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 The question we are asking is whether we are fooling ourselves into thinking we can make this a reality w/ no capital? Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.

I would suppose that the answer to this goes back to the addage of "it takes money to make money". That said nothing is impossible, you're just going to have to figure out how to think outside the box, start small and scale up as clientel and income increase.

In my case specifically, I purchased a commercial building. However, that does not mean that I laid out X hundreds of thousands of dollars to complete that purchase. I had a meager savings and the rest of was loan. I was able to get a loan with essentially no downpayment as the building already had occupants, that paid rent. 

I bought the building and began to build this business in a 1000 sq/ft storage warehouse that was located inside the rear of the building. Over time as I gained more clients and needed more space I would simple not renew a lease, get rid of that tenant and take over their space and use it for my own needs. The end result was that over the course of a few years I went from that little space in the rear of the building to utilizing every square foot of the 8000 sq/ft building and needing more.

Apply this to your situation. If yo have "no capital", then groom from home, or watch dogs at your house (this is not legal in some areas) or start a dog walking business etc. Use the income you make to create some savings to upgrade from there. Then rent a small space somewhere, then buy a place, etc. wash rinse repeat..

Nothing is impossible, just some things are more difficult than others...

There are a great many facets to your post. First off thank you for your service. I was Marine EOD myself. I was stationed on a few AF bases as an augment on TAD for AF EOD and let me say you guys got it nice.

Moving on. Purchasing a building is what I did, you just have to make sure that you examine the building and look at its "bones" so to speak and see if it will allow you to do what you want.

Where are load bearing walls, where is the service panel, where is the HVAC, the plumbing, bathrooms etc. Remember aside from oddly placed load bearing walls in some structures a building is nothing more than 4 walls and a roof. In many cases what looks crowded an not usuable is just framed interior walls that can be torn down and removed with little effort. 

If your handy it makes it that much easier. I know at my location if FL. the county had a owner/build permit where you could to the work yourself, get the inspections and eventually a CO with no contractors needed. 

I can't really put myself out on a limb here and say "there would be absolutely no health risks to the dogs at this location". What I can say is property value is typically determined by attributes and faults, thus this property may be attractively priced due to the pesticide fault. 

Can the risks be mitigated? I'm sure, you could problably have a Dozer operator with something as small as a Cat D4 come in and push the top 18 inches into a pile and have it hauled off and new clean fill dirt brought in. Then pave and turf over and I would "ASSUME" that would mitigate the issues with pesticide in the soil. Not sure where it could be hauled to. 

Additionally pretty much everything with the exception of some termite pesticides used in the 80's has a relatively short half life and will break down over time. There was one toxin, I can't think of now (my dad worked at ORKIN) that lasted 30 years and was removed from use because of that fact. 

I would personally be more concerned about the long term health risks to myself, my staff, possible ground water polution etc. Its a tough situation and one that you will have to way the pros and cons of. 

Saturation is a very subjective determination. What should be the determining factor is a cost analysis and demographic data. If every daycare in your area is booked up then there is most likely room for another, but at a point saturation can surely occur. What I would suggest if you are looking to open in an area with a lot of existing DDC facilities is to find a way to set yourself apart and offer services that they do not have. Also consider rent, costs, zoning etc. 

What safety concerns are you having?

Thank You, I try and keep the information both current and informative.

Thanks for the post, however, I'm not exactly sure what it is that your asking. The post is pretty open ended and does not really ask a question. As a generallity I can say that the information you find here in regards to how to determine your demographics, set prices etc. will work regardless of the area. Do your research, and understand that you are not opening a business so you can play with dogs all day, you are opening a business so you profit from providing an excellent service to you clients. If you have specific questions about different aspects of the business you can always post a topic in the forum. I check the site everyday and am trying to get a bit more of a community going. Additionally, questions asked of me and answered in the forum may help others with similiar questions. Thanks.

That is a very open ended question and to be honest can be as short as a few months or take as long as a year. It is not going to depend so much on weather as it will on finances, what type of build out you are completing, permiting time, construction schedules etc. The more complex the process the longer it is going to take. For example if you are simply going into a strip mall and doing a quick interior remodel then it could be done (in most cases) with permitting in a few months. If you are building a facility from the ground up (construction the building, grounds, etc) then it could take a year or more. Hope this helps.

No problem, I'm glad you found the information useful..If you have any questions feel free to post them in the forum.

Much of what we can offer you is going to depend on how much pet industry experience you currently have. Services range from simple phone and email consultations, whereas you can call or email questions regarding design and operation to us and we will answer them to full out on site design and operations training. As each situation is unique and there are a great many variables from one operation and individual to the next there is no way to quote a "flat price" without knowing the details of what and who we are currently working with and what the end goal is expected to be.

While I would like to be able to point you to a specific package and say this is all you are going to need, that is not necessarily possible. What your are going to need in terms of preparation/documentation to start a dog daycare in your location is going to depend on the demographics of the area ie. how do Peruvians feel about dogs? Are they members of the family or just outside creatures?, What is the median income of your area? Can people in your area afford to pay for the service you wish to provide? and if they can, can they pay enough to make it profitable for you? What are the costs associated with renting or owning property in your area? These are all questions you need to answer before throwing money at any one package or supposed cure all. As business is business, whether it be an ice cream stand or a dog daycare, the principles are the same.. supply and demand. If dog daycare is a service that could or is in demand in your area then it may be a good idea to look into.. If it is something the "you" want to do because you love animals, regardless of what the over whelming societal view of dogs in your area, then it may not be a good idea. I would start by reading the how to start a dog daycare manual from front to back.. You can read it online for free, or you can purchase and download a copy for your own use.

If you are sincere in your desire to get started then go to the forum section and make a few posts and I will be glad to answer as many basic questions for you as I can.

Not a problem, we offer a variety of services to help get you started. If you would like you can use the contact us form to email us directly and we can discuss what options would work best for you. Additionally, there is a wealth of information available on this site that cover both our successes and failures to help you avoid some of the common pitfalls to just starting out -----Richard,