I have a goal I am working on at the moment. I would love to attend CRUFTS 2024. I visited the event for the first time in March 2023. I was blown away at the sheer scale of the event. It was such an amazing day. Dogs everywhere, lots of people and very busy trade stands.
The biggest thing I noticed was that not one stand was selling bandana and bow bundles for dog groomers. Lots of shampoos, lotions and potions. Scissors, clippers and tables. Of course this started the mind going and I was surprised to see it wasn’t just dog themed stands at Crufts.
There was a chap selling this super absorbent mops and another was selling swirly sparkly light up gin. All doing very well and were very busy. Says a lot doesn’t it? All dog lovers need a good mop and a decent gin after all.
The attendance for CRUFTS last year was over 155,000, that's 15% up on the previous year. With over 19,000 dogs competing from 48 countries. Overall though there were a total of 24,000 dogs 2023. The total amount spent in 2023 has not yet been confirmed, however 2022 was in excess of £27,000,000. Just mind blowing numbers.
In my business it's important to understand the market and industry if I want to build a successful business. It's all about knowing your target market. I have started to collect information and data to help me make my decision. As a part of my journey I have found this website containing some stats that might be of interest to you.
For instance, did you know that Brits spend on average £2136 a year or £178 a month on their dogs? 10 Billion pounds a year is spent on pets in the UK every year? But my favourite stat is 32% buy treats and gifts more often for their pets than their partners. Sian only went shopping for bread and came back with a rainbow leopard print harness for Indie.
The website has some really useful information if you run a dog grooming business. It even breaks it down to the biggest area population for dogs and currently it's the South East. There is now denying the industry as a whole is growing. The size of the UK pet grooming market was estimated to be worth £432 million in 2022 and 80% of that was spent on dog grooming alone.*
Knowing your numbers is the basics of any business. I will be drilling down my numbers in the coming weeks before I make a decision. If I dont attend I have still learnt so much by going back to my numbers. When was the last time you looked at your numbers? If you looked at them now, what would they show you?
Source* - Dog Breeds Expert