It’s never too early to start planning for your future. Adulthood will be upon you before you know it. When it comes, the world will place a different set of expectations upon you, the most important of which is the expectation that you will make yourself useful. For most people, making themselves useful means getting a job. That’s good, but you can do better. The fact that you’ve picked up this report means that you are looking for a career.

What’s the difference? People with jobs do what they are required to do to bring home a paycheck. People with careers do the same thing, but they do it with enthusiasm, ambition, creativity and goals. They approach their jobs as daily challenges not only to be accomplished, but to be improved upon. People with careers make the decisions that make the world go ‘round. People with jobs just work for a living. Who would you rather be?

You may have already begun your career. You didn’t pick up this report on careers in the retail pet industry by accident. You probably already have a pet, or many pets, and are pretty far along on many of the skills you’ll need to own and operate or work in a pet shop. It’s a pretty good bet that the animals in your care are lucky critters and get proper nutrition, veterinary care and, most importantly, Tender Loving Care, or TLC. If so, you may be a good candidate to carve a career out of something you love to do, and there’s nothing as satisfying as that.

Pets are big, big business in the United States. In 1981 there were 44 million pet cats and 54 million pet dogs in the US. By 2004, there were 78 million cats and 65 million dogs. In the decade from 1994 to 2004 consumer spending on pets doubled, rising from $17 billion to $34 billion. Pet owners spend about $14 billion a year just on pet food, and another $8 billion on veterinary care. Most of the remaining $12 billion is spent on pet supplies and accessories, grooming and boarding, and purchasing the pets in the first place. By comparison, Americans spend only about $20 billion per year on toys for children. After adding the cost of food, clothing, education and shelter, adults spend more money on their children than they do on their pets, but not as much more as you might think!

Now is an excellent time to be pursuing a career in the retail pet business. Growth in sales is outpacing inflation, and looks likely to do so for the foreseeable future. Various theories have been put forward to explain this trend, among them the tendency of young adults to put off having children until later in life, or not at all, and the widespread scientific evidence suggesting that pet ownership is good for your health. Either way, there’s no time like the present to pursue this career field.