Project description
A teacher has developed a dog training business from a personal experience: her daughter suffers from diabetes and was assigned an assistance dog that is trained to smell deviations in insulin levels at an early stage. The dog then barks and warns that it is time for an injection, before the patient is aware of it. If this happens while the patient is asleep, it can be life-threatening.
The business idea was to start a training institute for assistance dogs. Dogs are trained for people with these impairments:
- diabetes type 1,
- a mental illness,
- impairment of hearing,
- impairment of motor skills.
We accompanied the project from the first idea to the foundation. Developing the business model through various stages was particularly challenging. We developed the business plan and the financial plan and supported the entrepreneur in the discussions with the banks.
The company was ultimately founded near Osnabrück, Germany, with EUR 100,000 in start-up capital and has been developing very positively ever since.
What banks look at in a dog training business plan
Training assistance dogs combines a service business with high responsibility. The plan should show the target clients (individuals and institutions), the training programmes, the duration of each programme and the fees or funding sources such as health insurers or foundations.
Costs include trainers, facilities, veterinary care, food, insurance and certification. Because each dog is trained over a long period, the plan must show how many dogs can be trained in parallel and when revenue is received relative to costs.
A realistic liquidity plan for the first two years, plus information on qualifications, approvals and partnerships, shows the lender that the business can be sustained while capacity is built up.
