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Well you are about to discover one of the most easy, simple and low cost ways known to get flooded with business and clients fast!

You simply create “Free Portrait Certificates” that you print off on your computer.

Think about it. Who wouldn’t like a free professional portrait of their lovable precious pet? And what pet owner could possibly resist purchasing some of the adorable extra poses you will be taking and showing them?

This is one of the most effective and low cost ways you could ever use to start and market your own full time or part time home based pet photography business.

Once you design and print off your free portrait certificates, whom do you give them to? Why pet owners of course. How do you find hundreds of pet owners without advertising for them? Well there are several very good ways to do it. One of my favorites is setting up a “Joint Venture” with your local pet store or pet groomer.

Your potential customers are already someone else’s customers who are spending their dollars on pet care products and services. You joint venture with those types of businesses and help your local pet store or groomer to please their customers better and “Reward” all those faithful and appreciated customers with a Free 30 minute professional photography session and a “Free 8X10 Professional Portrait” of their pet.

The pet shop or animal groomer wins by looking good to their customers by giving them one of your free portrait certificates. The customer wins by receiving a free portrait of their pet taken by you and you will win more often than not, when the pet owner orders extra pictures of the poses you shot and he or she refers all of their fellow pet loving friends to you for a Free Professional Pet Photography Session and Free Portrait of their own pet dog, cat, bird or exotic pet!

This is an offer to good for most pet lovers to pass up and that is why it can attract all the business you can handle provided you know what you are doing and set things up right so everyone wins! But as good as this offer is it doesn’t even come close to my secret magic marketing system for photographers!

© 2006 Steve Shulenski

This content is provided by Steve Shulenski and may be used only in its entirety with all links included. Steve invites readers interesting in learning more Money Making Photography Tips to visit his websites for more free ideas on starting a Pet Photography Business or an Antique Photography Business.

The first thing that you should do is think about what types of animals you want to have in your pet store, and what types of supplies. The best thing to do is to make a list of all of the things you would like and then make an estimate about the costs of these things. Remember that when you open your store you want to have all of the animals and the products ready. So be sure you add them all into your costs.

Next, you want to look at other parts of the independent pet stores costs. This should include the space that you want to rent. Remember that you will need to be able to have the space to rent so that your store can make money – without space, your business will not work. So be sure that you count this as well. Also, you want to count in any utilities or things that you need to buy on a monthly basis for your place. Be sure that this is something that you count as well.

When it comes down to it, you pretty much need to make a budget to figure your opening up costs. However this can be good because then you will have a good idea about how much money you need to spend to get your pet store up and running. You will also know how much money you can expect to spend over the first year or so that you are in business. Your independent pet store start up costs is all going to be part of this.

Sandra Reynolds is a therapist in Chicago. Check out these great Online Pet Store articles and guides.

http://www.idealpetshop.com

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Pets are profitable simply because there are so many people who have them.

Did you know…

* 69 million households in the United States have pets?
* 47% of pet owners own more than one pet?
* Over 60% of pet owners have dogs?
* $41 Billion is spent each year on the care of pets?

It’s no wonder that owning a pet franchise business is so popular. No matter what type of pet business you’d like to start, there’s a franchise that will help you meet your goals. Some of the main categories for pet franchise businesses include pet waste removal, boarding and daycare, medical care, pet training and pet grooming.

You may have never thought about pet waste removal being a profitable business model. But considering the fact that keeping waste off the ground is environmentally friendly, and a definite concern for pet owners, it’s no surprise that it’s a popular franchise. Since 2000, Doody Calls has been an industry leader in pet waste removal, providing services to apartment complexes, parks, home owners associations and individual home owners. Doody Calls looks for people who are willing to hit the ground running with their business and be able to do something many others ignore. There’s never an end to pet waste, and with this unique franchise opportunity you can profit from it.

On the cleaner side of pet franchise opportunities are pet grooming companies. Dog Wash America is just one such company. Instead of creating an image of exclusivity for high-end pets, it caters to multi-dog families and has a unique “no appointment needed for a bath” policy. Other popular dog grooming opportunities include Aussie Pet Mobile, Dogtopia and Laund-ur-mutt. Grooming is always needed and these types of franchises allow you to provide a service that pet owners will really appreciate.

