• Explore. Learn. Thrive. Fastlane Media Network

  • ecommerceFastlane
  • PODFastlane
  • SEOfastlane
  • AdvisorFastlane

Sell Pet Products: 5 Ideas For Starting Your Own Pet Business

There are few things more important to pet owners than their furry little bundles of joy.

The pet industry is booming, with the global pet care market projected to reach $281.1 billion by 2027 according to Grand View Research. While any business faces uncertainties, one thing is certain – people’s love for their furry companions continues to grow, driving demand for pet products and services.

That kind of booming market presents an enticing opportunity for passionate pet lovers to start their own business. However, building a successful pet business from the ground up requires more than just enthusiasm – it takes careful planning, market research, and a solid understanding of your target audience. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by questions like what products or services to offer and how to find customers, don’t worry – even the most successful pet entrepreneurs have been in your shoes. The key is to approach your venture methodically and strategically.

Successful business owners aren’t without fear, but what sets them apart is their willingness to confront it and their commitment to continuous learning. Building a thriving pet business from scratch is no easy feat, but with the right tools, knowledge, and perseverance, it’s an achievable goal. To increase your chances of success, consider taking courses or seeking mentorship to gain insights into areas like business planning, marketing, financial management, and industry best practices.

Let’s dive into some of the most promising pet business ideas and explore what it takes to make them a success.

Top Pet Business Ideas: Products, Services, and Niches to Explore

business-cat-office
Photo by Sarah Pflug from Burst

The pet business landscape is incredibly diverse, encompassing a wide range of products, services, and niche markets. Some businesses focus on services like dog walking, pet sitting, grooming, or training. Others specialize in selling pet supplies, toys, apparel, or treats. While dogs and cats are the most common targets, there are also opportunities in catering to owners of more exotic pets like reptiles, birds, and small mammals. Additionally, the rise of pet influencers and social media celebrities has created new avenues for pet-related businesses to thrive.

To succeed in the pet business, it’s crucial to find a niche that strikes the right balance – large enough to provide a sustainable customer base, but specific enough to allow you to differentiate your brand and stand out from competitors. Conducting thorough market research and identifying underserved segments can help you uncover lucrative opportunities. Additionally, developing a unique selling proposition and building a strong brand identity will be key to attracting and retaining customers in your chosen niche.

With that in mind, let’s explore some of the most promising pet business ideas across various products, services, and niche markets. Keep in mind that many successful pet businesses combine multiple offerings to diversify their revenue streams and better serve their customers’ needs.

1. Pet Supply Store: Bowls, Toys, Beds, and More

 

teddybob-pet-supplies
Courtesy of TEDDYBOB Pet Supplies

Every pet owner needs basic supplies like food and water bowls, toys, leashes, beds, and grooming tools. While selling these essentials means competing with big-box pet stores, this shouldn’t deter you from pursuing this lucrative opportunity. In fact, the sheer size of the market presents a significant advantage for smaller businesses looking to carve out a niche and build a loyal customer base.

A market saturated with options can actually work in favor of smaller businesses, as it allows them to stake out a distinct brand identity and cultivate name recognition within a specific niche. By offering a curated selection of high-quality products and exceptional customer service, independent pet supply stores can differentiate themselves from the one-size-fits-all approach of big-box retailers.

One advantage independent pet supply stores have is the ability to curate their offerings and avoid overwhelming customers with too many choices, a phenomenon known as “choice paralysis.” Big-box stores often carry an overwhelming array of options, making it difficult for customers to make a decision, and sometimes leading them to abandon their purchase altogether. By carefully selecting high-quality, unique products and providing knowledgeable guidance, smaller pet stores can create a more enjoyable and personalized shopping experience.

A well-curated, thoughtfully branded collection of essential pet supplies is precisely the type of offering that can thrive in this market. By focusing on quality over quantity and building a strong brand identity, independent pet stores can attract customers seeking a more personalized and enjoyable shopping experience.

