Hoping to have my store open by the beginning of next year

[ThisVacantHeart]

Well I have wanted to open a pet store for years and finally decided to do it. Unfortunately I have no idea where to start. I am going to try to get some grants so I don't have to pay them back. Where do I start?

These are the animals I will be selling. I will breed them myself and on a small scale. I already breed mice and I have had several foster rat litters. I used to breed gerbils and hamsters.

rats
mice
hamsters
gerbils
rabbits
guinea pigs
parakeets

I'll also sell puppies and kittens. I'm going to get free puppies out of the paper and get the speutered and vetted and then charge a fee to cover vet costs.

[Jennicat]

I would suggest starting withOUT animals. What's the point in running a small scale breeding mill when a.) no one can financially support that many animals responsibly while starting a business, and b.) animals lose money in a store anyway, as a general rule.

Why not get people to bring in adoptables?

[ThisVacantHeart]

I do not plan on running "a small scale breeding mill". I already breed mice. So instead of adopting them out privately, I will adopt them out through my store. The same with the other animals. Except the parakeets because I don't have experience with them. I don't plan on having thirty breeding females of each kind or anything like that. Maybe one litter a month. I give my girls at least 2 months to recoup between breedings and they aren't bred more than 3 times in their lifetime.

The puppies and kittens will be rescues. I have worked in a pet store that sold puppies and kittens and they would have sold very well if it weren't for the rediculous prices. Also we'll be doing the puppies a favor because they'll get fixed and not grow up to contribute to the overpopulation problem.

[MokeyBird]

Yawn. What I want to see are more pet supply stores and less pet shops. What I would aim for is selling a VAST array of pet supplies for those who already have pets. I am bored with going to pet shops nowadays and looking at all the cutesie animals which I will never want to have. Animals should NOT be your premier thing for sale(not that you could pay the bills with furry rodents).

The more you focus on the current pet owner, not the prospective pet owner, the better. Offer every off the wall pet product that these yuppie puppy owners(like me) will want to buy for thier purdy pooches. Your goal in opening a business from the get go is to make money. Offer the "Biggest Selection of Toys In Town" or something and be true to it.

As Jennicat said, you can't really make money from selling the animals themselves. You make money from selling all the little cutesie cages, and accessories that come with the critter.

I'm sure you'be heard before, but, location is everything, don't choose a spot in some back corner of some hard to access side street. Try to choose a spot that will be visible from all angles. Strip malls are popular choices. But do your research about what is allowed and what is not in the location. Wouldn't you hate to get all set up and have someone say, "You can't have animals here." or "Your shop can't accomidate the types of animals you sell." Say your average strip mall pet shop will not be big enough to have a very large variety of anything.

If at all possible take the dogs (and maybe the cats) home with you when you leave at night. Keep your supply of these animals as low as possible for the sake of the animal. Pamper them as if they were your own. Work with them, get them socialized, well groomed and make them a part of the Pet Shop team. Have them in a well lighted area of high traffic, not just in seperate kennels in the back. And be selective of who gets to handle them. I have a theory about having well groomed, well socialized dogs having a better chance at adoption.

Is there anything SPECIFIC that you want to know? You are a little vague in what you want, I'm afraid. What about what do you want to know, and let's see what we can do to help you. I personally do not have my own operation, nor have I worked in one. These are just what I want to see in a pet store, just so you know. This is just the consumer talking. Your opinions, objectives, and ideas may differ.

I don't know what to tell you about finding grants, getting through all the lanes of renting and renovating, or about how you will set up the expenses, or insurance policies that you will need.

[Jennicat]

The puppies and kittens will be rescues. I have worked in a pet store that sold puppies and kittens and they would have sold very well if it weren't for the rediculous prices. Also we'll be doing the puppies a favor because they'll get fixed and not grow up to contribute to the overpopulation problem.

So, why are the cats and dogs coming from a rescue, and not the other small animals? Rabbits are the 3rd most overpopulated animal in shelters. There are generally tons of guinea pigs available for adoption. I'm in NC, next state over, and I know the GP rescue in TN is always busy, as are the ones in VA and SC. If all you need is "a few animals once every few months" (that you would have, if you were breeding your own in the manner you said) then I think this would be an ideal solution.

I'm one of the officers at a local nonprofit that's doing the same thing. We sell pet supplies to raise funds, and we have rescues come in with their animals.

[ThisVacantHeart]

I'm not sure about the rabbits and GP's yet. I didn't know there was a rescue in TN actually that would be better. Do you have a link?

I also didn't know that about rabbits being the 3rd most overpopulated animal. I was considering not even having them there at all because they need more care than people know and I wouldn't want them to be miserable their whole lives. The shelters around here don't take in rabbits.

Do you have a store?

[Jennicat]

I'm the rescue coordinator at Animall (http://www.animall.org). We're a nonprofit, and we sell pet supplies, and have rescues come in with animals so that people can meet and greet. :)

http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/TN82.html

That's the Knoxville guinea pig rescue. They don't have a lot of pigs right now, but that may be more a resource thing than how many pigs there are that need homes. I know we generally have enough room for say 40, enough money to support 20, and enough time to care for 10. It's really a difficult balancing act.

[madanesor]

Why don't you get all your animals from the local shelter? Maybe see if you can arrange certain agreements with them? Maybe you can either provide space to help stop over- populating, or just keep pics and discriptions of their pets in your store. You then sell the animals they have, and all the money gose to the vet bills for the animals in the shelter. If you are providing the shelter for the animals you are selling, then maybe they can give you the food for them? You would be more of a "broker" between the shelter and the prospective owner. Than, you make money of f of selling all the supllies. If they are adopting a bunny, lets say, you do not get any money from the bunny, but you could sell them the cage, the food, the hay ect. and educate them on care. EVERYONE WINS! You can make a living, animals make homes, and shelters give up animals. If people are going to be impulse buying, at least let them be resucing at the same time!