Everyone wants well behaved pets, so it’s not surprising that pet training franchises are growing in popularity. Bark Busters has been around since 1989 and is the largest, most trusted home training company. Instead of trying to get a dog to behave in an unfamiliar environment, as a Bark Busters trainer you’ll help pet owners tackle problem behavior in the comfort of the pet’s home. This approach yields quicker results and more satisfied clients. If you have a high tolerance for problem pets and an honest desire to help pet owners, this franchise or another lie it may be a perfect fit.

These three profiled companies just scratch the surface of the pet franchise opportunities. For pet lovers like you, there’s a lot of different ways you can combine your interests with your business. Whether it’s a grooming business, retail business or pet daycare business you’re interested in, there is a perfect pet business for you.

Find your perfect pet franchise or pet business at FranchiseGenius.com, where you’ll find 1,800+ franchise opportunities to evaluate and compare.

This publication is copyright 2008 by Franchise Genius LLC. This copyright notice and any embedded links within this publication must remain as part of this document.

The biggest advantage of a franchise is that it decentralizes the management of operation of the business, which cuts down on a lot of the operating and organizational costs of the big companies. Franchise owners can adapt their business to better suit their locality and environment while still operating under franchise structure.

The success of the franchising business has seen similar models developed extensively in the service and retail industry. Key markets include the food and beverage industry, with a traditionally strong focus on fast food and coffee. In retail, this extends to the mobile phone and computer businesses, while in the service industry, there are many gardening and pet care franchises also available for sale. The most interesting development of the franchising concept is that it has also extended to the banking and finance sector, changing the perception that franchises can only operate in the framework of a small business.

Are you working for a business and considering setting up your own operations? Are you a business that can benefit from catering for the franchising industry? The fact is, franchising is becoming a dominant force in the service and retail market, and it could very well be the new way businesses in other industries operate in the future.

Don’t Cut Costs Increase Value

Businesses today appear obsessed with cutting costs. Whether it is to keep the shareholders happy, keep the accountants happy or keep the bank happy, this unhealthy obsession is giving the industry sector a very bad reputation for penny pinching. What happened to the good old adage that you have to spend money to make money?

If you keep your workers happy, they will be more productive. If you keep your customers happy, they will keep coming back. Never mind those people who take advantage of your generosity, because what comes around definitely goes around. Like a solid stock market portfolio, you want to constantly get rid of the bad stocks, and accumulate the good blue chip stocks. The same principle applies to your workers and customers. If you keep hiring people who will work for less, does it seem logical that your productivity will keep increasing. If you spend less time with your customers, do you think they will spend more time with your business?

If this seems like a good dose of common sense, then just take a look around you. The business sector is becoming less and less personalized. The Internet has put us closer to people far away from us, but further away from those close to us. Just because we can send someone an email or a text message doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take the time to talk to them. Just because the customer has already bought something, it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t see what else we can do for them.

Look at your business practices. Do they cut costs at the expense of cutting value from your operation? Instead of trying to minimize your expenditure, why not look at maximizing the value of your business? It may be difficult to cut costs to your business, but it is very easy to lose value in your business.

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What the instructions will deal with:

You will be taught to recognize different breeds of animals. How to deal with cats and dogs and the styles that are popular in their case, are important aspects of pet grooming instructions. You will learn to handle and groom cats with care and safety because this is a tough animal to deal with. The basic services of pet grooming like, bathing, giving flea dips, the correct brushing method and other techniques will be taught to you. There are some pet grooming instruction school that offer business management courses also so that you can utilize your business acumen to establish and have a flourishing business of your own.

After you gain expertise in pet grooming try to disseminate your knowledge. You can show your clients the correct way to bathe and brush their pets. Pet lovers feel gratified on receiving tips from pet grooming professionals. This will ensure that your customers keep coming back to you and slowly you will have built a loyal client base, which will bolster your business.

So all you animal buffs trying to make a career out of pet grooming, enrolling in a pet grooming instruction school could be the first right step that you take in this direction.

