Agriculture

How to Start a Dog Bakery Business

A dog bakery business is a lucrative choice for a pet business to start if you want to enter the pet industry! Opening a dog bakery also allows you a few different choices as to how you want to set up your business. You open a store front dog bakery, online store and within these two choices come more choices; wholesale, retail or both!

Find out the Laws in your state:
Your first step should be contacting your state Agriculture Department to make sure you are able to bake dog treats from your kitchen. It is important to understand that the laws vary from state to state so you need to call or email your agriculture department directly to find out. It is also a good idea to check with the county you live in. There are a few states that do not allow you to bake and sell dog treats that are made from your kitchen. Better to find out now before you start your business!

Baking, Wholesaling or Private Label Options:
Next, will you be baking the dog treats for your dog bakery? You should really “love” to bake if this is your option. While you can make a very lucrative living baking dog treats, you will be baking thousands and thousands of treats. If you don't enjoy baking you will quickly become frustrated and it will affect your business. When you bake your own dog treats you have the option of selling them wholesale and private label to other pet shops and dog bakeries.

If you are one of the people that does not like to bake but still wants to open a dog bakery you still have options! You can find a wholesaler to buy your treats from and many will even let you private label their treats. Private labeling is a good option as it will allow you to put your dog bakery name on the labels as if they were your own.

When choosing to private Label your treats be sure to ask them if they will supply you with the ingredient labels for your treats and if there is an additional fee to do so. It will depend on the dog bakery and how they have it set up.

Online, Offline or Both:
Choosing to open your dog bakery online, offline or both is a personal decision that will of course depend on what you want and how much money you have to invest in your dog bakery business. That being said, when you pick your dog bakery business name be sure that you can also purchase a domain name that matches. Even if you aren't sure that you will ever take your business online it's good for you to have set aside and it will also prevent another company from opening under your name.

These are just the very basic things to consider when considering a dog bakery business. If you have specific questions and want other dog bakery owners to speak with, you can join us on the Indulge Your Pet Forum to find out more information and to ask questions.

About the Author

Chrissie Cole is the owner of a pet site that focuses on Pet Business Ideas, Dog Bakery Business and more! Stop by the Pet Lover Forums and talk to other pet business owners and lovers!