However partnerships do have their disadvantages. Profit has to be shared and you are responsible for debt as liability is unlimited. 1 – 20 partners can run the business which would mean you would have to split the profit.
I think that a partnership would be the most suitable for the business as although there are risks as it has unlimited liability, there are many advantages as well. Responsibility can be shared and there can be a high number of skills and ideas shared between the partners.
The partner of the business will be Lucy because she has experienced setting a business up as she used to run his own furniture shop. She could also bring money £50,000 to the business and she has skills with owning dogs herself, so she understands the care the animals need.
Objectives:
• To make a profit
• Have a variety of different kennels to suit all dogs needs
• Have more customers than competitors
• Have a bigger market share than competitors
• To provide a unique service
• To have the best instructors
The business has inherited £50,000 from my father to got towards setting up a business so this has really helped and also as the business is going to be a form of a partnership, Lucy who is the partner is going to be fetching another £50,000 which should help set up the business together. As the research shows the start up fees is only £38,000 so the business has decided as a partnership that the rest of the money will go towards all the equipment for the dogs that we will need, to make sure we have the best start for the business.
Prices for starting the Business
Start-up Expenses
Remodeling facility £10,000
Lease Down Payment £8,000
Fencing: £7,000
Office Furnishings: £5,000
Marketing: £4,000
Utility Deposits: £3,500
Insurance: £500
TOTAL £38,000
The costs of the service will depend on how long the dog stays. Pet planet will also offer a range of activities such as boarding services, as well as a playroom and quiet area for dogs.
On-going Operations – Variable Costs
Dog food & toys: £50 per 100 clients
On-going Operations – Fixed Costs
Rent: £4,000 AC
Utilities: £1,300 AC
Insurance: £100 AC
Marketing: £100 AC
Cleaning supplies: £50 AC
TOTAL £550 per month
The stakeholders that would be involved in my business is:
The business will be targeted at different lifestyles because you need to own a dog to actually benefit from the business. I have identified a market niche because the businesses will only be targeted at the lifestyle market and not anything else for example it won’t be targeted at different gender or age market.
To add value to the dog kennel business it will have a mixture of dog kennels and sizes depending on the size of the dog there will be a free socialising session on the first time stay in the kennels over night and also a mixture of treats and toys for free only on the first stay and a 25% discount if they are a regular customer.
Desk (Secondary) Research
For this task here is some secondary research in order to help me form the businesses own marketing strategy.
Firstly I have done some research to find out if there is any more Kennel facilities in the Wiltshire area and there are a couple of facilities around the bath area but not to many. Even thought there are a couple around Bath I have still decided to set the business in Bath because it is a big place and people who live in the surrounding areas will be prepared to travel a bit hopefully for a good service, also it is easy accessible for big cars.
Bath
Prices of internet, Dog Kennels
I have now researched on the internet in detail prices of Kennels. This is what I have found.
This information will help to construct my marketing strategy as it helps me with the price. Although these prices are only a daily count, they do not include overnight or weekly stays so 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.
Field (Primary) Research
Other kennels
There are a couple dog kennels around the bath surrounding area but not many. They charge around
What advertising the Kennels use?
Many different methods of advertising have been used;-
- Yellow Pages or similar- the yellow pages were used by all the Kennel 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 Kennels 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 Kennel companies provided were;-
- Visits- visit could be a choice of daily, overnight stays, day and night stays, and week stays. This includes feeding of the animals.
- Grooming- washing and grooming is offered for an extra charge in some of the Kennel companies
This is useful for my business as I can decide based on the information:-
- How much I should charge
- Where my Kennels will take place
- What kinds of advertising I will use
- What services I will provide
These will all help me to form my marketing strategy.
These results should be fairly reliable as they have come directly from existing kennel companies and represent what the 4p’s are in their own marketing strategy.
Evaluation
Product
Based on the research about existing kennels. I decided that the kennel business would offer a different range of things for the dogs and owners to do that the other kennels don’t have.
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 of the animals.
- Playing- Playing in a safe environment which will also help socialising for the puppies and also they will learn some basic commands with professional instructors.
- 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 months (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 earlier I have decided that bath will be a good idea to set the business as bath is a central place for locals and people who live in surrounding areas to access also bath is a big place so the roads are good for supplies and heavy vehicles.
Price
Basing my prices on the prices of existing Kennels 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
The Kennel 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 to 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.
Opportunity costs
At first the business was going to invest the money into a hair and beauty salon but after the research there are quite a lot of salons around my local area and it won’t be a reasonable choice to have chosen considering the main objective of a business is to make money and have more costumers than competition. So the business decided against the idea of putting my money into to that form of business also because the staffs doesn’t have much experience in hair and beauty as it does in animal care.
Competitive Analysis
A review of the various kennel facilities in the bath area reveals seven Kennel companies provide, 9 grooming and boarding sites, two facilities associated with veterinary offices, one self-service bathing facility, one outdoor dog park, one part-time dog daycare and numerous groom-only shops. Prices charged by the various companies ranged from £9 per night for cage care kennelling in a veterinary office to £15 per day for dog daycare (offered only on Fridays from 7:30 am to 5:00 pm). A few facilities advertised themselves as dog daycares, but really provided only unsupervised cage care during daytime hours.
