Introduction
The proposed Do-It-Yourself Dog wash facility will be located within the Central Business District and residential areas of the Kansas City. The city has been chosen as the most appropriate location of the business after conducting a thorough market feasibility study. The facility focuses on providing dog and pets wash and grooming services (Enilich, 2008). The targeted market includes employed adults who would like day-care services for their dogs while at work and college students who own pet dogs.
Through the market analysis I have identified that the nearest dog wash facility is 150 Miles away. It is not convenient in accordance with the occupation of our target market (Trends, 2008). Our core objective is to offer the residence with available, Credible, reliable and affordable dog wash services. The motor of the Do-It-Yourself Dog Wash facility is Happy Tails with a smile. We will strive to provide quality wash and groom services to our client that will leave them satisfied and their dogs happy.
The wash facility will offer variety of services to the client and their dogs that would include:
- Cage free dog boarding services
- Dog washing and grooming services
- Dog boarding services
- Dog daycare services
- Dog food, bones, treats, toys, leashes and collars
- Self service dog wash and drying
- Scheduling dog wash and grooming services through appointment.
Marketing and Sales Strategy
- Dog washing and grooming Industry overview
The dog wash and groom industry has been expanding every year. The American pet Association through its annual budget recorded an amount of 2.7Billion Dollars spent on washing and grooming services in 2006.In 2007, the association recorded an increase of 0.2 Billion Dollars to 2.9Billion Dollars (News, 2007). This growth has been influenced by demographic growth of dog owners which starts at 2.2 percent increase annually. There have an increase demand of dog premium products in the US: In 2013, there were total sales of 4.4 billion Dollars which further increased to $ 4.73 Billion in 2014.There are also emerging industry trends every year that the service providers should adapt to. This will assist at identify potential customers within the target group. The number of dog groomers has increased to 36,097 in 2013 from 34,140 in 2012.The emerging industry trends include: Tooth brushing, manicure and pedicure services, Specialty styles.dog apparel and breath freshener (Enilich, 2008).
In Kansas City the number of dog groomers stood at 1,184 in 2012.There was an increase of 248 groomers in 2013; this shows that there is a potential of growth in the industry.
Product/Service offered in the marketing strategy
Do-It-Yourself Dog Wash having carried out on the needs and preferences of the target market has focused on the identified needs as a market penetration strategies. We have carried a research on the students who own dogs in colleges, working class and business personnel to identify the problem in the market. The study led me to come up with the following products to solve the market problem (Sue Dallas, 2006). This will be an appropriate opportunity to develop the new brand image in the market to curb the fierce competition facing new business entry in the industry. The product strategy will also act as the means by which the facility establishes a lasting relationship with the consumers. We have recognized the need for consumer satisfaction since search consumers are likely to influence their family and friends on their buying decisions (Tracy, 1996). Our products are clearly differentiated in accordance with the market segmentation and needs. The following are the products the facility focuses to offer in its marketing penetration strategy market.
- Cage free dog boarding services
The facility tends to make the dogs as comfortable as possible. Through this service the comfort dogs enjoy while at home is guaranteed (Nabcy Kerns, 2012). Our focus shall be:
- Provide adequate space for the dogs to sleep and play anytime they feel like.
- Fresh-air and outdoor walks within every 3-4 hours
- Clean beds, floors and playgrounds.
- Playtime with our instructor both night and day
- Interacting with other dogs
- Being fed as per the client’s instructions.
- Dog washing and grooming services
Dog will be bathed by our experts in accordance with the clients’ instructions. Secondly we are realized the need to expand the services from mere bathing the dogs to dog grooming. The service involves:
- Veterinary services,
- Manicure and pedicure services,
- Nail cutting, tooth brushing and breath freshener using our special cleaning machines
- Dog clothing using bandanas, special dog clothes and doggy cologne
- Dog daycare services
This services target people who are occupied at work and school during the day while their dogs are lonely at home. We shall offer clean environment for the dogs to socialize with human and other dogs, provide exercise and security to them (Enilich, 2008). Our trained personnel will ensure that the dogs enjoy the intended comfort while the clients are away at work or school.
