Starting a Pet Shop

Constiful

Hi all, anyone who has previously opened a small shop or has any business experience please feel free to comment and answer my questions if you can!

I have lately been toying with the idea of opening a pet shop in my local town (pop. 1,500-2,000). I am a dog groomer currently self-employed working 2 days per week in a vets 1 hour away from this location. I cannot do any more than the 2 days grooming due to health problems. I have the experience, knowledge and passion in this area to run this kind of a business as far as interacting with the customers and being in the shop day to day but am lacking in business knowledge. I have checked the nearest 3 of my Local Enterprise Offices and none of them appear to be running the Start your own Business Course in the near future.

The town has a small vet selling a limited stock of items, a SuperValu and a Lidl selling their usual pet foods and a dog groomer/boarding kennels 5 mins drive away selling one brand of dog food and dog clothing. I know that the market is there as the dog groomer is incredibly busy. The nearest 'proper' pet shop in 30 mins away in the next town.

The shop will not need to be a huge money maker straight away as all of our household outgoings are covered by my earnings and my boyfriend's salary. All I would need the shop to do for the first few years would be to cover its own overheads and keep growing.

I have looked into wholesalers and suppliers and I could compete price wise with the larger stores and online retailers provided I sold enough of the products. I have also found lots of more interesting and unusual accessories that could be stocked that aren't found in other places.

So, blurb out of the way, there are a few things that I have been struggling with:
1) How do I find out how much rates would be?
2) What kind of advertising would be good for a business like this, how much would it cost?
3) Any ballpark figures for fitting out a shop, say between 600 and 1,000 sq ft?
4) I am already registered as self-employed and doing my taxes like that. Would I have to register a business name if I opened a shop and would this then change the way that I have to do my taxes?

Thanks in advance and please feel free to tell me if this is crazy and best kept in my head!

Walter2016

Retail is not easy.

These days, a store being 30min away is nothing as people will shop in the main shopping town regularly.

Eg in Kerry - cahirciveen is an hour from Killarney, but stores in cahirciveen still compete with Killarney / tralee because so many people in the townland will go to Killarney / tralee every couple of weeks.

Considering that so many pet items are not necessities, then most people can hold off until they go to the main shopping town.

With retail you have to consider both range of products and the "turn" on products - how many times a year can you sell your average stock holding. Usually you need to look at a turn of 3.5 - 4. So 20k stock at cost, retail value 45k inc vat, at 3.5 turn would mean needing about €160,000 turnover.

I know someone who had a petshop in a Midlands town with population over 10,000 people - it didn't work.

Also maxi zoo are planning several additional stores as are Petstop. Add in pet departments in woodies and substantial pet offerings in supermarkets, its very difficult to see it work well.

I'd usually be more positive, but there's a reason there are so few independent pet shops.

However, grooming / dog sitting is quite personal, has little or no fixed costs and cannot be done by the large stores in the same way.

Btw - I'm paying €200 for a sitter to take 2 dogs for a week in January and regularly use the sitter for when we go on night out - €40 for an overnight stay and usually have to book 3-4 weeks in advance.

jimmii

1) How do I find out how much rates would be?
The Landlord should have a rough idea but you never know for sure until you hear from the council.

2) What kind of advertising would be good for a business like this, how much would it cost?
Anything that hits your target market. You can spend from 0 up really it's not something you can put an exact number on without knowing how much you have to invest overall.

3) Any ballpark figures for fitting out a shop, say between 600 and 1,000 sq ft?
Completely depends on the condition of the unit and how good quality the finish you want is. A good condition unit with basic finish could be achieved for a few thousand a destroyed unit and the very best fittings could set you back a million.

4) I am already registered as self-employed and doing my taxes like that. Would I have to register a business name if I opened a shop and would this then change the way that I have to do my taxes?
If you wanted to call it something other than just your name then you would need to register it. Potential VAT registration is something you might need to look at as the threshold for retail is horribly low.

I think there is a reason you don't see stand alone pet shops other than the biggies really and in a town your size then I can't believe the population is near big enough for you to make much money in the last few no run.

BreadnBuddha

There isn't a hope of covering rent, rates, insurances, advertising from a local population of c.2k, when you think about how few will spend money with you, especially when there are numerous places people can buy their staple supplies from. I'll bet there's also a farm supplier somewhere nearby who will also have food, collars/leashes, bowls and toys etc hanging on the wall for sale. Then add in the petshop 30 mins away, internet shopping and the fact you don't think this needs to generate a payday for the foreseeable future and what you're left with is a disaster in the making.

Walter2016

Just on figures, it can't work.

45% of households have pets, 25% have dogs.

Population of 2000 would suggest about 700 households. Include hinterland, you have max 1000 households.

That's 450 with pets of which 250 have dogs (highest spend is on dogs)

Even if you got 100% of annual food / treat / toy spend in the area, it would still only be circa 50-60,000. And that just won't add up.


But never anything to lose by asking the question.