Aussie Pooch MobileExecutive SummaryThe establishment of Aussie Pooch Mobile has been a continuously growing business since its founding in 1991. Dog washing with value-added ancillary services has brought Aussie to become a dominant company in the market. The introduction of the franchising system rapidly increased profitability and the company continued to follow the successful franchising strategy. Aussie Pooch Mobile was considering becoming a more international company and expanding internationally. In the expansion process several questions need to be considered: where, when and how should the company expand? Which products and services are needed to be successful in the future? Increasing competition can influence all Aussie decisions, so they must be aware of the demand and possibilities in different countries, before expanding internationally. Situation AnalysisAussie Pooch Mobile is Australia's largest mobile dog washing and grooming company, offering a service that is brought directly to customers' homes. Their image in the market is great with this mobile service plus adding free additional services for customers on dog diet, health care and skin problems. According to the technology they use special hydrobathing equipment that allows operators to clean dogs more thoroughly than is possible in a simple home garden. They experienced that such a special bath could reduce and eliminate fleas and ticks, improve skin condition, clean fur and eliminate odors. Their goal is to create a niche in the dog bathing industry and try to go international. Of the Australian population of 19.387 million (2001), 40% or 7.4 million households owned at least one dog. Here... half of the paper ......vice• The service sector is growing• The family model is changing (double income families who don't have time)• More and more people decide to have a dog Threats:• Growing competition (Jim's Dogwash and Hydrodog)• Recruitment problems in other markets (the problem Jim's Group had in the US market)• Unknown potential of international markets (lack of information)Table 2The three main dog wash providers in Australia , in 2002 Name Operation in Countries No. of Franchisees Dog Wash Fee Extra Services Franchise Fee (incl. GST) Average Franchise Territory (based on number of homes)Aussie Pooch Mobile Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, Malaysia, United Kingdom 140 $15-30 Yes $26,400 12,000Jim's Dogwash Australia, New Zealand 74 $28-38 No $11,000 2,000Hydrodog Australia 69 $15-40 Yes $24,500 10,000 References http://www.appma.org/press_industrytrends.asp