For more such articles visit http://www.home-gyms-fitness.com

Ravi Agarwal is publisher of dating-tips website – http://www.petgroomingtip.com

He has written several informative articles on pet grooming tips topics.

Recently the Online Think Tank prepared a rough draft business plan for a product. This is a real product invented by Charles Shooster PhD. This product is an oral hygiene product and below is a company analysis and industry analysis rough draft. A statement of fact and we have left out all the “industry data” to simplify this example:

COMPANY ANALYSIS AND INDUSTRY ANALYSIS

Teeth Wipes were originally conceived by Charles Shooster in the 90’s, but due to time constraints Charles never acted upon this awesome idea. He did however make a few contacts with industry to sell the idea, which at the time never came to fruition. Years later he learned one of the companies he contacted and had a signed “non-disclosure agreement” with, stole the idea and ran with it. The company in question then sold the idea along with their whole company to Oral B for about $300 million, with Mr. Shooster’s registered trademark logo and all.

Oral B in their infinite wisdom sold the Teeth Wipes, as “Brush-Ups” at an outrageous price of 12 for $8.99 and obviously it did not fly, although they did have moderate success in the beginning due to novelty and the Oral B Brand name. Recently, Oral B has dumped the “Brush Ups” and left a void in the market. Not wishing to make the same mistake as Oral B, our company will sell the Teeth Wipes at a price to buyers, which will keep the retail price around 5 for $1.00 and thus allow the Teeth Wipes the mass market appeal they deserve.

We have noted some Oral B Teeth Wipes being sold by retailers as low as $3.49 per 12 package now that they have been discontinued.

Location

Our company will originally be web-based, because we do not believe in wasting our up-front capital or renting expensive office space, when it is not necessary, nor do we expect anyone to visit us, as our buyers will be from around the world and all they really want is the product for their shelves, catalogs, restaurants, airlines or vending machines. Our sales teams will be independent contractors and we do not anticipate telling them the time, mode or manner of their sales.

Trends

We see several new trends developing in this industry sub-sector, including a new product called Proxabrush Trav-Ler by GUM www.gumbrand.com that seems to have made a serious hit with consumers. A six count is about $2.00 and we see our product as less expensive, more consumer friendly and less likely to turn customers away, as our product does not look like it will hurt the customer’s gums or cause irritation in the mouth. In consumer ad hoc surveys this is exactly the response we got.

Another trend we hear from Dentists is that the soda pop, blended coffee drinks and food that the average American intakes is causing severe harm to teeth. Good for dentists, but very bad for humans. More and more people are living longer and the teeth have not evolved with the changes and increased life expectancy, thus more care, flossing, brushing will be needed. Unfortunately, brushing teeth three times a day, just is not feasible in the fast-paced society.

There is another significant trend; Water Supply Shortages. With less water available brushing is not always possible. Droughts, disasters, toxins in the water play havoc on the ability to brush teeth. Our product of course solves all these problems as well.

In high-paced, high stress societies, there is a premium on time. Those who travel cannot always find a place to brush their teeth, those leaving a restaurant are also in need of something more than a simple toothpick. Who needs wooden splinters in their mouth? Those who frequent restaurants have most likely had a bad experience with toothpick splintering.

Business Climate

We see significant warning signs in the stock market and economic indicators pointing towards a downward trend in the business cycle. We are not so concerned with this for our product, although see it will hamper some sales to restaurants and the travel industry. Still people want to look good and have clean teeth. Luckily, our product can be made for much less than anything comparable on the market, if folks want to save money, we cost less.

When the economy returns to a more robust state, more people will travel, eat out at restaurants and therefore our product will be more in demand. With a stronger economy we will be able to raise the price point and enjoy the higher profits we deserve for being the best consumer hygiene product on the market.

Position for Growth

Our company is positioned well for rapid growth due to our scaled down business model and web-based ordering system. Our product is in demand in the United States, Europe and around the world. With China’s growing middle-class and the fact that 1/3 of their population smokes, Teeth Wipes is ripe for the Chinese. Due to our low costs to manufacture, we will compete in any market in the world. Due to our rapid web-based ordering process, we will run our company with little cost.

