35 Pros & Cons Of Starting A Dog Treat Business (2024)

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Competition is high when it comes to your dog treat business, so it's important that you spend a good amount of time analyzing the market and understanding where the demand lies.

Finding The Right Supplier

Most businesses in this space go the supplier/manufacturer route, which isn't a bad thing! However, finding the right supplier can take a lot of time, energy and trial/error. If done properly, this process can save you months (if not years) of time and energy. More on this below in the "finding a supplier" section.

Security Issues

With any Saas business, data loss and security issues may arise throughout your process of building your product. It's critical that you understand exactly what you're responsible for and how to avoid potential issues down the road.

Lack of benefits

With a dog treat business, you are typically self-employed and responsible for finding your own insurance, which can be quite costly and time-consuming.

Isolation

Often times, as a dog treat business, you typically work alone and do not have much face-to-face interaction with other team members.

Taxes

As a dog treat business, you typically pay self-employment taxes which can be quite high. It's important to understand what you will be paying in taxes each year so you can determine if the work you're taking on is worth it.

No safety net

Typically, as a dog treat business, you do not receive a consistent pay-check and instead earn money based on your transactions each month. During the slow periods, you typically take away less since the job is based on commission. It's important to budget accordingly for the slow times.

High overhead expenses

With starting a dog treat business, there are overhead expenses that come with selling a physical product. You will want to make sure you strategically budget for these overhead costs. We discuss this more in the startup costs section below.

You may need to charge sales tax

If you are selling your products in various states, you may be required to charge sales tax. Although this may not impact your financials specifically, it can be a headache to create a process and procedure for this. To learn more about sales tax, check out this article

Work can be repetitive

You may find creating the same product over and over repetitive and tiresome. One way of avoiding this is to diversify product lines and revenue streams - this will keep things interesting!

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Difficult to build trust with your customer

With starting a dog treat business, there can be minimal face-to-face interaction, which means it can be a lot more difficult to establish trust with your customers. You'll need to go the extra mile with your customer to grab their attention and business.

Minimal physical activity

A big part of starting a dog treat business is sitting at a desk for the majority of the day starting at your computer. Some may enjoy this, but others may struggle with sitting for the majority of your day without much physical activity.

Learning Curve

When you start your own business, you no longer have upper management to provide you with a playbook for your roles and responsibilities. You should know the ins and outs of every aspect of your business, as every decision will come down to you.

Are you looking to make money selling dog treats and wonder if dog treat businesses are profitable? When I started my dog treat bakery I was easily making over $1,000 a week selling dog treats at local Farmers Markets, I became so busy that I eventually left my corporate job and opened a retail store where I sold dog treats full time. I also sold my decorated dog treats wholesale to other pet shops and gift shops to make even more money.

How to make money selling dog treats and make your dog bakery profitable

When I started my dog treat business, I did a lot of market research. I paid attention to what my best selling dog treats were and what my customers reactions were at every Farmers Market and Craft Fair that I sold my dog treats at. This was extremely important. No matter what "you" think is a great product might not be a good product in your own local marketplace. In order to make money selling dog treats you need to offer treats that customers want to purchase; you can easily figure this out by writing down what they are attracted to and what they actually purchase from you. 

Be sure you write down any treat requests too, you can try a couple of new treat flavors to see how they sell at the next event. Although, try not to get too caught up in your customer requests at your first events, wait until multiple people request items prior to baking new items. Sometimes people will request an item that you do not sell as a polite way not to purchase items from you. Cat treats are up to you, remember cats tend to be very picky eaters… there is nothing wrong with sticking to selling just dog treats, after all you are a dog bakery. Requests for cat treats are quite common, if you are just starting out you'll understand this request soon! You can politely reply that you are too busy with baking the dog treats but maybe some day you will have more time to try baking treats for cats.

Another great tip to remember is that what sells in another area of the country might not sell well in your area. For example, if your customers are mostly sports lovers, they might not purchase hearts and flowers. If they love palm trees, don't try to sell them snow shovels. While this sounds like an easy thing to do, a lot of people hold on to products that do not sell and wonder why no one buys their products. Or they see what other bakers are selling on social media and wonder why the same treats don't sell well for themselves, always listen to your initial research and stick to it.

Another way to figure out what you should sell is to experiment with small quantities before buying or baking larger amounts of products... and keep tracking on what sells and what does not. Soon you will know what your best selling dog treats are and you will be on your way to making your dog treat business more profitable!

How Much Does a Dog Bakery Make?

Have you ever heard of the saying "The more you put into something, the more you will get out of it?" This needs to be your motto when you start your pet bakery business. In order to be successful you need to be willing to put in the work. 

This starts at the beginning, setting up your dog treat business correctly will save you money and time. Which will leave you valuable time to be able to make profits more quickly. By setting yourself up for success from the beginning, you will be able to reach your financial goals sooner. 

Be sure to take the time to do a dog bakery business plan and write down all the expenses you will need to cover in order to start up and what you will need to purchase over time to reach your final goals. 
 

Once you reach your initial end goal you can start marketing and selling your products to potential customers and start making a profit. Dog bakeries make money if you set them up correctly and sell products that people want to buy. 
 

In order to make at least a $1,000 a week you will want to sign up to do as many Farmers Markets and/or events as possible. During the week you can fill custom orders from people you meet at the markets you do. Offering retail locations your dog treats at a wholesale price can also be extremely profitable. 

What are the Start up Cost for a Dog Bakery?

The start up cost for dog bakeries vary depending on what baking equipment you already own in your home and where you would like to sell your treats. To start baking dog treats you will need the following bakery items:
 

🐾 Rolling Pin
🐾 Mixing Bowls
🐾 Cookie Cutters
🐾 Flours, Eggs, etc...
🐾 Oven & Oven Mitts
🐾 Stand Mixer
🐾 Measuring Cups & Spoons
🐾 Cookie Sheets
 

In the future you might want to also purchase:
 

🐾 Dehydrator
🐾 Packaging
🐾 Blank Labels
🐾 Printer
🐾 Tent for Outside Events
🐾 1-3 Folding Tables
🐾 Table Clothes
🐾 Display Baskets or Shelves
🐾 Banner with your Name on it
 

You will also want to contact your Department of Agriculture to register you treats, there are annual fees normally under $100 associated with legally selling dog treats. Commercial Feed Labs also charge money to test your treats, this is normally a one time fee as long as you don't change the ingredients in your dog treat recipes.

Are there Classes I Can Take to Start my Business Today?

For step by step, in-depth, personalized classes on "How to Make Money Baking and Selling Custom, Healthy Dog Treats From your Own Home or Storefront" be sure to check out our online, virtual dog treat courses  The professionals at Pastries 4 Pets offers e-courses for Beginners, for people with pet treat businesses looking to attract more customers and for people who want to make more money selling online.

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