Preparing Your Dog Training Business for a Recession
“May you live in interesting times.
”
We certainly live in interesting times…
Recession. Inflation. Gas prices. Shortages. Grocery bills doubled. Higher costs of living across the board, rent hikes, and once-affordable houses bought at twice the asking price. Sprinkle in some more mass shootings, Roe vs. Wade being overturned, and STILL stuck in a pandemic.
It's nuts out there. Fucking anxiety-inducing. We're living in a collective flight or fight mode.
But, I want to bring you, the resilient dog business owner, back to level ground so you can start getting a sense of control and clarity. This article covers how to pull off running a dog training business in a recession.
I've heard people say, "the pet industry is recession-proof." Is the pet industry recession-proof? Is the dog training industry recession-proof? No.
Listen, not one industry is recession-proof, including the pet dog training industry.
Will people (especially child-free millennials) continue getting dogs that need training? Absolutely. But blindly saying pet dog training is recession-proof leads people off the proverbial bridge without a parachute.
Remember March 2020? Yea. I debunk the pet industry as unshakable.
Me, you, your business best friend, your competitor down the street, and the multi-million dollar dog training franchise all make (sometimes emotional) decisions that impact our businesses. When a recession is looming, you need to decide whether to adjust and adapt your dog training business or crawl in a hole and give up.
Let's go over some adjustments you can make to recession-proof your dog training business.
The CRITICAL First Step To Make Your Dog Training Business Recession-Proof
First off, you have to make your MIND recession-proof. When you know WHAT'S happening, you DON'T fear it.
Before we jump into financial planning, pricing, and hidden opportunities during a recession, you need to check in with yourself and evaluate what kind of information you're consuming.
Keep in mind that any news article, news platform, social media platforms, or shit, even the so-called dog training gurus, all want your attention. Many will push you to PANIC about what's happening because they are LIVING off your attention.
They use sensational headlines and articles that are meant to click and share. Why? Clicks drive traffic. Traffic drives sales. Headlines that induce panic and anxiety get your attention. I even had a sponsored ad that said, "get dog training clients even in a recession."
Your attention = $$$$. Doomsdayers are fighting for your attention for profit.
So, step 1 to recession-proof your dog business:
Be fucking mindful and protective of the information you consume as a dog biz owner. That includes what you read, listen to, WHOM you listen to, and the environments you spend your time (social media groups, cough cough) in. Be overly protective of your mental health.
We can help you with strategies, financial plans, and everything else for your dog training business, but if you're surrounding yourself with friends, peers, colleagues, and (family) that are constantly bitching about problems and never talking about solutions, you'll struggle.
If you hear, "Yeah, no one will buy a high-priced dog training program because #hashtag inflation and recession," or you hear that the chicken littles are freaking the fuck out and doing reactive shit like dropping their prices, then take a deep breath, relax, and throw up some boundaries around yourself.
Recessions are an opportunity to make a change, but you can't afford to listen to fear or other bullshit that makes you small. Keep that pervasive fucking negativity from seeping into your subconscious like seeds of doubt and poison. Then, find like-minded people who share your passion and ambition.
For example, Dog Biz School created a community for our clients and students that blocks out all the fucking bullshit noise and supports our dog trainers as they are unapologetic about their goals and results. It makes it easy to keep your focus where it fucking should be: on dog training.
Safeguard your mental health. Find peeps that will support your vision and goals as you're preparing your dog training business for a recession and make friends with them.
Not Trying To Doomsday…But a Recession is Coming
So what exactly is a recession?
"A period of temporary economic decline during which trade and industrial activity are reduced, generally identified by a fall in GDP (gross domestic product) in two successive quarters - usually 15 months or so."
In plain speak, this means spending slows down. You usually hear about mass layoffs, reduction in hiring, people restricting spending, and being more mindful of their investments. Recessions especially impact the working middle class.
I'm going to say this with confidence - a recession is coming. And so will another after that. We will see many recessions during our lifetime. This is the economic cycle. And listen, recessions can be scary…
I'm an elder millennial that was barely into my corporate career when 2008 hit. It was a frightening time. Baby-faced 26-year-old me sat in meetings where the fate of people that served our tech company for 20, 30, or even 40 years was deemed expendable. Just names on the paper, while leadership walked away with multi-million dollar severance packages, only to be brought back later as consultants or work for their buddies in another fortune 50.
It was sobering and my first real glimpse into capitalism.
Experiences like this have shown me how you can run a thriving dog training business in a recession while everyone else is paralyzed by fear.
Here are three important aspects of your dog training business that you should revisit during this recession and the next one:
Financial Planning
Get your dog business emergency fund AND your personal emergency fund in order. This means that you have three months of readily accessible capital for your dog training business, PLUS three months of personal expenses, adjusted to current inflation.
One of the first pieces of coursework we put ALL of our Dog Biz School students is our financial education for dog trainers and dog biz owners. We remind everyone every quarter to do an in-depth quarterly review. No matter if you're making 3k a month or 100k a month, this exercise is a must during times of volatility.
Having a high-yield savings account is also more critical than ever; look for one with a 1% rate. Now, if you're like fuck, Kristen, I barely have anything in savings, you'll definitely want to pay attention to what's next…
Pricing and Programs
Check-in with your prices and programs. Make adjustments to both. For more info on how to do that, download my guide to Give Yourself A Fucking Raise - The Guide For Dog Trainers.
If you're already saying, Kristen, I can't charge more because of where I live and my service area - this is where your programs come into play. This is the opportunity to start changing your service offering and programs.
This is not me saying, "Hey, build virtual-only dog training." We saw that the low-priced, virtual-only dog training programs sank in 2020-2021. I'm talking about building a program (fusion) that allows you to become a dog biz without borders. If you're a dog walker, it's time to look honestly at how you're structured with your offers. We’ve talked about it before, but the traditional dog walking and petsitting model is quickly disappearing.
Find Hidden Opportunities
Have you been offering the same services to the same people and running boring-ass offers for the last five years?
What are some things you've wanted to do with your dog training business? Like, really cool, experiential shit (retreats, trips, etc.) that you just haven't had the time to do because you're stuck in dog training purgatory.
Breaking your routines and getting outside your comfort zone can reveal new opportunities in your dog-owning market.
Take some time to reflect on your strategies from a 30,000 ft perspective as you prepare your dog training business for recession. Identify what's essential, what's hopeful, and what is past its prime.
Don't let discomfort or fear of change keep you from taking a calculated risk.
Final Thoughts
Now, not to sound all woo-woo, but if all we do is focus on the disaster and omg, everything is falling, and the world is on fire (well, that part is actual) - that's allllllll we end up seeing. It's our choice to interpret things as an obstacle or an opportunity. Be mindful of what you consume and who you listen to.
As this recession looms, you'll need to feel empowered and in control of your dog training business. You'll need to find new training opportunities and make the right adjustments at the right time.
If you stumble, never forget you have help here. We're not selling you shit. We want to see dog trainers use this recession as an opportunity to improve because that's exactly what this recession is: an opportunity.