As the brand becomes more established we see opportunities for Pet Teeth Wipes and Infant Teeth Wipes, as potential add-ons to our product line. Even if these are never incorporated we will create separate marketing and business plans for them, and they will be available to the buyer of our company if sold, or as a new launch right after a Public Offering.

Future of Industry

We believe that UV Light systems wrapped in plastic will eventually be the way that humans clean their teeth to prevent decay and this will be used in conjunction with between teeth cleaning procedures in the home. We will be looking into these new technologies to augment our product line and also stay on the leading edge of the next new thing in personal mouth hygiene.

Currently, the Oral Hygiene market was mainly in the United States until recently; that is changing and in the future the number of world buyers will only grow. The Oral Hygiene market in many ways has become an Oral Vanity Market and therefore the lines cross and the market sub-sector is taking off, as The EuroMonitor has rightfully noted:

http://www.marketresearchworld.net/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=119&Itemid=

There is continued growth for oral vanity and hygiene products in Asian Markets and indeed in the future this will be huge, far surpassing US sales, as some analysts predict.

— —- —- —

As the business planning process continues you will indeed, refine the rough draft and add in pertinent information. I hope this “rough draft” example/sample assists you in your first draft of your business plan and I wish you all the success you deserve and nothing less. Sincerely, Lance.

“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is a guest writer for Our Spokane Magazine in Spokane, Washington

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There are some things that you want to look for before you choose which one of the organic pet food business opportunities that you want to join. You don’t want to join the first organic pet food business that you come to. You want to make sure that it is the right one for you. So you will need to look at all of the different opportunities that you can. That way you will know when you start a business that you have started the right one for you.

Here are some things that you want to find out about all of the organic pet food business opportunities that you look at.

One: What are their products like? Are they something that you would want to sell? Would you feed the products to your own beloved animal?

Two: What kind of money can you make with the organic pet food business? Is this enough money for you or do you want to make more?

Three: What type of customer service do they have? Do they have help for the people who are starting their own home business, such as a forum or support group, or are you left totally on your own?

Four: Which one of the natural pet food business opportunities has tools and resources to help you make your business a success?

Five: Is this a business that you will gladly tell your friends and family about? When you are ashamed to tell them about a business then you will want to stay away from it. You want something that you can be proud of and get excited about no matter who you talk to.

These are just a few of the things that you need to ask yourself before you join any of the natural pet food business opportunities. There are other questions that you will need to know about but these are the most important ones. The organic pet food business that you start with will make you feel good about all of the above questions. They will be able to show you that they are there to help you all the way.

Find out why one of the very best natural pet food business opportunities available is the one that offers the best natural pet food you can give your pet. Your pet will benefit from your decision to go into the organic pet food business, and so will your hip pocket!

A franchise is a business agreement between a franchisor (company selling the franchise) and a franchisee (independent business owner buying the franchise). In the most common type of franchise agreement (business format franchise) the franchisor grants the franchisee the right to:

* Sell a product using the franchisor’s brand (name, trademarks);
* Use the franchisor’s operating methods (technology, systems and processes);
* Benefit from the franchisor’s expertise in evaluating the market (market analysis, site selection, business planning);
* Receive ongoing support and training after start-up (access to substantial body of accumulated knowledge);

The franchisee (independent business owner) agrees to:

* Pay a franchise fee to the franchisor;
* Pay an ongoing royalty fee (% of sales);
* Operate the business according to the franchisors standards and procedures;

Franchising Industries Some of the largest and most recognized franchises are in the food industry but there are literally thousands of franchises operating in virtually every industry imaginable. Here are just a few of the industries in which franchised business models are available:

• Automotive

• Education

• Computer

• Direct Marketing

• Employment

• Financial Services

• Food

• Hair & Beauty

• Health & Fitness

• Laundry

• Hotel & Lodging

• Maid & Cleaning

• Maintenance

• Management

• Packing & Mailing

• Pet Care

• Print & Copy

• Real Estate

• Home Repair

• Retail Sales

• Senior Care

Advantages of Buying a Franchise

* A franchise provides an established brand with the benefits of enhanced customer awareness;
* Proven products and practices that increase your chances of success;
* Franchisees receive critical pre-opening guidance including market analysis, site selection, design, training and initial marketing. The franchisor also makes sure the franchisee is well capitalized (enough money to get through the start-up phase);
* Franchisee benefits from shared programs they could not duplicate on their own including ongoing training, best practices, national and regional advertising, operating procedures and field support, national call centers, bulk purchasing and discount programs;

Disadvantages of Buying a Franchise

* Franchisees are required to follow the system and have limited latitude to vary from the approved business model;
* Fees;
* You depend on the franchisors ability and willingness to meet its obligations;
* A poorly performing franchise system can negatively impact your business;

Why Buy a Franchise?

