"Mr Formicelli is the most successful
pet shop operator in Singapore. He sells more than 40 puppies a
month. Once he sold as many as 11 puppies over one
week-end," an ex-employee told me when she came to me for a
veterinary consultation.
Mrs Formicelli had
been asking me whether there was anybody selling Golden Retrievers
as she had ready customers and I visited her at least twice a week
to vaccinate her puppies. This was one factor of
success.
- Source your supplies not easily available from people in your
network.
I phoned Mr Formicelli to tell him that there were nine very
good-looking puppies for sale.
"Ask the home breeder to bring his puppies to my pet shop
tomorrow," Mr Formicelli said when I told him that I had just
vaccinated nine very attractive Labrador Retriever puppies.
Labrador Retrievers are not Golden Retrievers but they were
irresistible and the home breeder wanted to sell them as they
could be a noise nuisance to his neighbour.
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I relayed the message to the home breeder. The breeder shook
his head, "Why should I bring the puppies to the pet shop and then
bring them back again if Mr Formicelli does not want them? I can
easily sell them myself."
His Mercedes car definitely could not fit in 9 big breed puppies.
Besides, he did not wish to dirty his new $250,000 car. The
puppies were so cute and should sell quickly as the breeder did
not ask high prices.
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A ready buyer and a genuine seller. The dog agent was me, a
veterinary surgeon. But I did not get a commission from either
party, unlike the housing agent.
I had insider information because I was vaccinating puppies, but
any follow-up by me would be misconstrued by the parties that I
was "a vet who sells puppies for a living". It was a
golden opportunity for Mr Formicelli.
Selling 9 puppies would give him a 50% gross profit. But the
after-sales of pet accessories and dog food would add another
10%. Assuming he made $500 from one puppy, he would make $4,500
for 9 puppies. Add in $450 for the after-sales and his gross
profit less cost of puppies would be $4,950. If he was
pro-active to go to the home breeder fast.
 More
buyers would be referred to him as they come to know he sells
high quality puppies. More money to be made. I came to the
conclusion that the pet shop retail business is a numbers game,
starting with puppy sales. If you don't sell lots of
puppies, you cannot be at the top of the pet shop business.
But, here Mr Formicelli was asking the Seller to go to see him.
You have to see him if you want to do business with him.
Just like Singapore bankers in the 1970s. If you wanted a bank
loan, you just had to make an appointment to see the banker.
To be continued....
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 Readers
who wish to share their experiences, please email your information to judy@sinpets.com. This educational article is extracted from the book, "How Your
Puppy Can Live Longer". It is sponsored by asiahomes.com,
"affordable homes for expatriates". Pictures are ©
asiahomes.com
Last
updated:
05 Jan 2005
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