There are a lot of things to think about when setting up a boarding kennels business.  No doubt you want to skip to the bits you find ‘exciting' straight away!!!  Well, one of the most exciting areas is thinking about the whole idea of starting a boarding kennels - and writing it down at the beginning of your journey is an extremely good idea.  It helps you create a true plan for the vision you have for your boarding kennels.  And...if you have a plan, a strategy for EXACTLY what you want, then you are much more likely to get it!

Why you need a Strategy

Having a strategy will help you think about the key issues that will affect your business - and what may be a major change in lifestyle - and help you address them and prepare.

A plan/strategy will help you succeed!

It will help you ‘think through' any areas that you may get asked about in your Business Plan for your loan (skills, experience, viability, suitability, staffing, services offered etc).  Regardless of whether you require a loan, you should do this exercise for your own benefit to check whether this business is for you.  Plus, it's a good checklist to see if there's anything you've forgotten about!

• Lifestyle benefits & positives - have you thought about them?  Is this for you?
• Identify areas that will/won't make this a worthwhile occupation for you
• Motivation and encouragement - experience, skills and changing your career
• Dealing with the restrictions and sacrifices - have you thought about all of them?
• Deciding on location and site - legal issues and authorities
• Deciding what style and standard of business you will set up
• Changing your lifestyle and becoming self-employed - and the impact of financial considerations
• Staff and management of the business
• Proving the need for the business in your area (useful for your Business Plan)
• Image, enticing customers, standards, promotion and advertising
• What will make your customers book, come back to you, and recommend you to their friends

1.      Lifestyle benefits & positives - why are you doing this?

Will the lifestyle suit you?  What is the lifestyle you imagine?  Do the benefits and compensations outweigh the restrictions?  What will be your reward?

Suggestions:  these reasons are probably a big part of your motivation to start your own business - the satisfaction of working for yourself, making the decisions, the freedom of working from home, no more commuting, having an outdoor life, the autonomy and responsibility of running your own business and finances and implementing your own ideas, being responsible, being reliable and being in a position of trust).

2.      What made you think about, or decide to do this in the first place?

This is probably your main motivation and will underpin the style of the business you run. 

Making a note of what first put you on this path is incredibly useful - it will be your reward whey you look back with a glow at all you have achieved!

3.      Do the restrictions/negatives bother you?

You are tied to the business for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; the responsibility of caring for other people's pets health, life and even occasionally dealing with their death; the financial and physical demands; the stress of initial cashflow until your income starts.

It may involve the rigours of moving house, getting a bigger mortgage or loan, getting planning permission, building or upgrading work, handling problem animals or tricky staff situations.  It may even involve moving to a different part of the county to help you afford the property prices.

4.      Being your own boss and changing your lifestyle

Self-employment - will this be a bid change, or have you already worked for yourself or autonomously in some capacity?  Have / do you already enjoy autonomy or managing an office or staff?  Are you used to juggling lots of tasks (ringing phones, emails, letters, customer service, marketing, advertising, buying, stock control, accounts, computers, management etc) and do you love the variety, or would you rather concentrate on one task at a time?

Will you enjoy working for yourself?  There's the discipline of the hours and getting the work done, not just with the dogs, but in the office too.

Will you cope with the financial constraints of a new and seasonal business (typically busy around holidays eg Easter, Christmas, public holidays.  Do you already have the books to help you understand and create a boarding kennel that is going to SUCCEED.

Will this be a secondary or main income initially?  (The first 3 years of any business are supposed to be ‘make or break' - cash flow problems, getting your name known etc - but combine this with a seasonal business and the cash flow could get tight.) if you are aware of how you can make the kennels very successful early on you will be a lot more confident.

Are you mentally and financial prepared for this?  Do you have support?  This could be from family members, your bank manager, and your vet.  Do you have financial support in place for leaner times (a cushion of money or an overdraft facility)?

5.      Location - near or afar?

If this will be the secondary income in your home, you will need to be located reasonably close to the main income earner's work.  Property and land prices obviously reduce the further away from larger employment areas you go, but so will income potential.

Budget - can you afford it, do you already have equity in your home, or will you have to find a suitable plot of land for a house as well as a business?  Have you taken independent financial advice?

Does the location give good accessibility and ease of giving directions - road signage is useful for advertising to passing trade .  Are you near a veterinary practice?  Are you a reasonable distance from any serious competition, or close enough to a main residential area for business?

6.      Who's running the show?

Staff - will you run this on your own, will your partner eventually join you, will you require full or part-time staff (and the insurance to cover staff or your sickness, holiday cover).

Who will deal with any Maintenance and DIY, is there gardening or landscaping to do or keep on top of your daily duties - who will do it?

Numbers & fees - how many dogs will you board?  Do you know what fees you will charge and will they vary according to the seasons/holidays?  Will you run a collection and delivery service for busy or elderly pet owners?

7.      Experience and changing your career

If this will be a change of career, what skills and attributes can you bring to the business, or does this dovetail with an existing career or hobby such as rescue, veterinary, groomer, breeder, training, obedience, behaviour, showing dogs (and will it interfere!)?

If you are experienced at running or working in a kennel, taking on an existing business is an option.  If you have no direct animal experience - consider how practical this choice of career will be.

"If you're not actively involved in getting what you want, you don't really want it"

In other words, you should already be doing something towards, or related to, your goal, whether it is your love of dogs and you constantly dream and plan for a country life, your passion for your own dogs, practical experience in any shape or form, reading feline newspapers and magazines; visiting trade fairs or going to dog shows, voluntary work at a rescue centre... you get the idea!

Source:  Kennel Design; the essential guide to creating your perfect kennels By David Key