Pet owners often view their furry companions as extensions of themselves, and take pride in expressing their personalities through their pets. A unique, well-defined brand with a compelling unique selling proposition can resonate deeply with these customers, fostering a sense of connection and loyalty that large retailers struggle to replicate. By tapping into this desire for self-expression and offering a curated, on-brand experience, independent pet stores can cultivate a devoted customer base invested in their success.

Benefits: 

  • Leaves more room to corner a niche market and differentiate your brand
  • Combined with dropshipping, selling pet supplies can free up a lot of time to work on marketing or provide pet-related services

Challenges:

  • Requires strong branding and marketing efforts to differentiate from competitors and build customer loyalty
  • Potential for slim profit margins, especially when competing with larger retailers
  • Need to stay up-to-date with industry trends, consumer preferences, and product innovations
  • Importance of providing exceptional customer service and product knowledge to stand out
  • Selling pet supplies puts additional importance on branding, which could be challenging if it’s not your strongest asset

Example: TEDDYBOB Pet Supplies is a prime example of an independent pet supply store that has successfully carved out a niche by offering a curated selection of high-quality products and cultivating a distinct brand identity. Their sleek, modern branding and focus on quality over quantity have allowed them to stand out in a crowded market and attract a loyal customer base.

While TEDDYBOB Pet Supplies offers a wide range of basic products for dogs and cats, their approach is far from one-size-fits-all. By carefully curating their selection and presenting it through a cohesive, modern brand identity, they’ve managed to create a shopping experience that feels tailored and personalized, even for everyday essentials.

While their collections are extensive, TEDDYBOB does a great job of narrowing the focus of their branding and cutting out any opportunities for choice paralysis.  Despite selling everything from litter boxes to heating pads, their sleek, modern branding always acts as the unifying force behind their collections.

teddybob-beds

Aside from the occasional color variant, TEDDYBOB’s everyday supplies tend to have few options. This is smart because it means that if customers end up on the site for the basics, they’ll spend less time deciding which litter scoop to choose and more time browsing everything else.

2. Sell homemade pet treats

dog-treat-bakery

 

 

For people that love baking, creating foods and treats for pets can be an exciting, new way for you to practice your craft. With audiences becoming increasingly health-conscious, there’s also a lot of opportunities here to offer foods catered to pet owners looking for healthier options for their pets including grain free cat food.

You might decide to sell treats for animals with specific dietary restrictions. You may sell functional treats, such as bones used to brush a dog’s teeth. You could sell soft treats, kibble, dried meats, and a whole host of things.

Benefits: 

  • A great outlet for creative expression with a lot of room to grow into the uniqueness of your brand
  • Dogs are notoriously easy-to-please when it comes to food

Challenges: 

  • Cats are notoriously hard-to-please when it comes to food
  • Since these products are being consumed, it’s extremely important that you’ve researched your ingredients and can confidently vouch for the safety of your product

Example: The Dog Bakery

The Dog Bakery is a California-based bakery that makes cookies, biscuits, chewy treats, and even custom cakes—all for dogs.

Pet owners love making their four-legged friends feel special, in some cases treating them no differently than their own children. If people get things like custom cakes and unique party favors for their kids, why not their pets?

The Dog Bakery’s branding is simple but incredibly effective. It says “bakery” from top to bottom, but technically it’s a pet store. In addition to cakes and cookies, the Dog Bakery also sells collars, leashes, and chew toys.

It’s a notable twist that sticks in the minds of pet owners looking to spoil their good boys and girls. Combined with the easy-to-remember name, The Dog Bakery brand becomes hard to forget.

3. Offer dog walking and pet sitting services

ltdo-screenshot

If you’re considering a pet business, there’s a good chance you love pets. If you’re a dog person, dog walking can be a great way to make new dog friends, get exercise, and of course, make some extra money.

Service-based businesses like dog walking and pet sitting thrive on great customer service. A business such as this depends on trust that can only be achieved by maintaining valuable customer relationships.

