A clean pet is usually a healthy and happy pet, and for a competitive rate, customers will be able to avail themselves of all of the traditional aspects of a dog grooming salon. One of the challenges of the Applied Research Project will be determining what other type of grooming services customers would like to access at the day care facility. For example, there are canine salons that offer upscale services like massages, conditioning treatments, and even cosmetic services like hair coloring. Market research will be essential in determining whether or not there is a serious marketplace for such services, and whether that market overlaps with the canine day care market or whether they are actually two different markets with two different customer bases.
In fact, a substantial amount of market research will be necessary to establish what services will be offered, the frequency of those services, and the price for those services. Some canine day care facilities have boutiques, in which they sell unique items, such as handmade pet beds, custom collars, and handmade doggie treats. Not only is research necessary to determine if there is a market for these items, but also to determine the best price range for them. In addition, many kennels offer specialized snacks, like hot dogs, hamburgers, and doggie "ice cream" treats for their customers. The profit margin on these items is generally very large, but I would need to determine whether or not there would be sufficient demand to offer these treats. Because a canine day care facility would bring many unfamiliar dogs into close proximity every day, I feel that it would be important to have a certified dog trainer on staff at all times. However, I would also be interested in finding out how many dog owners would be interested in having a trainer address behavioral and obedience issues, and under what setting. For example, would the owners be more interested in participating in evening or weekend classes with a trainer, or in having the trainer work one-on-one with their pets. I have...
Assessing the demand for these additional services is essential, because I want to open a shop that is full-service, but that also appeals to the broadest audience possible.
Because the primary challenge is choosing a location and the secondary challenge is market research, I intend to conduct my market research in areas known to contain a substantial number of pet-lovers. I will write the research surveys and administer them to people outside of major pet stores like Petsmart and Petco, that are in or near the areas I am considering for the day care facility. Not only will these surveys help establish what services to offer, but they might also provide guidance as to which location is more desired and which proposed location would be more profitable. These surveys will help me better understand my alternatives, and may actually change the face of my proposed business. In addition, by eliciting additional comments from survey-takers, I can determine if there is an unfilled market niche that I have yet to identify have already identified my desired locations and identified the six major pet stores located within those locations. I have begun the process of contacting the store managers to request permission to survey their customers. I will develop my survey tools within the next week, and begin the survey process next weekend. I hope to get a substantial number of subjects in my survey pool, at least 100 respondents per location, and am unsure how long that process will take. At this stage, I plan on devoting a full day of surveying to each location; and plan to have the survey process completed by the end of February. By the end of February, I will have had an opportunity to examine the survey results, which will allow me to choose a proposed location and more fully outline the services that will be offered by my canine day care facility in my Applied Learning Project.
