Animal Shelter Business Plan and SWOT Analysis

Animal Shelter Business Plan, Marketing Plan, How To Guide, and Funding Directory

The Animal Shelter Business Plan and Business Development toolkit features 18 different documents that you can use for capital raising or general business planning purposes. Our product line also features comprehensive information regarding to how to start an Animal Shelter business. All business planning packages come with easy-to-use instructions so that you can reduce the time needed to create a professional business plan and presentation.

Your Business Planning Package will be immediately emailed to you after you make your purchase.

  • Bank/Investor Ready!
  • Complete Industry Research
  • 3 Year Excel Financial Model
  • Business Plan (26 to 30 pages)
  • Loan Amortization and ROI Tools
  • Three SWOT Analysis Templates
  • Easy to Use Instructions
  • All Documents Delivered in Word, Excel, and PDF Format
  • Meets SBA Requirements

Many people have become very concerned about the well-being of pets within the United States, and has such a number of both for-profit as well as not-for-profit animal shelters have been developed in order to provide the services to the general public. About 80% of these organizations operate strictly a not-for-profit capacity but there are for-profit organizations that assist with caring for these animals and providing them with homes on a permanent or a foster basis. The barriers to entry for a new animal shelter are very low given the fact that there is very little licensure required and most of the fees are paid by individuals were adopting pets on an ongoing basis. One of the primary concerns that many of these businesses have is that during times of economic recession there may be somewhat of a decline in their revenue streams given the fact that a number of private donations are frequently made to these organizations in order to have them remain cash flow positive. Generally, the startup costs for a new animal shelter run anywhere from $50,000 all the way to about $200,000 depending on whether or not the animal shelter is going to acquire real estate in conjunction with its operations. It should be noted that most financial institutions are only willing to abide the necessary capital for a animal shelter in the event that a standalone real estate facility is going to be required to house animals that are currently being put up for adoption or foster care. These businesses and organizations are expected to remain in strong demand for the foreseeable future given the large influx of displaced pets within the United States.

An animal shelter SWOT analysis is frequently developed in order to showcase the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that are had by these organizations. As it relates to strengths, most animal shelters are able to remain profitable and cash flow positive at any given time given the fact that many animal lovers will seek to adopt displaced pets from the use businesses. The operating costs are typically considered very low given that most of these organizations are operated on a not-for-profit basis. Payroll expenses are low and the primary expense that is had by many of these organizations are the ongoing patent area costs associated with providing care to animals that are at the shelter.

For weaknesses, animal shelters do have a number of issues as it relates to ongoing raising of capital through fundraisers, mailings, and sponsored events. Corporations operate in a for-profit capacity as an animal shelter often charge much higher fees and their not-for-profit counterparts. As such, individual that is looking to create a new animal shelter needs to keep a very close watch on their ongoing cash flow as during times of economic recession they may not receive the same financial support that they did in previous times.

For opportunities, animal shelters can rapidly expand by taking on additional animals, hire additional animal care staff, creating a network of foster homes, and establishing additional locations in order to house animals. This is typically the only way that these organizations are able to expand their operations.

For threats, there is very little that could impact the way of these organizations to business outside of an economic recession. In many states, animal shelters are highly value given the fact that they reduce the overall cost of having the government deal with stray animals. As such, these organizations will remain in demand for the foreseeable future.

As with all organizations, and animal shelter business plan should be developed if the founder were entrepreneur is seeking to raise capital for their operations. A three-year profit and loss statement, cash flow analysis, balance sheet, breakeven analysis, and business ratios page should be developed in order to showcase the anticipated financial results of the business over this period of time. In many cases, a full demographic analysis should also be developed that showcases the anticipated adopter of a pet that is been with the shelter. Examination of demographics includes looking at annual household income, median household value, population density, percentage of people that own pets, percentage of people adopt pets, and related information regarding the general target market of the organization.

An animal shelter marketing plan should be developed as well given that there is going to need to be an ongoing drive in order to find homes for these animals. Most frequently, many animal shelters maintain an expansive presence on social media in order to generate interest in pets that have come up for adoption. Social media platforms including FaceBook, Google+, Twitter, and Instagram are extremely important for animal shelters given that they are able to not only showcase pets that are for adoption but are also able to use these platforms directly for fundraising purposes. As such, a founder or entrepreneur that is looking to enter the animal shelter industry should have a substantial focus on promoting their organization or business through social media platforms. A standalone website should also be developed that allows for individuals to see the entire number of pets that are available for adoption, images of pets, and related information about how an individual can acquire a pet from the animal shelter. This website should be listed among all major search engines, and a search engine optimization for may be hired so that the visibility of the website can be boosted over the life of the business.

Animal shelters serve a very important function in society given that they help animals who would otherwise have to live outdoors or face an uncertain fate without any appropriate care. Within the United States, many people love animals very much and it will continue to want to care for their well-being for the foreseeable future. Given that many families with the states are putting off having children for a significant amount of time, pets have almost become like surrogate children for couples and individuals who decided not to have children. As such, the increased wealth in the country coupled with ongoing demand for animal shelters will allow these businesses to thrive in most economic climates. Again, one of the ongoing issues that is faced by animal shelters is the fact that they rarely receive ongoing financial risk support from private investors were financial institutions. As such, a founder or entrepreneur is going to need to keep a very close watch on the profit and loss statement as well as the cash flow in order to make sure that the organization can run smoothly in any economic climate.