How do you find out whether your idea for begining a business will be lucrative enough in your area?

Question

I am thinking of taking a dog training, grooming course and offering dog walking, training, grooming to the community where I live. I need to know if this service will be well recieved or not. How do I find this out?

Answer 1

Market research. There are a few ways to do this. The easiest, is to hire someone to do it for you.
The idea might be well received, but you need to make sure that it IS received.
The most basic answer would be for you to ask some people with pets if they'd hire you, should you go forward with your idea.

Answer 2

Look in the telephone book to see if any other business like your idea are in the community already. Then ask friends and family to fill out a survey with a few questions like:
When purchasing a new dog how likely are you to pay for the dog to be trained?
How often do you get your dog groomed a month?
Would you trust someone else to walk your precious pooch?