With those advantages and disadvantages in mind, why does someone elect to buy a franchise? At the end of the day, the reason an entrepreneur decides to buy a franchise as opposed to starting a business on their own is because they determine the franchised option reduces risk. Some of the top reasons new businesses fail are:

* Lack of planning (no market research, poor site selection, misappropriated resources, no business plan);
* Under-capitalized (lack of planning or unrealistic assumptions);
* Insufficient or ineffective systems (sales, marketing, operations, personnel etc.);

In sum, as a franchisee, you are buying the franchisers expertise in starting and operating the kind of business you are contemplating. The knowledge a franchiser offers can advance the franchisee down the learning curve past the point where most non-franchised businesses stumble and fall. Another important point to be made about starting a non-franchised business is that unless you have substantial industry experience in your target industry the business planning process can be something akin to looking into a “black hole”. How do you answer questions about expected costs, anticipate market share and appropriate pricing? Without substantial experience the best you can do is an educated guess and if you guess wrong the consequences could be catastrophic.

With a franchised business you get to try the business on before you buy it. A good approach to research will allow you to get the answers to all of your questions before you buy. You can talk to franchisees who have gone before you and find out how much they earn and what they think of the business. You can spend a day at an operating store and see what it is like. Buying a franchise does not guarantee success but there is no excuse for not being fully informed.

Your decision about whether or not to buy a franchise will hinge on the conclusions you reach as to a particular franchisers ability to enhance your business success. In cases where the entrepreneur has expert knowledge or a new/unique market a franchise may not be the right choice. If you are looking for a proven business model that can bang out profits on a daily basis franchising is often the best choice.

For more information about franchised business opportunities visit http://www.myfranchisemarket.com
You’ll have the opportunity to schedule a FREE NO OBLIGATION business consultation. If you are looking for an opportunity to kick some business ideas around this could be the opportunity you are looking for. No Pressure! No Sales Pitch!

Do not worry, here are some 7 steps which you can follow to open a dog daycare center.

7 Steps to Opening a dog Daycare Center

1. Make a solid decision – Starting a business, requires determination and commitment on your part. Do research on other related businesses and see if they offer “franchising.”

2. Locate a place for your day care center- You must have a place to operate your dog day care center. This is a great business to run from your home, if you have a large backyard.

3. Choose a name – This is where buying a franchise also helps. The name should be cute and appealing. But it should also be well known to help get started quickly. When people are looking for somewhere to board their pets they will first look to their vets and then shop brand name pet centers.

4. You must have some initial startup investment capital – It does not cost a lot of money to start your own dog daycare center. In relation to other startup businesses this is relatively a small investment for a franchise opportunity, around $10,000.00.

5. Get the obligatory permits – You will be required to secure permits and licenses before you open your dog daycare center. These include: business license, health department permit and fire department permits.

6. Purchase some daycare equipment – Your dog daycare requires some equipment like balls, old socks, toys, etc. If you are purchasing a franchised business, like DogSmith, you may want to visit one of their franchisees to see what special equipment they use for training.

7. Advertising & Marketing – Here is one of the big ones as far as cash outlay unless you have figured out by now that this cost can be deferred by purchasing a franchise. Then that extra 10 to 20 thousand dollars can stay in your pocket for treats for you and the dogs.

Also make sure that your dog daycare center has provisions to provide other services too, such as dog walking, grooming, pet sitting, and boarding. You must also have a veterinarian ready so that when there is an emergency you can always consult him. You will also have to decide whether you are going to start a kennel or a kennel-less dog daycare center. If you are not going to use kennels to lock the dogs then you must allow them to roam in your facility. You must also assure the clients that you will be taking good care of their pets.

