Dogsfevr Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Showdog can I just ask a question...you say you can't have holidays because of the business, but if you wanted to plan a holiday...say for example in June, could you just not take any bookings for June - kennels closed all of June ect? Would a smaller kennel (say 10 dogs) be viable as a second income? Sorry to hi-jack your post jozman, but it's all relevant to the original question :) You could but june,july,August is peak time overseas & the winter snow season in Australia You also can't simply shut down you have dogs carrying over from month to month so it would mean not taking bookings that could cover alot of may or alot of July & that is extra lost income if you wish to makea living. Yes you could close & just keep what is there & find a good person to look after what you have at the time but these people are often few & far between that you would rely on whilst your not there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancinbcs Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Honestly, I don't think boarding kennels are a realistic goal for at least the next decade or so. Your first priority would be to work out how to make a large enough income to be able to afford to buy an acreage in an area that is likely to be successful with kennels. Without some sort of financial help (from parents, etc), most young people now days struggle to get a mortgage on a suburban home, let alone a house on 2 hectares with a kennel complex on it. Most people I know with kennels had the property and plenty of dog experience first, then decided to add a kennel business on their existing land. Working for a kennel is a very low paid job so that is not going to get you near your goal. Some alternatives to look at are becoming a dog groomer and getting a loan to buy a mobile dog wash or get a well bred puppy from a good breeder and train it to highest level while studying dog training everywhere you can. this could lead to a career as a trainer or a job like a customs dog handler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 I am going thorugh the process of opening a small boarding kennel at the moment. I have many things in my favour I own the land already No close neighbours only 15kms from the centre of town large shortage of boarding kennels in our area(around 300 to 400 kms in all directions) Older so therefore have a history with banks etc Am well known in the area from working in Vet hospitals, doing grooming and from dog training. Even with all that it has taken two years from the begnning to now ( a short time away from opening) It has been nearly a year since our planning approval was accepted with the local shire and trust me the planning permission is only the beginning!!! There are many more forms and fees to go through fill out and the like. It is stressful dealing with all the latest regulations that you need to comply with - moreso whent hey change two days before you submit stuff only to find out the goal posts have changed. And it hasn't finished just yet!!! We have the final inspection and the sewerage inspections to get through yet. I quite often tell the shire if I wasn't so stubborn I would have given up long ago. Not to mention the kennels cost more to build than my very modest house. Not only that we are building everything ourselves apart from the plumbing, electrics and we had a shed builder in to build the shed. Everything else we are doing ourselves, gyprocking, building the runs, fencing etc. SOme nights when I am working late I do wonder in what insane moment I thought this up! It is a mammoth undertaking I have also worked in the animal industry for a long time and am well aware of the not so fun or nice things that go with dealing with animals and their owners. I have had lots of help from friends in the business as well. My recommedation would be to work in the industry find out if it is really what you want, gain experience and as suggested do courses in managing your business :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colliehound Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 My situation is almost identical to OSOSwift. I too agree - do something else as a career first - then do this as your "retirement" career. If you are a normal 18yo - you still have so much life to live, things to do, places to travel, people to meet. All of this is well and truly kyboshed with the anchor of a kennel. I don't want to poop on your parade - because I love your enthusiasm - BUT - I personally wouldn't leave my dogs with someone so young. Not even if you had just graduated as a vet. Unfortunately life experience is so so so handy when you are looking after other peoples most loved pets. It also gives you the confidence to be able to say no when you need to. No you can't pay later, no your dog cannot stay, no you can't come and pick them up at midnight. It also gives you an accurate gut feel for when things "just aren't right" as you have seen a lot and learned a lot along the way. Unless you are coming into some serious money - I have no idea how you would do it - our application fee to council alone (non refundable) APPLICATION fee is $10K, that doesn't include acoustic engineer, surveyor, civil engineer etc etc etc . Approx $20K JUST to submit the app. This doesn't even turn the first sod or put the first pencil mark on the design plans. Best of luck in what ever you do - but probably start at the vet nurse, dog trainer, dog groomer, end........then see how you go - at least all of those will help down the track when you want to open your kennels as they will give you even more credibility with owners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandgrubber Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 My situation is almost identical to OSOSwift. I too agree - do something else as a career first - then do this as your "retirement" career. If you are a normal 18yo - you still have so much life to live, things to do, places to travel, people to meet. All of this is well and truly kyboshed with the anchor of a kennel. I don't want to poop on your parade - because I love your enthusiasm - BUT - I personally wouldn't leave my dogs with someone so young. I agree that it's best to get experience first, but not on waiting to do a kennel as a retirement project. Why not aim, instead, to take over a retirement project in which someone else has built up the capital, but gotten tired and lack the energy to work through online marketing and have allowed a few things to go to seed in their kennel business. I left my kennel in the management of a younger couple. They've been doing a great job managing. Yes, they've made some mistakes. But they've had the gumption to work through them. My property includes two houses as well as the kennel, and it's 14 km from the CBD . . . so the pricetag is above the $1M level. However, they have been working very hard and doing a much better job building the business than I did. I'm quite confident that they will be in a position to buy me out within a year or two. Such opportunities may be hard to find. But retirement-project kennels are out there, and their owners generally hold on for 10 to 20 years, then choose to sell or put the place under management. If you can build skills and help with management in a good kennel whose