Does anyone have experience of setting one up?  I have had my own businesses before so I'm not afraid of hard work and know what to expect in that respect, but I am now looking for a new challenge.  The only thing I'm passionate about is my woofers, so it seems a natural thing to do something related.  I have an acre of land and the option to rent a further 2 acres across the road.  Can anyone give me any advice on where to start, what I need, pros/cons???? Thanks in advance

Imagine you will need planing permission and may be a license to open such an establishment so i would think you should feel the water and see if permission is likely to become forthcoming. Great idea though and would think you would be welcomed by dog owners with open arms.

What about having a look at My Pet Stop Ones? It might give you an idea of how busy they are, costs etc

good insurance I suspect would be a must, and a good contract for pet owners to sign saying who is responsible if anything goes wrong.

How about going to the one in Sharston industrial estate.  Don't know whether it's any good, didn't even know there was one until I drove passed one day.  It's not to far for you to go and enquire and I would think that you're not exactly in their area for business so wouldn't be stealing their customers?

Thanks for your replies.  I think the council will have to be my first point of call.  I have a friend in DoggieDayCare who has given me all the info on contracts and insurance etc, but she has a warehouse set up on an industrial estate (similar to the Sharston one) so completely different set up to what I'd have (and didn't need to go through planning etc).  I know one about 30 mins from me which is very similar to how I'd have it but feel this is a bit close to be asking for advice?

That is good, if there is one near you the council will have dealt with it before so your request for information should be handled without too much of a problem.

How much were you thinking of charging for the day?

My doggie  day person charges  about £20.00 per day discounts for people who are needing weekly etc . Or £12 per walk which is either a morning or afternoon which breaks up a normal working day nicely for me. She is prepared to work out a "package " to suit the dogs needs if you see what I mean .
Brilliant service
 

Most places seem to charge around £20 per day, discount for multi-dogs, or regular bookings (i.e. 3 days or more every week).  I have one place about 20 miles from me who only charges £10 per day but she has about 20 dogs running together at any time.  I want to limit it to 6 or 7 dogs.

Hi susieq, you might benefit from talking to your local enterprise trust--they will know nothing about the care angle, but will be able to help with the business development side of things. They also have access to a library of Cobweb information sheets which give very useful information about setting up your particular business (you can buy the Cobweb sheet yourself, but the ETs provide a free training service, e.g. marketing, bookkeeping etc and can put you in touch with any start up grants. If you are in a rural area there may be diversification grants available. Good luck with your plans!

Thanks for the info, I've used Business Link when setting up previous businesses, is this something similar?

The Enterprise Trusts will have more locally specific knowledge and offer more direct support than Business Link. They have close ties with local authorities and are generally more up to speed with any grant (in kind or actual cash) than BL.

Wish I could do the same, but the amount of space might limit me to working with chihuahuas only :)

lol! Thanks for that, have just Googled it so will have a read now :)