Benefits: 

  • Great for more sociable entrepreneurs skilled at fostering valuable client relationships
  • Provides one-on-one time with animals and can be therapeutic for people who find comfort in animal companionship

Challenges

  • As with many service-based businesses, you’re directly trading time for money
  • Pet sitting and dog walking can become overwhelming very quickly if you’re not used to looking after multiple pets at the same time

Example: Let the Dog Out

Let the Dog Out (LTDO) is a dog walking service based in Guelph, Ontario. LTDO offers free Meet and Greet sessions meant to allow your dog a chance to meet their staff and become comfortable with their new babysitter.

ltdo-walk

LTDO puts a lot of emphasis on building personal relationships with its clients. No services are provided until the client’s dog has had a chance to meet the company’s staff and is assessed for compatibility.

For dog walking and pet sitting businesses, trust is extremely important. While they do offer other products, LTDO’s emphasis on easing new dogs into the service shows their dedication to the wellbeing of their client’s pets.

4. Pet grooming

Pet grooming can be a great addition to the list of services you can provide to pet owners. Like walking and sitting, grooming is a business type that thrives on customer relationships and trust.

Benefits: 

  • Customer loyalty tends to be stronger because of the high skill levels required of a professional groomer
  • Grooming is a regularly required service so there’s a lot of potential for repeat business

Challenges:

  • Grooming is a complex skill that can take quite a bit of time to learn

Example: barking babies™

Vancouver-based company barking babies™ is a boutique, spa, kennel, pet store and puppy-training facility all rolled into one. Services offered by barking babies™ include just about every dog-related service you can think of, putting a huge emphasis on the social aspect of dog health.

 

What’s unique about barking babies™ is its branding’s emphasis on community and companionship. Much of the barking babies™ website talks about the importance of socialization in dogs.

Combined with the photos of their current clients lovingly playing with each other, it almost plays on a sense of FOMO (fear of missing out), only for dogs.

barking-babies-socialization

Dog owners want the best for their pets and, from the outside, barking babies™ looks like the hottest new club. Combined with the wide range of services offered, this emphasis on the importance of the barking babies™ community is especially good for brand loyalty and encouraging repeat customers.

5. Sell pet apparel

maple-leash-dog-apparrel

If you’ve dabbled in fashion design and are up to the challenge, pet apparel can be an exciting new avenue to explore your creativity.

But even if you haven’t, clothing for pets has become so popular over the last couple of years that many suppliers, like those found through Oberlo, provide tons of shirts, outfits, and accessories designed specifically for dogs and cats.

Pet apparel also lends itself to niching very well. It won’t surprise you to learn that people can be as particular about their dog’s fashion choices as their own. With so many avenues of fashion yet to be explored as it pertains to dogs, there’s a lot of room for innovation.

Benefits: 

  • Using a dropshipping model, it can be a low-risk business with far less overhead
  • Since dog apparel is still a relatively new addition to the fashion world, there’s a lot of room for creative expression

Challenges:

  • Pet clothing is seasonal so it can be harder to sell in warmer months

Example: Maple Leash Canada

Based in Water Valley, Alberta—Maple Leash Canada is a family-owned business specializing in dog coats, harnesses, collars, sweaters, boots, carriers, beds, and a ton more specialty dog outfits for pups of all sizes.

maple-leash-tuxedo

Maple Leash Canada is branded first and foremost as an apparel company. If it weren’t for the store’s choice in models, its rustic character would fit right in alongside human apparel companies like Roots and Eddie Bauer.

The novelty of pet apparel can’t last forever, which is why Maple Leash puts so much emphasis on standing out stylistically.

maple-leash-sweater

Pet stores usually offer a combination of products and services, but be careful to avoid becoming a “jack-of-all-trades” pet store. Incongruous product collections make online branding very difficult. It also puts you in competition with big, corporate pet stores able to offer the convenience of hundreds of locations. Not to mention the pet food aisle in every grocery store.

