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Everybody who is into dog breeding is confronted sooner or later to an important and life-changing question: should I breed dogs full time or part-time? Well, although it is a short question it calls for a guarded answer. Here are the most important elements to consider before giving it a definite say.
Set Your Dog Breeding Goals
A business needs a vision, and once you get started, chances are that you will be so overwhelmed by this wonderful adventure that you will not always think straight. This is why you should write down on a piece of paper your objectives and pin it on the wall. Every time you feel lost, read it, and focus. Every action you will take has to be one step towards your ultimate goal.
Frankly speaking, if you are simply looking for a side revenue, you absolutely can setup your breeding business and go ahead making a little profit. You probably will re-invest the profit to look after your dogs and improve their conditions.
Bear in mind that your dogs need constant attention and care. If you want to raise amazing puppies and parents, you will have to make your schedule very flexible to be present whenever required, ie. call for emergency, welcome clients for home visits, arrange a photographer to come, etc.
To become extremely successful, you will need to be fully focused on your activity, you will need a lot of time to work with your dogs, be involved in shows and championships, work on your brand, find marketing strategies, work on your financial spreadsheets and taxes, and a multitude of different tasks… while maintaining perfect breeding standards.
Team Factor
If you are alone in this dog breeding adventure, you may need to be full time in this adventure as there are a lot of things to look after from the pets themselves to the marketing, website and finance. You could also delegate some tasks to virtual assistants but I recommend to avoid those expenses at first and only spend more when you started cashing in.
It is important to be surrounded by supporting friends and family members, indeed, you will have to receive full support from everybody around you and should never stay aside and be a lone wolf. Have a monthly meeting with them to tell them about your learning curve, your improvements and your future projects, this way you will feel accountable and will make sure to get where you promised yourself to be.
Stress Factor
A big chunk of the part time vs full time debate is about stress and time management. A lot of entrepreneurs face time management issues when they create their business, they now have so many free hours every day and they do not know where to start and what to do. They quickly begin to overthink, touch everything on the surface and under-do most things.
You need to know how you are like and create a bespoke routine and schedule you will be accountable to, you cannot be inconsistent with your pets, marketing and brand.
If, on top of that, you add a regular job or part-time job taking a hefty share of your day, you will have to be even more efficient and ready to do what needs to be done in only very few hours a week. Forget about weekends, long nights and dinner with friends. You will have to work before work, and after work.
Funding Factor
Experts consider that you need to have enough savings to get on with your life and business for 6 months to a year. You can definitely work a full-time job at first if you are having puppies that cannot mate for the time being, and start being full-time breeder before your first or second breeding program and litter.
It is vital to understand the importance of having enough money to start with! A lso, that amount you think you will need, well, double it! Miscalculations, vet appointments unplanned for, website and emergencies will all need to be taken care of immediately. There are more of those than you think, so either use your savings or work a part-time job for the first months.
Completing a solid business plan will show you how long you can expect to wait before your breeding business begins earning a profit.
Don’t Be Busy, Be Efficient
Don’t work hard, work smart. Of course, you need to get things done but I know too many entrepreneurs repeating me “Oh God, I’m so busy it’s insane” who could have done in an hour what took them three.
With simple yet powerful tools, great dams and sires, well-thought selling strategy, attentive support, strong self-discipline and an always developing business acumen, you can do more and better in less time.
