Description
we were asked to come up with a business model. I chose my topic to be Dog Walking services. writer can make up other stuff such as prices, promotion, etc. please follow all instructions on word document.
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Explanation & Answer
Attached.
Running head: DOG WALKING SERVICES
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Dog Walking Services
Name
Institution
Date
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DOG WALKING SERVICES
Background
There are many pet owners in the US more than anywhere else in the world. In spite of
this, some affluent workers spend most of their time at work, and this makes them in need of pet
care professionals to cater for their pets. According to the National Association of Professional
Pet Sitters, more than 60% of the American households have a pet majority being dogs (Willens,
2013). Relevant organizations such as the Pet Sitters International and the National Association
of Professional Pet Sitters offer a lot of guidance on how to get started in the dog walking and
other pet sitting services. Dog walking services can be a much profitable business if coordinated
efforts from the employer and the employees are considered.
Marketing Strategy Problem
Significant trends are emerging in the dog walking services. The services are getting
popular by the day, and this makes it possible for interested parties to venture into the pet sitting
and dog walking businesses. The current situation in the pet sitting industry which includes the
dog walking services is that there are so many helpless dogs being neglected by their owners.
These dogs are in need of proper care and as such more professional pet care homes need to be
established. It is indeed true that many US homesteads are adopting dogs, but there is a worrying
trend in that, many dogs lack a proper home, proper care, and the food is limited (Willens, 2013).
Many American families especially the elderly, childless couples and children find it fun and
necessary to have a dog for companionship. Many a time, it has been determined that dogs are
they are a man's best friend. They offer protection, and above all, they are good comforters. As
such a guardian or a parent may acquire a dog for their child but in the long run they end up
neglecting the dogs, and some of the dogs end up on the street.
DOG WALKING SERVICES
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Another emerging trend in the dog walking industry is that people adopt dogs only to,
later on, abandon and abuse them. For instance, in a family where a newborn baby is expected,
there are higher chances that the dog may be neglected or even returned to the professional pet
caregivers for fear of causing harm and injuries to the baby.
There is another emerging issue regarding the costs of the products. A business person
may think of starting up a dog walking service only to be curtailed by the expensive products in
the markets. Indeed there are many dogs in the US market, but this has not stooped the dogs'
products from escalating. From the food to the medical care of the dogs all require a lump sum of
money. There are fewer dog veterans in the US, and this makes the cost of the medical care to go
up. This affects small scale businesses which are yet to establish themselves in the pet industry.
The high cost of the necessary tools makes it hard for the business owners not to hike the price of
the products and services offered. The law of the US regarding pets establishes that any
domesticated pet needs to have an identification chip around the neck (Radulescu & Cetina,
2012). This responsibility doesn’t entirely lie in the hands of the dog walkers but the dog owners
as well. They have the mandate to ensure that their dogs are equipped with necessary
identification chips to avoid prosecution in the courts of law.
The specific marketing strategy problems in the dog walking service industry include; lack
of definitive roles and terms. Every person or employee in the company needs to be assigned to a
set of specific rules. Rules act discipline guidance, and it ensures that workers adhere to the roles
they are tasked with. For instance, there need to be people in the marketing and advertising
department, the sales department, the customer care departments and the human resources
department. These various sections of the organizations ensure that every person is responsible
for the things which happen in their area of operation and this helps them become responsible
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DOG WALKING SERVICES
employees. A second market strategy problem is the lack of proper communication. The dog
walking company must be in a position to communicate to the potential consumers to sell their
products and services. The conversation goes a long way in ensuring that the functions at the
firm are operating smoothly. Thirdly, separating sales from marketing almost makes it hard for
the dog walking company to attain its valued and targeted success.
The incentives offered by the company attracts the consumers of any products or services.
Therefore the prices need to be flexible to be accessible quickly by most people from various
backgrounds. The external environments may present opportunities for an increase in sells and
threats like competition which may affect the business (Radulescu & Cetina, 2012). The internal
climate may provide strengths like the cooperation of workers who in turn improves the success
of the firm. A weakness can manifest itself if the leadership of the company is not protecting its
workers and therefore, they may end up being unproductive.
The Secondary Research Element
The target market is that group of people any business aims to have as consumers of their
services and products. In regards to the dog walking services, the target groups are those people
who are inclined to need the dog walking and care services. The secondary research element is
essential because it is helpful in identifying the target audience who are a contributory factor of a
dog walking company success (Rehn & Keeling, 2011). The identification and the breakdown of
the target audience are very vital. Knowing the target market increases the chances of business
reaching more people than previously anticipated. Marketing to the general population is a bad
idea because most of those people have no idea what pet care entails and therefore picking a
target audience is the only essential and successful tool a business can have (O'Keefe et al.,
2011). Different target markets tend to have different characteristics, and therefore a dog care
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business needs to identify the different target market characteristics to offer the required services
effectively. After the identification of the target market, the next step is to use the most specific
information to maximi...