- Dog food, bones, treats, toys, leashes and collars
We offer variety of dog foods which will add nutrient to your dogs which includes nutrisource premium dog foods, bones and dog chews. The foods offer chondroitin and Glucosamine to the dogs with imbalanced hips and bad joints. We shall also offer printed and solid dog collars which are effective to the dogs.
- Self service dog wash and drying
We also recognize that some of the clients might need to wash and groom their dogs without out our help. Such consumers may lack the cleaning machines and facility in their homes. We focus to offer such opportunity to them through Self service dog wash and drying (Ehrich, 2006). We shall provide comfortable and safe bathing experience to the clients and their dogs.
- Scheduling dog wash and grooming services through appointment.
The service is divided into two segments namely mobile grooming and commercial grooming. Mobile grooming services is focused on the older pets that cannot be transported to the facility. Secondly, some of our projected clients are elderly who cannot comfortably drive to the facility. To eliminate such stress to them, our service mobile service will provide the dog wash services at homes upon request.
Commercial grooming services shall be offered to the clients who have got tight schedules and cannot find time to visit our facility frequently. The service shall offer them an opportunity to book for the services in advance (Sue Dallas, 2006). The service will spare the clients time to book for the service while at the facility.
The targeted market group
Do-It-Yourself Dog facility will focus on the college students, Employed people (single and married), and the elderly in Kansas City. Their population constitutes 60 % of the Cities 467,007 according to the 2013 census report. This will be the basis of our market segmentation in reference to our service varieties. Within the segmentation we intend to meet specific needs of our clients.
The single and married employees, who leave their dogs at bored at home while they attend to their jobs, will constitute a market segment. The products targeted at this group includes daycare services, Dog washing and grooming services, and Self service dog wash and drying .Same services shall be targeted at the student and business people’s segment (Tracy, 1996).
The other segment will constitute elderly pet owners who are not in a position to visit our facility. Commercial and mobile grooming services will best fit the group. The same service can also be offered to the business people who might lack time to visit our facility due to their tight schedule.
We shall also provide all the above services to the general market for the clients to freely choose the one that best fit their needs in accordance to their occupations, taste, preference and needs and those of their pets (Tracy, 1996).
According to a report by the American pet owners Association in 2013, on average a pet owner would spend 127 dollars annually on washing and grooming services. Among the market segments, married couples without children spend 38.72 dollars on the services. They are followed by couples with children at 30.69 dollars and singles (students, single parents and elderly) in average spend 18.9 dollars annually on their pets. This shows why we will pay attention to the above groups.
The target market by demography
Market penetration :Pricing of the products
We understand the importance of paying attention on the industry trends and competitors activities. This is the importance of carrying out a SWOT analysis in the market. We shall focus on the generic strategy, cost effective strategy, Location of the firm, price of the products and the future market trends.
Through the generic strategies, we focus on provision on the clients need to provide unique services to them. First, we intend to form a good communication relationship with our clients. To achieve this, our services shall be standardized and their qualities improved to give the ultimate satisfaction to the clients (Tracy, 1996). Offering satisfied services to the client shall increase their loyalty and hence increasing the market base.
Cost effective and pricing strategy is very important in gaining corporate branding and competitive advantage in the market. Our facility will focus at lower prices with respect to the competitors’ prices as a market penetration strategy. This will be achieved through access to cheap machinery and other facilities supply to control the operational cost. When operational costs are lower, the price of the products/services shall be low. The study of the marketing and consumer behavior reveals that consumer will always go for products and services that are pocket friendly (Tracy, 1996).
Future trends: We intend to be alert on the changing market trends in our industry. Such services like dog vacation boarding services shall be invested on (Tracy, 1996). We shall develop an effective responsive approach to take advantage of the arising opportunities and the changing consumer needs.
The following are respective price of our respective products. Our pricing strategy will ensue that we compete in the market through consumer friendly prices. The prices of our mobile grooming services are expected to higher than the facility based services due to the transport and logistics costs incurred reach the homes of our clients (Nancy Kerns, 2012). We have attached prices to our respective services as shown below:
- Cage free dog boarding services
The service shall be provided at 12 dollars on the working days and 15 dollars in the weekends. The same services shall also be offered on the half-day basis (at most 6 hours) at $8 on the week days and $12 dollars in the weekends.
