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.
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.
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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.
