We all have to eat, sleep, pay our taxes (uh), and most of us have to work. With the economy in the dumps, most people are staying at home and NOT spending money on non- essentials.

At the very least, what is considered to be essential has changed. Other than eating and sleeping, the two things which most Brits will spend money on is kids and pets, and not necessarily in that order (just kidding).

Businesses that are holding up reasonably well, and in some cases very well in the current economy, are those that cater to children and/or pets.

As a franchise development and sales consultant, I'm in close contact with my clients who tell me exactly what's going on in their world. You would be surprised how well many of them are doing.

As time goes on I'll be submitting more articles about businesses that do well in tough economic times.

People love their pets. One business that continues to do well in spite of the current economy is home based dog training. One of my client's which has recently franchised trains dogs in their owners' homes.

In home dog training is thriving even in the current economy. People are staying home more and going out less, spending more time at home "with" their dogs.

Many of us will sacrifice for our pets as they are more than just companions; they're members of our family. In times when things are not good economically, even though a dog is an expense, most people do not look at it that way.

Based on what I have been seeing the last few months, there seems to be a lot of business out there for anyone that knows what they are doing in the dog training space.

This franchise business however is a lot more than just training dogs; it is a business. In order to have the highest probability of success one must understand what the business entails.

If a person sells hamburgers, of course the hamburgers must be good, but there's a lot more to being a successful hamburger franchise than just making a decent burger. You must understand and execute the "burger business." Professional dog training is no different.

There are many ways to learn to become a dog trainer, but just graduating from dog training school does not mean a person will be successful making a living as one. Like all businesses there is sales, marketing, and operations to consider.

Without these a dog trainer is just a person that knows how to train dogs, not necessarily a person that makes enough to pay their bills in that business.

Franchises are complete business systems. This is just one of many reasons why franchising is so attractive and successful compared to starting a business by oneself.

Professional in-home dog trainers generally earn between £400 and £600 per dog trained. This is usually accomplished in one to three sessions lasting on average a couple of hours. One does not need an advanced math degree to realize a person can make a pretty good living as a competent professional dog trainer.