New Member with a Business Idea

[CRusso]

Hey Fastlaners! After a ton of lurking I couldn't help but join. This community is thriving and I want to be a part of it. Hopefully I can provide some value to you guys as I continue to learn.

Currently, I'm a student at my local community college, but I want to blaze my own path. I've never owned a business in the past, but I'm planning on it now. In my spare time I've been reading as much as I can and frequenting this forum to try to soak up some knowledge. I have some money saved up, I'm not afraid of failure, and I have a business idea.

So basically ever since my family bought our dog, she has had so many health issues and has cost us thousands. We looked into pet insurance, but it was just too expensive and not really cost effective. Then after searching I found PetAssure.com and for about $10 a month they allow you to instantly save 25% on your vet bills. They have partnerships with vets and basically entice them with the business they send them. The good part is, unlike insurance, there are no exceptions, claims, etc. Apparently they have about 150,000 members, but they've been around since 1995.

Does this seem like a good business for me to start or should i go back to the drawing board?

I look forward to hearing all your opinions!

Thank you!

 

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[tafy]

Your asking us if you should join this membership thing to save 25% on future vet bills?

 

[CRusso]

[/quote]

Your asking us if you should join this membership thing to save 25% on future vet bills?

Sorry, I wrote that way too confusing... I'm considering starting a similar service and was wondering people's opinions

 

[throttleforward]

It's not the idea, it's the execution. In this case, it's the marketing. Here's how you can get your feet wet - call them up and see if they have an affiliate program. Offer to sign up new folks for a fee. Also offer to get local vets in your area signed up with their service. Then go pound the pavement and do it. Run online and offline ads, walk into vet offices, hang out at pet stores, etc.

You'll find it's crazy hard - you'll not get nearly as many people as you think. But you'll start to get a taste for what it takes to make progress.

Why do it this way and not make your own company? 1) because (I'm assuming) you have very little experience with marketing, so 2) if you can't market an existing business that's been around for 20 years, what makes you think you could market your brand new business with no vet network and no users? And 3) even if you were a marketing pro, what competative advantage would you offer over the existing companies? Do you have any experience in pet insurance, or were you just looking to copy something because it exists?

edit: how rude of me. Welcome to the forum!

 

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[frieden70]

Find out more about the process. Do your research on the service and see what real viability there is to actually accomplishing this.

My guess is that the process for accomplishing something like this could be too much to take on, especially for your first business venture but I could be wrong (nothing against you but just my gut on it). Only way you'll know is by doing the research.

Talk to vets that accept petassure and see what the process is and what pain points they have with it (if any) and see how you could do something better.

Nobody here is going to give you the answers. You'll have to do some more research and come up with hard facts first.

 

[JasonR]

F*ck yah. I'm already in the pet niche - this is on my list to do.

 

[AubreyJ]

I think that it is a good idea, as long as you can find a way to execute it properly

Last year, my dog had 2 ACL surgeries which cost me around $7,000, so this is a service that I would sign up for in a heart beat if it could guarantee 25% savings. And I am sure that there are other people exactly like me who are obsessed with their pets and would love to save money on vet bills

BUT I think that this type of business is a lot harder to start than you may think. I know that whenever I looked for this type of service for my own dog, there where a lot of problems with the process of signing up. For example, my vet doesn't accept insurance, also, every insurance provider I looked into had a lot of rules and regulations surrounding what they would and would not pay for, and in the end I decided that it wouldn't save me a substantial amount of money and so I didn't sign up for any provider, and have since just paid for my dogs operations out of pocket with my money.

So, if you can find a proper way to execute the business, I think it could be great, but it is going to be hard.

 

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[liquidglass]

You don't have a bad idea, heck there are a few ways to improve it which I'll address before I address issues you need to consider.

Improvements
- offer tiers of service (25%, 35%, 45%)
- offer a cheap animal life insurance policy for an additional $5 or $10 a month (added value)
- partner with pet smart and have them offer it for you as an affiliate for a small commission

Issues to consider. (don't think I'm trying to derail you, but these are what would stop most people)
- capital. You need to have money, someone elses money, or a loan to be able to pay out to vets. (idea: have a launch date and get as many people signed up and paid on their first month to get some capital)
- network. This company may have contacts with most vets, how could you build your own network
- value. the 'insurance' and 'life insurance' are both great value added pieces. But you'd need more than that. So bi- weekly emails on animal news and things owners can do (idea: partner/affiliate with petco or petsmart to offer their products through your emails= more capital)
- build a business plan that would project your profit/loss and your break even point. You could offer great services to these people but if you won't break even before 5 years, you'd be running a charity and need to consider if you're willing to go the distance on it.

Good luck!

 

[CRusso]

I think that it is a good idea, as long as you can find a way to execute it properly

Last year, my dog had 2 ACL surgeries which cost me around $7,000, so this is a service that I would sign up for in a heart beat if it could guarantee 25% savings. And I am sure that there are other people exactly like me who are obsessed with their pets and would love to save money on vet bills

BUT I think that this type of business is a lot harder to start than you may think. I know that whenever I looked for this type of service for my own dog, there where a lot of problems with the process of signing up. For example, my vet doesn't accept insurance, also, every insurance provider I looked into had a lot of rules and regulations surrounding what they would and would not pay for, and in the end I decided that it wouldn't save me a substantial amount of money and so I didn't sign up for any provider, and have since just paid for my dogs operations out of pocket with my money.

So, if you can find a proper way to execute the business, I think it could be great, but it is going to be hard.

That's the best part about it... It's not pet insurance. It is as simple as presenting your membership card at the vet and receiving 25% off. Pet insurance is much more costly, has a lot of rules and regulations, and involves work on the clients end (filing claims).

You don't have a bad idea, heck there are a few ways to improve it which I'll address before I address issues you need to consider.
Improvements
- offer tiers of service (25%, 35%, 45%)
- offer a cheap animal life insurance policy for an additional $5 or $10 a month (added value)
- partner with pet smart and have them offer it for you as an affiliate for a small commission
Issues to consider. (don't think I'm trying to derail you, but these are what would stop most people)
- capital. You need to have money, someone elses money, or a loan to be able to pay out to vets. (idea: have a launch date and get as many people signed up and paid on their first month to get some capital)
- network. This company may have contacts with most vets, how could you build your own network
- value. the 'insurance' and 'life insurance' are both great value added pieces. But you'd need more than that. So bi- weekly emails on animal news and things owners can do (idea: partner/affiliate with petco or petsmart to offer their products through your emails= more capital)
- build a business plan that would project your profit/loss and your break even point. You could offer great services to these people but if you won't break even before 5 years, you'd be running a charity and need to consider if you're willing to go the distance on it.
Good luck!

Thank you for your input

I really like your ideas for improvements! The only one I wouldn't be able to offer would be the tiers of service. The Vets offer discounts to our members in exchange for the business we send them. We send them no money and don't compensate them in any way. 25% is a substantial amount, I couldn't imagine them offering any greater of a discount than that.

Regular insurance agencies consider pets "property". Would I be able to offer an "insurance" policy for when their dog passes away/is lost without being licensed? Pet insurance is pretty new so I'm curious about the rules that have been set thus far.

 

[CommonCents]

Don't forget proper pet burial services/products. Many owners don't want to be cheap when putting poofy to bed permanently.

 

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