Opening a business?

Question

I live in a town with population 3k. There is a super market, 2 mexican resturants, 1 italian resturant, 3 gas stations, antinque store, hardware store, feed store, post office, bar, video store, drug store, liquor store and Mcdonals. I'm thinking about opening a pet shop but not sure how well it would do with a small population. There is a fancy pet shop about 10 miles away from the town and a feed store with some pet supplies & food about 2 miles away they sell mostly farm animal supplies. Would it be a a good idea to open a pet shop with 2 close by? Our town is small but growing. There seem to be numerous pets here also. There is lots of neighborhoods around, a handful live on farms.

Answer 1

Personally, you should do a bit of market survey around your neighborhood.  Get a paper and prepare a list of questions, like where did the people in the neighborhood buy their pets from, where did they buy the pet food from, ask them if there is a pet shop nearby, will they come.  You can create a few more questions.  

Doing survey can provide 2 useful situations.  

1 - that you can gather more information to decide whether it will be really feasible to open a pet shop

2 - that you are creating awareness to these pet owners that there will be a new pet shop near their neighborhood so they will keep a lookout for your shop when you open.

Research is always the key to gauge whether there is demand or not.  

Do an estimation for 3 points:

1 - estimate the size and demand for a pet shop

2 - the cost of your starting your pet shop

3 - the profits that you can earn from the pets, pet food, toys and accesories

If these 3 balances, then you can start considering to start the business or not.

Hope these helps,

Andrew Choong

http://www.businesspeanuts.com

Answer 2

I think that it would depend on what pet supplies you carried. Are you going to do dog or cat grooming? Maybe you would have space to board small animals that would go a long way toward building your business especially if there is not another place like that near by.

Check out the competition and carry some things that they don't carry along with your general pet supplies

You don't say which area of the country you are in.

How far is the nearest Walmart?

Walmart seems to cause quite a bit of competiton because their prices are so much lower than the norm because they can buy in bulk.

You could also carry other things, like scented candles or small gift items. I can hook you up with a really great wholesale scented candle company if you are looking for other merchandise besides pet supplies.

Answer 3

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