21 Pros & Cons Of Starting A Cat Treats Brand (2024)

Flexibility

You can put as much time into the business as you'd like. If you like the work and have some initial experience, you can start small and manage all aspects of the business on your own.

Ability to start your business from home

It's not necessary to have a physical storefront or office space to get your business started. You can do everything from the comfort of your own home, at least in the beginning!

Rewarding work

Starting a cat treats brand can be really rewarding work. After all, you are solving an immediate issue for your customer and you're working on something you truly care about.

Scalable

With businesses and processes changing daily, there will always be demand for new features, products and services for your business. Additionally, there are several different business models and pricing tiers you can implement that will allow you to reach all types of customers.

Meaningful business connections

You never know who you will meet as a cat treats brand. This could be the start of an incredible business opportunity!

High customer retention rates

Once a customer invests in your product, they've invested their time and energy to utilize your product/service which is highly valuable to them. Typically, your product or service becomes indispensable to your customer.

Quick build time

The average time it takes to build your product is quick - typically around 11 months. This will allow you to bring your product to market faster.

Easy to encourage "impulse buy"

In the cat treats brand, you have a much higher chance of encouraging your customers to buy on impulse - you can easily alter the price, placement, packaging, and promotional value to influence the decision of your buyer.

Amazing perks and discounts

Working in the cat treats brand comes with its perks! As a seller for these products/services, you typically also get to enjoy industry perks and discounts.

You are your own boss!

With starting a cat treats brand, you are the one to make decisions for almost all of the operations. Calling the shots can be empowering and liberating!

Local Community

One of the best parts of starting a cat treats brand is that you can develop a local following by selling your products at craft shows, farmers' markets, or even local storefront businesses! This gives you access to additional revenue streams and loyal customers.

Higher likelihood of getting referrals

This business is all about referrals, which can be a a very impactful way to attract and retain customers. It's critical that you have a great referral program in place that incentivizes your customers to tell their friends about your product.

You can sell your product in various places!

There are various different markets to sell your product, which will help you reach different audiences and revenue streams.

Crowded Space

Competition is high when it comes to your cat treats brand, 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.

Motivation of employees

If you plan to have a sales/content team on board, finding creative ways to motivate them can be a challenge. It's important that you're able to offer great incentives and a good work environment for your employees.

Niche Market

A niche business is not necessarily a bad thing, in fact, it can be the key to your success. However, it can be more challenging and time consuming to find the perfect niche market and target audience.

High overhead expenses

With starting a cat treats brand, 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

Time commitment

With starting a cat treats brand, all responsibilities and decisions are in your hands. Although this is not necessarily a negative thing, work life can take over at times. This can place a strain on friends and family and add to the pressure of launching a new business.

Strict regulations

With any cat treats brand, there are strict rules and regulations as it relates to processing your product. You must follow these regulations specifically, or significant legal issues could occur.