean bedding/litter will be provided in the charge.
- Grooming- washing and grooming will be offered for an extra charge.
But this may not be totally effective as I’m only offering products and services already offered by a number of other companies I have researched. Therefore after a few month (say 12) after some profit has been saved up I may wish to offer some alternative services, which may be in demand in the area, to gain more customers.
Place
From the map constructed in task 3 I can see that throughout Poole and Bournemouth there are an equal spread of pet shops but in Poole there are no Pet Sitting companies so I have decided to set up in Poole. I will set it up in an area of Poole with a lot of pet shops as this will mean that there are pets in the area to Pet Sit. An area for instance could be the ASHLEY ROAD area in Parkstone, Poole as there are existing pet shops around that area implying that there are pets owned in the area.
But this area may not be totally suitable as it is a busy road so it may not be a suitable area for pets as the extra noise may cause further stress to the animals.
Price
Basing my prices on the prices of existing Pet Sitters I have decided to construct this table to show the price I will charge. I am charging for my services competitively to other companies by pricing slightly under the average price already charged.
But this may not be suitable pricing as other companies may drop there prices which could result in a price war where prices may be dropped so much that little or no profit is being made.
Promotion
My pet sitting company will be promoted in a number of ways. The first way will be an advert in the yellow pages and on their web site at . This would be suitable because as when I was researching other companies I found most of them either in the yellow pages or at .
The second method of promotion will be in holiday brochures and travel agents as the service can be used when going on holiday so customers can simply find my company with the holiday. This may not be suitable however as it would be very expensive toi advertise in every holiday brochure as there are hundreds of different ones. Another problem is some brochures are seasonal during quieter periods another method of advertising would be needed to keep the level of customers a profitable number.
My final method of promotion is advertising in local pet shops using a poster listing the services offered, a brief idea of price and the telephone number. This should inform most pet owners about the company.
Evaluation of marketing strategy
If the marketing strategy is unsuccessful I will change/increase the method of promotion and if still unsuccessful the prices could be decreased so we would be more competitive than other pet sitting companies.
On the other hand if it’s too successful and the demand is too high the price would be highered leading some if the customers to other companies. The prices could not be highered too much though, as all too many customers will choose other companies therefore leaving my company with little of no customers resulting in little or no profit.
Inaccurate results may result in an unsuccessful marketing strategy. For example if the prices of existing companies was inaccurately researched of if there was a mistake in the calculation of averages then the price I have set may not be competitive at all and in fact much higher or lower than other companies. This would either result in too many or not enough customers.