Home   Advertise   Calendar   Bookstore   Search   About   Contact   Help   FAQS   Media  
 
     

Click Here

Have You Heard?

Click Ear

Sponsor of...
Guide Dog Help for Finding Info - Click Here

     
Main Navigation Panel     "Go Anywhere in PetGroomer.com From Here"
 

Click Your Interests
Salon Grooming
Employment as Groomer
State of Industry Report
Directory of Groomers


Mobile Grooming
Self-Serve Pet Wash
Schools of Grooming
Message Board


Boutique with Grooming
Add a Grooming Dept
Home Study Grooming
Online Trade Show

GroomerTALK
Chat, galleries, talk radio
Career Start
School, home study, DVD
Help Wanted Ads
Worldwide jobs-free ads
Buy & Sell Ads
#1 Marketplace
Mobile Grooming
Mobile resources, more
Yellow Pages
Vendors for groomers
Outfit Grooming Biz
Tools, tubs, tables, etc
The Business Side
Franchise, consultant
Retail/Add-on Sales
Boost sales income
Business Locator
One Click Sources
Humor & Quizzes
Giggles, trivia quizzes
Trade Shows
Competitions, Calendar
Surveys
Grooming's Biggest
Research Center
Licensing, 39 more topics
GroomWise
Blogs, articles, more
Groomer Pedia
Grooming encyclopedia
 
 
Current Section Links
 

Yap! You are here, the Research Center! Click our many Research features below.
Special features:
Grooming Basics 101 by AKC Breed & Articles
Where the Groomers Are
 
Click an Info Main Menu:
Blades & Clippers
Building a New Business
Business Opportunities
Business Plans
Cat Grooming
Certification
Client Relations
Commissions, Salaries etc
DBA Business Names
Education & Schools
Expanding Your Business
Finance & Bookkeeping
Forms & Software
Franchises
Groomer Health
History of Grooming
Home, Mobile, Salon or ?
Humane Pet Care
Kennel/Boarding Grooming
Legal & Insurance
Library Recommendations
Licensing Groomers
Magazines for Groomers
Managing a Business
Market for Grooming
Mobile Grooming
Opening Grooming School
Professional Recognition
Retail Store Grooming
Salon Design
Self-Serve Pet Wash
Startup Costs
Veterinarian Grooming
Vocabulary Reference
Writing Your Press Release
(coming soon)
Your Grooming Website
 
Features Outside Section:
Surveys
PG.com Yellow Pages
PG.com Classified Ads
Bookstore
GroomerTALK
Grooming Business in Box®
 
 

Message Board Live!
 


Newest Threads

 
 

Look it Up Fast!
   
 
 

Writing a Business Plan

Congratulations on getting this far already. Your desire to learn more about writing a business plan is likely to be the key to your success. Unless you are experienced at writing business plans and creating "financials" you will need assistance. There is plenty of it available, and here are some choice leads. There are many business plan writing reference guides available for you at your local bookstore and library. We also suggest you consider our product, Pet Grooming Business Plan Helper & Sampler released in 2006. It's the first book and software to actually include 7 real sample plans we wrote along with all you need to create your own. It even includes helpful assistance to locate funding for your plan. It services all facets of pet care including self-serve pet wash, mobile, boutique and more.

Pet Grooming Business Plan Helper & Sampler is an extension of our grooming management guide is a must read, and it is organized as a business plan. What a great help for those of you writing a business plan, plus you have this site to help you too. Also, Find A Groomer, Inc. writes custom business plans for pet grooming businesses. Your tasks to write a professional business plan just became a lot easier.


Click Here to Learn More

The Small Business Administration (SBA) of the United States is a great source of help even if you are not seeking a SBA guaranteed loan. Because there are only about 60 or so SBA's around the U.S., you may not be near one. No problem. There are approximately 750 Small Business Development Centers associated with the SBA. Many SBDC's are located at college and university campuses. They offer free assistance, and leads to professionals that may assist you for a fee. I know of persons who received totally free assistance with a business plan, and yet others that paid regular fees to professionals associated with the SBDC's. I know of one SBDC that proofread and commented on a business plan (for no fee) written by one of this site's visitors before it was delivered to their banker. Investigate the information and assistance available from the SBA or SBDC near you. You can locate their local office near you by accessing the SBA web site. You can find a hyperlink to the SBA web site on our Links Menu page.