- Dog washing and grooming services
The services shall be offered at a price of $18 on the week days and $15 dollars in the week end while half-day services shall be provided at a price of $12 Dollars on the week days and $10 in the weekends, The service shall be given on a monthly fully paid services at a price of $450 (Ehrich, 2006).This would mean that a client is going to save $90 if they had to pay the services on a daily basis. Monthly Half-day service will cost $ 280, meaning a client will save $80 dollars by choosing this method as compared to daily subscription. The price is inclusive of all the expenses that our facility will incur while providing the services.
The same module shall be used on the daycare washing and grooming service although the grooming service shall be charged 30% higher charges across all the specified categories. The de-shedding services shall be offered in accordance with either short or long trimming. All the pricing are based on three hours appointment; any additional hour shall be charged at $10.A dog with a weight of at most 29lbs shall be charged $30 for short de-shedding and $ 40.Dogs with weight ranging between 30lbs and 69lbs shall be charged $40 for short de-shedding and $45 for long de-shedding. Clients’ whose pet dogs weighing more than 79lbs will pay $5O for short de-shedding and $55 for long de-shedding price.
- Dog food, bones, treats, toys, leashes and collars
Items Prices in $
Nutrisource premium dog foods 20 per kilogram
Bones and dog chews 15 per Kilogram
Printed and solid dog collars 10 per piece
- Self service dog wash and drying
The table below shows our projected schedule for self services offered by the clients themselves at our facility:
Weight of the dog price
Below 20lbs $ 12
Between 20lbs and 39lbs $ 15
Between 40lbs and 79lbs $ 18
80lbs and above $ 20
- Scheduling dog wash and grooming services through appointment.
For appointment services our cost are projected to be
Dog weight short pricing Long Coat pricing
Below 20lbs $ 20 $ 25
Between 20lbs and 39lbs $ 25 $ 30
Between 40lbs and 79lbs $ 30 $ 35
80lbs and above $ 35 $ 40
The above pricing strategy is comparative to the competitors’ prices. Through the projection, the prices are between $2 and $5 lower than those of the competitors. Since most of the services in the industry are homogenous, we shall use pricing as a differentiation technique
The business shall focus on the use of communication strategy in creating awareness about its products to the clients. The use of advertisements, promotions to the frequent clients, public relation, and printed materials for example flyers, catalogs and brochures and personal selling will be heavily invested in (Tracy, 1996).
The facility will also take advantage of the advancement in technology to create a website containing all the products offered. Secondly, the site shall be used to communicate with the consumers about the services offered to them. We shall also develop a shopping cart through the web to enable online selling.
Marketing plan schedule and Budget
The total amount to be invesed in the marketing ans sales event is $ 50,000
Brochure advertisement:
Below is an example of Brochure/Flyer that will be used in our advertisement strategy:
We intend to produce two thousand copies of the brochures that shall be distributed to our potential. The brochure contents all the information required to market out products and services. The business message being gentle, experienced and affordable grooming services which includes a discount offer.
Conclusion
With the combination of all the marketing and sale strategies such as penetration strategy, growth strategy, distribution strategy, communication strategy and sales strategy the business is designed to prosper in the market.
References
Ehrich, E. (2006). Go Mobile And Succeed: The must have manual for starting and growing your mobile grooming. Journal of grooming.
Enilich, E. (2008). The successful Pet Groomer. Journal of Dogs .
Nancy Kerns. (2012). Going to the Dog Groomers. Whole Dog Journal's Blog .
News. (2007,September). The Booming Grooming Industry. Retrieved from Pet Product News: http://www.petproductnews.com/top_stories/Grooming-Industry-0709.aspx
Sue Dallas, D. N. (2006). Grooming Manual for the Dog and Cat. New York: Wiley-Blackwell; 1 edition .
Tracy, B. (1996). Advanced Selling Strategies: The Proven System of Sales Ideas, Methods, and Techniques Used by Top Salespeople Everywhere. New Jersey: Simon & Schuster ISBN-13: 978-0684824741.
Trends, I. S. (2008). Home, Mobile or Salon Grooming Menu. Retrieved from Industry Statistics & Trends: 2007-2008: http://www.petgroomer.com/MENU/homemobilesalon.htm.