Edward Dean is an accomplished website developer and author. To learn more about 7-steps-to-opening-a visit Dog Daycare Franchises for current articles and discussions.

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Dogtopia

While Dogtopia is labeled as a Dog Spa, they also offer an upscale day care for your furry friend. Rather than a series of kennel runs, Dogtopia provides a supervised open environment where the dogs can play and the owners can even check in on their dogs via the live webcam. As a franchisee you’ll spend plenty of time playing with the dogs and providing a safe and stimulating environment for them through the day care, training classes, spa services and retail sales.

Kennelwood

Recognized as on of the finest pet resorts in the world, Kennelwood pet resort provides a safe and healthy “vacation” for your dog in a truly amazing environment that makes ordinary kennels and dog boarding services seem like animal cruelty. From their award winning grooming services and professional training to the doggie day camp and personalized play times, dogs love Kennelwood so much that they often pull their owners into Kennelwood on return visits.

Doo Care

Although it may not seem glamorous, the dog waste market is rapidly expanding in metropolitan markets and is a relatively untapped area of the service sector. Doo Care provides waste removal for busy families, the elderly or any of the nearly 50 million dog owners in America. With such a high demand and very few businesses stepping in, it’s easy to see how a Doo Care franchise could really clean up.

Pet Depot

With the slogan, “Where animals come first” Pet Depot is a retail pet store chain that provides customized, personal service to their customers and with nearly 60% of all households owning at least one pet, the retail pet market has never been bigger. Unlike many retail establishments which may see the average customer returning 5-6 times per year, pet owners will buy pet food along with other supplies every 2-6 weeks, and most pet owners will buy their food and supplies at the same location every time, giving you a high level of repeat business and steady income.

Wild Bird Centers

We’ve looked at quite a few franchises that cater to dogs, but if you’re a bird lover you may want to consider a pet franchise with Wild Bird Centers. With the highest average sales and lowest cost of goods in the specialty birding industry, Wild Bird Centers is by far the winning choice in this niche market. If your knowledge of birds is lacking, but you’re still interested in this unique franchise, Wild Bird Centers will provide you with comprehensive training about the ins and outs of their franchise businesses and they’ll also teach you everything you need to or ever wanted to know about birds.

Bark Busters

Bark Busters is a home-based franchise that gives you the training to be a skilled, on-site dog trainer in very little time. With Bark Busters’ proven method (which has trained over 300,000 dogs worldwide) you can tap into the $36 billion dollar pet industry with confidence knowing that Bark Busters is the #1 pet franchise (as ranked by Entrepreneur.) With many unique qualities such as a “Life of the Dog Guarantee” and the ability to change a dog’s unwanted behavior in a two to two and a half hour session, Bark Busters is a great franchise for the working mom, and a must for any pet lover.

Camp Bow Wow

For a high-class, upscale approach to doggie day care, consider a franchise with Camp Bow Wow. Camp Bow Wow’s “four-paw” service has earned them national recognition in newspapers, magazines, television shows and all over the internet, and if you think humans like Camp Bow Wow, you should see the reaction your dog will have when he’s pampered by the Camp Bow Wow staff. Camp Bow Wow is the first and largest franchise in the doggie daycare and boarding industry and offers a fun, safe environment for dogs to play while also promoting good health and socialization with every aspect of the camp tailored around what is best for the dogs. This business model attracts the more upscale, high-income clientele and makes this franchise a great moneymaker for any dog enthusiast.

If you love pets and love the idea of running your own business, you can’t go wrong with a pet franchise. Not only will you receive all of the training and materials needed to start your business from scratch, you’ll also be able to rest easy knowing that each of these pet franchises has built their business from the ground up and found the right formula to run a successful business without making any sacrifices to the well being and care of our furry friends. Even if you’ve never owned a business before, these pet franchises make it easy for anyone to start and run a successful business by providing extensive training as it relates to their business and many will offer general business and management training to prepare you to run your new business successfully and make a lot of pets and owners your satisfied customers.

Find more pet franchises at Franchise Gator.