With more and more people keeping their cats indoors these days, the option of having a safe, outdoor enclosure is very appealing. This allows cat owners to keep their cats safe, while still offering the feeling of freedom of being outdoors and enjoying the sights, smells and sounds of the outside world.
While some people opt to build their own enclosures, there are many, many people who simply don't have the skills or the time to DIY. This is where starting a reputable business that designs, builds and installs cat enclosures will meet the needs of many potential customers, and help keep their pets safe and healthy at the same time.
There are as many ways to structure your business, as there are types of enclosures. You can specialise in a particular model, for example, portable lightweight enclosures made from aluminium framing and covered with cat netting. This style would also adapt easily to more permanent fixtures, enclosing verandas, patio areas, and sides of houses.
If you have carpentry skills, you could build attractive timber structures, perhaps matching to the style of the customer's house. If you can weld, steel framed enclosures covered with wire may be your choice.
If you are nervous about starting your own business from scratch, there are a small number of franchises that you can buy, although you will have to buy into the business and most likely pay ongoing royalty or franchise fees, you will also have access to a ready made brand name, possibly larger marketing campaigns, and a ready made set of business processes and policies. This is usually a fast track option for starting your own business, but it does come at a cost.
If you want to avoid franchise fees, but don't have the necessary skills to build cat enclosure, you could choose to outsource the construction work, and cover many styles of cat enclosure, and focus on the marketing and sales side of business.
One way of doing this is to approach existing cat enclosure companies, and ask them if they would be willing to sell you their products at a wholesale price, keeping in mind permission to sell under your own brand name is preferable. Once you have some agreements in place, you can then market your own brand, and when you get orders, simply purchase from your suppliers at the wholesale price, and sell for retail. You can either sell as DIY kits to your customers or up-sell by offering an installation service. Once again, you can provide the installation service yourself if you are a handy person, or outsource and focus on your marketing.
As you can see, there are many different ways to start your own cat enclosure business. This is a business that can be built with minimal overheads, or you can pay an up front premium and buy yourself a cookie cutter business with systems in place.
