Cat Cafe Business

Cat Cafes are coffee shops that also provide cat petting activities. Clients pay an hourly rate or fixed charge to play with cats while enjoying coffee shop amenities and food. The first cat cafe opened in Taiwan in 1998.

It then spread to Japan where it became very popular due to the fact that many busy pet lovers do not have time to care for pets full-time and also due to the fact that many rental accommodations in Japan do not allow pets in their rental units. It has since spread to other parts of the world.

Cleanliness

Since patrons eat and socialise in areas where animals (the cats) inhabit the area the subject of health and hygiene is an issue. If you are interested in opening a cat cafe you should consider not only the local health regulation laws in your area but more importantly the health and hygiene of your customers.

Your local government may impose that you keep separate dining and cat petting facilities as well as washing facilities in your establishment where customers can clean themselves after petting the cats. You may also be instructed to keep food items insulated from cat access if ever they allow you to combine your dining and cat petting facilities.

Cleanliness is the utmost concern when maintaining cats. Cats just like any animals with fur shed them on a regular basis. So sweeping and dusting the entire cat petting facility should be done regularly. There is also the matter of cats peeing, defecating and vomiting. Cats are notoriously difficult to toilet train so the speedy and hygienic cleaning of cat wastes is also important.

Do not take the issue of cat shedding furs lightly. Cats shed fur everyday and will go through large scale fur shading once or twice a year. Cats also unwillingly ingest their own fur when they groom themselves. Cats regularly vomit fur balls as a result of this. You need to regularly comb or groom your cat’s fur to prevent this from happening.

Whether your cats are taken from the local pound, donated or you brought them yourselves local law regulations may require that health and medical checks be first performed on the cats. Local law regulations may also require that health and medical checks be performed regularly on cats. Cats may be checked too for aggressive behaviour if they are petted.

Products and Services You Can Offer

There are also a variety of monetisation methods you can do to be profitable. You can charge an hourly rate or a fixed rate to access all the facilities within the business premises. Alternatively one can charge separate rates for the cafe and petting facilities because there will be clients who would prefer to spend more time petting cats rather than socialising in the cafe.

You could also offer merchandise for cats like toys, grooming and food besides offering cafe food. You could also offer media preferably related to cats like magazines, books, posters and videos. These are normal earning strategies you can employ to earn from your cat cafe business.

You can grow your business by being active in social media. You can take cute pictures of your cats in different backgrounds and post them online. You can create videos of your cats and upload them to YouTube. Cat product companies may see your posts and may provide you with advertising revenues and even a tie up with their products to your cafe.

There are still other ways of earning from your cat cafe business but what is important is the welfare of your cats. An article by Mashed titled The dirty truth about cat cafes tells of the harrowing stories of cats in many cat cafes around the world who are neglected, abused and are even left to die by their owners.

Conclusion

It is no secret that cat cafes can be profitable especially if you setup your business in Japan where they are popular and almost a necessity for some cat lovers. What you need to do to be successful is to find where cat lovers and even just plain animals lovers congregate online and get their support. You can even make your cat cafe virtual online and get online earnings.