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The best-laid plans...
Jan. 6th, 2022 08:54 pmI lost most of today to a headache which was probably a migraine. Bleh. Not quite what I had planned, needless to say. I took the dogs to daycare and then napped for most of the afternoon, and even that combined with meds didn't completely get rid of it. I am kind of irked about it, but it is what it is. Tomorrow I have another 12 hour shift to look forward to, and then I'm off for the weekend and back for more shifts on Monday and Tuesday before I go back to a "normal" work routine for a while. Hopefully for a while, anyway.
The past couple of weeks have shown me that I am really no longer physically able to handle night shifts, and even just 12 hour day shifts are a little grueling. The night shifts have been *brutal*, though, and my body has responded with a very obvious "FUCK YOU" to my going back to that. My current position at work that mostly allows me to work 9-5, Monday to Friday, is a temporary one. At the very latest I'll be forced to go back on shift starting at the beginning of April (the new fiscal year), and that's going to be really rough.
I half-joked to KK that I should just quit and start a dog daycare, and she actually took me seriously, so now I am in full research mode. I actually considered this years ago (I even took lessons to become certified as a dog trainer back in the day, with the thought that I might have a boarding kennel as a side business if I ever got a hobby farm), and the idea never completely left me. It never occurred to me that KK would support my taking a massive risk like this, because becoming roommates was all about becoming financially more stable, but she actually really likes the idea and started making suggestions to boot!
So, as I said, I am in research mode. Technically right now I'm in brainstorming mode, just jotting down ideas about what various revenue streams could exist in a boarding kennel/dog daycare model, but starting tomorrow I am going to start going down researching rabbit holes. I don't know the first thing about how to conduct market research, which I will need if I'm to put together a decent business plan, which I also don't know the first thing about doing. I'm giving myself some pretty hard deadlines, since if I want to be serious about this I had better get on it. I'm giving myself two weeks or so to learn about making a business plan/proposal and to learn about market research (do I do it myself? Hire someone to do it? ACK.), so that I can then actually conduct said market research and put together the business plan by March. I want to put together something that's as air tight as possible and then figure out how to get a small business loan for the whole thing.
The one good thing is that right now is a good time for pet-related services, especially near a large city (even if Ottawa is on the smaller side, it's still a city of one million people). Lots of people got dogs during the past two years (pandemic puppies) and now that they're slowly going back to work, they're discovering that those dogs still need a lot of care and attention. I have a long rant about pandemic puppies that I will spare you, but enough people are willing to pay for care for their dogs during the day (myself included!) that I think this is a viable option. I don't have a ton of my own money to put in, which may be my main stumbling block, but I also still work full-time, which may buy me some wriggle room. I don't know, which is why more research is needed.
Anyway, I have lots of ideas, I just need to figure out how to make it happen. If I can get my shit together and obtain financing for it, I'd want to purchase a property for it in the early spring, then either build or retrofit the buildings I'd need over the summer and fall, equip all of it, and get underway right in time for the winter holiday season (even in the midst of a pandemic, the holidays are always a busy time of year for pet services). This is all assuming best-case scenarios, but honestly this is the first time in at least four years that I've genuinely felt excited about something work-related, so fingers crossed that something will come of it!
The past couple of weeks have shown me that I am really no longer physically able to handle night shifts, and even just 12 hour day shifts are a little grueling. The night shifts have been *brutal*, though, and my body has responded with a very obvious "FUCK YOU" to my going back to that. My current position at work that mostly allows me to work 9-5, Monday to Friday, is a temporary one. At the very latest I'll be forced to go back on shift starting at the beginning of April (the new fiscal year), and that's going to be really rough.
I half-joked to KK that I should just quit and start a dog daycare, and she actually took me seriously, so now I am in full research mode. I actually considered this years ago (I even took lessons to become certified as a dog trainer back in the day, with the thought that I might have a boarding kennel as a side business if I ever got a hobby farm), and the idea never completely left me. It never occurred to me that KK would support my taking a massive risk like this, because becoming roommates was all about becoming financially more stable, but she actually really likes the idea and started making suggestions to boot!
So, as I said, I am in research mode. Technically right now I'm in brainstorming mode, just jotting down ideas about what various revenue streams could exist in a boarding kennel/dog daycare model, but starting tomorrow I am going to start going down researching rabbit holes. I don't know the first thing about how to conduct market research, which I will need if I'm to put together a decent business plan, which I also don't know the first thing about doing. I'm giving myself some pretty hard deadlines, since if I want to be serious about this I had better get on it. I'm giving myself two weeks or so to learn about making a business plan/proposal and to learn about market research (do I do it myself? Hire someone to do it? ACK.), so that I can then actually conduct said market research and put together the business plan by March. I want to put together something that's as air tight as possible and then figure out how to get a small business loan for the whole thing.
The one good thing is that right now is a good time for pet-related services, especially near a large city (even if Ottawa is on the smaller side, it's still a city of one million people). Lots of people got dogs during the past two years (pandemic puppies) and now that they're slowly going back to work, they're discovering that those dogs still need a lot of care and attention. I have a long rant about pandemic puppies that I will spare you, but enough people are willing to pay for care for their dogs during the day (myself included!) that I think this is a viable option. I don't have a ton of my own money to put in, which may be my main stumbling block, but I also still work full-time, which may buy me some wriggle room. I don't know, which is why more research is needed.
Anyway, I have lots of ideas, I just need to figure out how to make it happen. If I can get my shit together and obtain financing for it, I'd want to purchase a property for it in the early spring, then either build or retrofit the buildings I'd need over the summer and fall, equip all of it, and get underway right in time for the winter holiday season (even in the midst of a pandemic, the holidays are always a busy time of year for pet services). This is all assuming best-case scenarios, but honestly this is the first time in at least four years that I've genuinely felt excited about something work-related, so fingers crossed that something will come of it!