owner has health concerns, you may be able to work into a position of working to buy. " I personally wouldn't leave my dogs with someone so young. " may be an attitude among older dog owners, but it is not shared by young urban professionals . . . the group who are most likely to be well-paying clients. They may well be drawn to the kennel with the best website and online booking system . . . or the most convenient services for pickup and return-home . . . or luxury heating and air conditioning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stonecutter Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 (edited) Oops - dbl post Edited August 5, 2012 by stonecutter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stonecutter Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Another idea might be to start offering dog sitting & house sitting services. Friends of ours love their house/dog sitter so much that when she moved interstate - they now fly her to them to look after their 2 dogs and home (they are in the "young professional" category sandgrubber mentioned) I also like dancinbcs comment about getting a well bred pedigree puppy and training/learning/meeting people. I'm only a relatively new dog owner (less than 2 yrs) and am currently traveling on my first trip away from her. I went to people I knew and trusted in the dog world to ask for a referral on where might be best to kennel her for 5 wks. I got lots of interesting info about who was good and who to steer clear from! I would not have gone anywhere that didn't have a referral from someone I trust. A good standing in the dog world can go a long way :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JozMan Posted December 18, 2012 Author Share Posted December 18, 2012 (edited) Hey everyone, I'm back and am still just as keen to one day open my own kennels, my current plan is to find a job, work and save up as much money as I can until I believe I have the money needed to start up the kennels, I know this won't be easy and I'll need to save up a lot of money. I would be starting it from complete scratch and would be look to start with 50 kennels. I'm just curious to know how much money you guys think I would need to save in order to start up the business? Edited December 18, 2012 by JozMan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Panzer Attack! Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 Hi JozMan, if you do set a business up be prepared for the clients who will assume you're not the owner/management - I managed a grooming salon at 22 and so many people thought the owner was my mum! Lol! Good luck with achieving your goals, the pet industry is a hard slog but SO rewarding :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 Would you build them or look to buy a property that has the facilities already? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsfevr Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 Depends on the quality you build but ours are insured for over $800 000 . 50 kennels is alot to start with & to be honest to build good kennels.outside yards etc etc i would look just under 1 million to do it right . If buying an established place around the million mark . The above price may/may not include all the additional items you need,advertising,car signage,insurance etc etc or buying the land . We have 24 & that keeps us very busy with 2 people Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 I built 12 and I think Showdog is not to far off the mark with the amount you would need for 50. We did a vast majority of the work ourselves, basically what we could do legally we did. It was a hard slog and took 7 months of pretty much 7 days a week to build. My dad also came down for around three months over a couple of visits to help us out. The quotes we got for a builder to do it would have meant it would cost us more than double what it ended up costing. Luckily my husband had 6 months of long service and he took that to build these. Not only that you would need extra staff for 50. The 12 keeps me busy when they are full. If you spend individual time with each dog and make sure all are exercised adequately I just don't think one person could do that with 50 kennels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JozMan Posted December 18, 2012 Author Share Posted December 18, 2012 Thanks for the replies guys. I had no idea insurance would cost so much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JozMan Posted December 18, 2012 Author Share Posted December 18, 2012 Would you build them or look to buy a property that has the facilities already? I would buy my own property and then build them on my property. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 Okay if you want to build 50 kennels and associated yards you will easy crack a million not to mention purchase of propery. Of course the exact materials you use will play a part. Size of dog runs, exercise yards also play a part. I would have made my exercise yards twice the size had I had the money to do so. When I do extend (up to 22 to 24 dog runs) I will do bigger outside exercise yards as I do not need to rush to get the next lot done. I now have a very good idea on costs and I know I can also install my own chainmesh fence and lace all the bloody stuff on!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JozMan Posted December 19, 2012 Author Share Posted December 19, 2012 After reading this I think I would start with 20-25 kennels, would it still cost so much? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsfevr Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 After reading this I think I would start with 20-25 kennels, would it still cost so much? Building gear goes up every year & what you plan to build will decide expense but it won't be cheap . Buying land big enough ,building a house & then all the expenses of permits,planning etc adds up to expensive . Yes its doable but its costly & short cutting what you build will cost you long term . Until you have an idea of what you want to build then cost is like how long is a piece of string. Then consider if you build in a higher fire risk area then you need (well a good kennel) a fire plan which may consist of a water tank with fire pump & vehicles suitable for evacution or indoor kennels sprinklers for lock down, The bigger the kennels the more you need to work out a plan of what if .' Keep in mind 50 kennel can mean over 100 dogs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitkatswing Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 I would say starting with absolutly nothing and everything associated with it would be at least $1M or more..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JozMan Posted December 19, 2012 Author Share Posted December 19, 2012 Thanks again for the replies guys, as for the actual property I would take out a mortgage not buy the property straight out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Just to get my shire approvals for the kennels on a 2000 acre agricultural property was over $2000. And to be honest it is a headache and not easy. I think things on that front would be a little easier if you were building in a kennel zone as they ahd no idea what-so-ever down here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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