How to Write a Business Plan for a Dog Walking Business
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Organization & Management
Who are you and why would you be a great owner and manager of a dog walking business? Talk about your background and your character traits and your experience. Then go into detail about how your company will be structured (LLC, partnership, etc) and how ownership will be handled.
If you have selected a few people for staff already, include information about them. Also list every employee you plan to hire, including their job descriptions and a profile of the ideal candidate for that position. You'll use this in your want ads later.
If you are going to have a Board of Directors, or if you already have a few board members, include information about them and what expertise they bring to the company.
Marketing and Sales
How will you find new customers? How will you retain existing customers? This is where you write out a marketing plan, complete with your marketing strategy (how you want to position yourself in the market, how you want your company to be perceived), and your marketing tactics (will you use dog walking flyers, or work through vet referrals. Will you advertise on the radio, or on food delivery menus?). Break out exactly how much each tactic is going to cost, and exactly what results you expect to get from it. Be realistic -- no one has even gotten a 20% response rate from a postcard campaign.
Services
What are you offering and exactly how are you going to deliver it. This is the place to spell out, in detail exactly how your company will run on a day to day basis. How will you interview new clients? What will be your policy for handling agressive dogs? What will be the procedure for hiring and firing employees? Now is the time to think this all through. You need to demonstrate the value of your services to the reader.
Financials
Time to fire up Excel on your computer. If you don't have Excel, Google docs has a spreadsheet application that's an excellent free alternative.
Here's where you spell out your start up costs. Then, in a different spreadsheet, you spell out your operating costs, including fixed costs (rent, phones, insurance) and variable costs (marketing campaigns, buying new dog waling gear, the company Christmas party, etc). You should plan out your company's cashflow for at least the first year, month by month. This is where the refining really happens. If your marketing plan had you getting 30 new customers, but you find you need 50 new customers to break even, you'll either have to increase your marketing plan (and thus your marketing costs), or you'll have to have backup funding to be in the red for that month. It can take a little time to get your financials grounded in reality, but this is time well spent. It is where you're going to get very realistic about how likely it is you'll get rich from a dog walking business.
MORE DOG WALKING ARTICLES:
How to Start a Dog Walking Business
How to Write a Dog Walking Business Plan
Dog Walking for Children and Teens
Dog Walking Services: Dogs' Day Out
Be the Best Dog Walker in Your Town
How to Handle Aggressive Dogs
How to Get a Dog Walking Job
Dog Walking Franchises
Additional Dog Services to Offer
Walking Puppies
How to Advertise and Promote a Dog Walking Business
How to Get Insurance for Your Dog Walking Business
How to Get Experience with Dog Walking and Dog Training
Pricing Your Dog Walking Services
Would You Make a Good Dog Walker? 5 Questions to Ask Yourself to Find Out
How To Interview Clients: The Owners and Their Dogs
Dog Training Basics Every Dog Walker Must Know: Dog Walkers' Obedience Training
Dog Walking Safety Tips
Dog First Aid
Dog Walking Etiquette
Dog Walking Flyers
Dog Walking Business Names
How to Stop a Dog Fight
Dog Walking Business Cards
Dog Walking Rates
Dog Walking Tips
Reviews of Dog Walking Business Books
Dog Walking Forms