One-stop shopping is great for customers who need to pick up some last-minute kitty litter on the way home from work, but online shoppers put more value in specialty than abundance.

With an online pet-store, marketing is crucial.

 

squinting-dog
Photo by Scott Murdoch from Burst

Tips for a profitable pet business

From the examples above, you can see that pet businesses thrive on cross-promotion. Selling pet products usually involves diversifying your services to increase the number of income sources and help create sustainable revenue.

The key is to brand your products together with a unified goal. For example, if you’re offering pet grooming services, you might also sell pet shampoos, flea collars, and grooming clippers.

If you group your products and services in a way that best serves your customers, you can increase the lifetime value of each customer and build a sustainable business model, even without a massive customer base.

1. Start local

This is especially important if offering services like grooming or dog walking which require in-person clientele. Building good relationships with pet owners is key to the success of your business.

Start by joining Facebook groups and local online communities. Participate in discussions. Offer expertise and services, but remember not to push for sales too hard, especially in early interactions with potential customers. Take it offline, too, with business cards and community boards.

Remember that people are very protective of their pets. Trust is especially important in pet businesses and people will not trust you if they view your interaction as a disingenuous attempt to promote your business.

2. Use social media consistently

If you’ve ever racked your brain trying to come up with Instagram ideas, you know that it’s challenging to consistently post while maintaining high levels of engagement.

The great thing about pet businesses is that cats and dogs are natural sources of entertaining content. Assuming you have one or two pets of your own, good content for pet lovers will be relatively easy to create.

For groomers, walkers, and pet-sitters, every interaction with a new four-legged client can turn into content. Even the most mundane activities become watchable when a dog or cat is involved.

3. Familiarize yourself with blogging and SEO

If you’re familiar with search engine optimization, you know the amount of technical know-how that goes into writing effective SEO copy. For niche pet stores, in particular, you can build a blogging strategy around spotting questions from pet owners that can be answered with your services.

Competitive blog content won’t be as easy to create as social media content, but the potential for large, sustained traffic is much higher. A well-researched article answering a question searched by potential clients that checks off all the boxes on the SEO checklist can be an effective tool for directing traffic for months or even years into the future.

If you’re a pet groomer, you might consider answering common queries about pet hygiene. If you’re selling healthy animal treats, you might be able to answer some questions about animal diets.

There’s an endless list of information you could provide. And if you’re able to provide it to valuable clients, it can be the first step in a long-lasting trusting customer relationship.

4. Attend pet industry events, trade shows, and conventions

Networking and professional development are important in any industry. Industry events such as workshops, conventions, trade shows, and pet industry events can be great for any entrepreneur looking to build new skills or become more connected within the industry.

There’s value for any business in a trade show, but they’re especially great if you’re selling unique or handmade pet products. If you’re selling products you can’t get anywhere else, an effective trade show campaign can help you secure business relationships and get your product in stores.

5. Build valuable customer relationships

Trust is incredibly important when it comes to pet products. People are very protective of their pets. For groomers, dog walkers, and pet sitters—building a successful company means establishing good customer relationships.

Loyal customers make more purchases, spend more money, and vouch for your business in the form of word-of-mouth recommendations. A network of local, reliable clients will not only provide you their recurring patronage but will also help spread the word of your business to other potential customers that run in the same circles.

happy-dog-flowers

Start a pet business today ?

There’s nothing more fulfilling than starting a successful company in an industry that excites you. For pet lovers bitten by the entrepreneurial bug, a grooming or pet supply business can be a personally rewarding endeavor that provides you with income for years to come.

Don’t be scared by the prospect of starting your own business. With the tools available, creating a sustainable successful pet business is accessible and fulfilling. As long as people love their pets, they’ll value services to help make them safer and happier.

This article originally appeared on Shopify and is available here for further discovery.

You May Also Like
2
Share to...