Frequently Asked Questions
Learn More About How to Open a K-9 Companions – Boot Camp Franchise With Us
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We look for potential franchise owners who love dogs and understand the value pets offer to families and individuals. If you come from the industry, great – but if not, we’ll assume you are financially qualified with prior business ownership or management experience, who understand customer-facing operations, B2C sales, and team leadership. We prefer that our franchisees be owner-operators who are directly involved in the business, but under the right circumstances, we may work with semi-absentee franchise investor-owners.
Your training begins with 12 weeks of online training and a 4-week trip to our headquarters in Mount Juliet, Tennessee for you and two key members of your team. You’ll receive training in every aspect of the business, with both classroom and in-the-field training. We will also join you onsite for three days at your location near the time of your Grand Opening. After 6 months, you will return to headquarters for 3 weeks for Level 2 training, and after one year in business, you’ll return for Level 3 training. Our team will guide and coach you through everything you need to know to open a dog training franchise with confidence. Of course, you’ll have access to our detailed confidential operations manual, which includes every detail of dog training, as well as established operating practices, so you can replicate the full K-9 Companions – Boot Camp experience in your community.
We do not provide direct financing to franchise owners, but we may refer to financing sources on a case-by-case basis.
We collect an 8% royalty fee based on gross revenues each month. Fees such as this allow us to fund our ongoing support services, as well as the continued development of techniques and procedures, team resources, marketing tools, training programs, and systems upgrades. For a full list of fees and requirements, please refer to our Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
The initial term of your agreement is 10 years, with two subsequent successor agreement options of 5 years each. With that, you have a business you can continue to grow, and a legacy you can leave for your community and family.
Franchise owners will contribute 2% (this may increase to up to 3%) of gross revenues to the brand marketing fund. Collected funds will be used to develop marketing strategies to promote the brand and cover the creative costs to create brand marketing materials and campaigns. Franchisees will also be required to invest the greater of $2,000 per month or 8% of gross revenues in local marketing on an ongoing basis, and are expected to spend between $20,000 and $30,000 on their Grand Opening promotions within 90 days of opening their business. For a full list of fees and requirements, please refer to our Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
We are currently focused on the southeastern United States: Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Arkansas. We are open to discussing other states depending on registration and regulations.
We are a luxury brand. As such, we require a minimum of 5 acres of well-manicured land. Exceptions may be made in a city environment where land may not be an option, although the location must still reflect a luxury brand. We also require state-of-the-art kennels and a consistent architectural design. We strive to be family friendly with other animals, and water features for aesthetics. We also use aesthetics for training and photography purposes to promote the brand.
Each territory is a minimum of 500K potential clients with the right financial standing to afford the training. We utilize a professional demographic service in order to make sure that each franchise has a similar demographic.
We require that you establish one territory to capacity prior to requesting the purchase of an additional territory. You may request first right of refusal if you are in good standing with your original territory.
You can begin to offer training services on site or in-home as soon as you finish your online and in-person course. This helps you to start developing your client base and get your feet wet as a trainer. Depending on whether the franchisee is starting with an already established kennel, land, or is starting from scratch, time frames to be fully up, and running will vary based on the time it takes to get permits and build. In general, it will take more time in states with more difficult regulations.
The brand is based around the Boot Camp model (2-4 weeks in kennel, followed by lessons on site, and in the client’s home), but we also offer limited private lessons on site, and in the client’s home for family dogs only. Service and Therapy Dogs can only be trained with the Boot Camp model because of the high standards required.
Franchisees will be put through three different levels of training spaced six months apart. The first level will consist of basic obedience, problem solving, and manners. This is the typical family dog training and also forms the foundation for more specialized training such as service and therapy dog training.
The second level of training will consist of off-leash obedience training, CGC (Canine Good Citizen) training, and an area of focus such as Service Dog task training, Therapy Dog training, or agility training.
The third level of training is for service or therapy dogs only. Public Access, as the name implies, is training the dogs in public. Teaching dogs to be polite in a variety of public areas, lay under restaurant tables, navigate elevators and escalators, and walk next to shopping carts.
Every level builds upon the previous level. In addition, every level requires the owner to be trained to properly handle the dog. This is one of the things that sets our franchise apart, in that we have high standards and offer these services that currently only a small percentage of trainers offer.
If you’re interested in learning more about how to open a dog training franchise within our franchise family, fill out our form below.
Let’s discuss setting up a meeting, speaking with our franchise team, and receiving our FDD so you will have all the crucial details you’ll need to make an informed decision.