This Info Menu is Sponsored by:

Writing a business plan is a major task. Professional business plan writers charge anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 for a complete business plan. Find A Groomer, Inc. fees are on the lower end of that range because they specialize in pet grooming business plans. If you write a business plan first, and then let professionals review and edit it, the fees may be lower depending upon the quality of your work. Financials require an experience in accounting and bookkeeping. Nearly everyone personally writing their business plan contracts the Financials portion out to their bookkeeper or CPA, or business plan writer.

It's worth the investment, and of course if you are seeking a business loan, you will almost certainly need a business plan. You can be certain your banker will review key portions of the business plan that must exist. Let's take a closer look at the contents of a business plan.

Business Plan Table of Contents

The traditional sections of a business plan are:

Summary. This is the most read section of any business plan. In just 1 or 2 pages the reader should get a well-stated summary of the overall business plan content. All of the who, what, where, when are why are briefly covered. You should also make a statement of the amount of capital you seek.

Objectives. List your short-term and long-term objectives that the balance of the business plan explains how you will achieve them.

Present Situation. How far along are you as of the time you finalize the business plan? Have you formed your company? Are you enrolled in a pet grooming school? Are you already a pet grooming business owner and planning a major expansion?

Management. This is an important section. Your resume should be included as well as those of your partners in the business or hired management. Create flow charts for the management and staff organization of your business when it opens (or as it is now) and through stages of growth. If you are working alone in the beginning, show that and how you will add staff. State your plans to manage the business with the assistance of professional working relationships such as your bookkeeper, CPA, attorney and management consultant. We highly-recommend your including job descriptions. The only job descriptions we know of in the industry that you can use and adapt are in From Problems to Profits.

Product and Service Description. Describe your complete pet care and pet owner services in detail. If you are selling retail also, note that and why you have chosen the type of products you intend to sell. We strongly suggest you create a model of your business' brochure for pet owners, and include it now. There is an excellent example of one in From Problems to Profits. What are the characteristics of your services for both the pet owner and pets. For example, all natural pet products used on all pets, convenient days and hours of operation, all-breed grooming, appointment scheduling programs, courtesy appointment reminder calls, humane standards of pet care, certified pet groomers, Sunday appointments, special care appointments and many more possibilities. Do you do cats?

Marketing. Rarely does a banker overlook this vital section. How many households have pet dog and cats in your area? How many are dogs? Cats? Is there enough your business plan objectives? What are the characteristics of your area's pet owners seeking assistance with their responsible pet care? Besides the town or city where your business is located, what others will you draw upon, and how? Who are your competitors? What are the advantages of your services compared to theirs? Instead of only going after the existing market of pet owners using pet grooming services, how will you attract pet owners to come to your business for their first-time pet groomer visit? How will you generate referrals (the lifeblood of the pet grooming industry)? Realtors? Veterinarians? Will you market more frequent repeat business with a preferred client program (Editor note: an excellent preferred client program can be found in From Problems to Profits)? What are the most marketable characteristics of your business? Include a sample of your yellow pages ad. It's time to develop a logo, and include it here. Will your road sign have high-visibility? Do you have a sample of an ad you will place in local publications? Will you market your membership in professional organizations?

Note: Even if you are a new career seeker getting ready to select and enroll in a school, all of the above business plan information is pertinent to you now if you intend to be self-employed. In fact, you can learn more at school when you have a better idea of what you need to learn. Perhaps most important, determine if your school curriculum includes pet grooming small business management? If not, where are you going to gain the knowledge you need to operate a small business? We strongly recommend attending a school that includes management training. In the last five years, many of the better schools have added it, and you need it. Everyone benefits from small business management training. If you need help finding a school, refer to this web site's Grooming Education Main Menu.

We're not done yet, let's look the important Financials section of a business plan, and how you can overcome obstacles if you are not accounting minded. Let's go to the next page.

    

Google
 

 

Logo Photography by Ren Netherland of Animal Photography Disclaimer Notice - Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
Copyright 1997-2008 Find A Groomer Inc. All rights reserved