Animal career database

Here's a great link to a whole wealth of info on animal careers.

Pet entrepreneurs in the spotlight

Anyone near the pet industry knows that this sector of the economy remains strong. And investors agree.

The Northwest Entrepreneur Network, a leading investment group in the Pacific Northwest, has selected two businesses to participate in their Early Stage Investment Forum. to be held on May 9. Chosen from over 80 applicants, most of them tech-based, these businesses will present 10-minute pitches to an audience of investors. The goal of the businesses are to create buzz for their idea, and raise money to help start or grow their enterprise.

The two businesses are: Darwin's Natural Pet Products and DERMagic Skin Care for Animals, Inc.

Congrats to these two businesses!

Swimming Upstream for Profits

It sucks when you invest loads of money in becoming NYC's only doggie swim center, and then your landlord jacks up your rent 64%. The owner was forced to shut down two days before Christmas and layoff 15 staffers.

According to the Jan 14 New York magazine article by Andrew Adam Newman (Newman!), there currently are no canine swim centers in the 5 boroughs, and the Big Apple pet scene appears to be shaking out other pet businesses too.

"I think everyone thinks, 'Boy this dog business will be a lot of fun to be in,' but the economics are really tough," said one Manhattan-based dog walking service owner.

Lesson here? Make sure when you make large investments into infrastructure (like a pool and special filtration systems) that you lock your landlord into a rent-increase structure that limits the annual increases. Even better? Set the term of your lease to equal the payback period for the cost of the infrastructure investment. Example: If it is going to take 3 years of profits to pay off the equipment costs, then set your lease for 4 yrs. This will ensure you make back your money from the equipment, with a little profit left over in case you are forced to move out at the end of the lease.

Ho Ho Have a flyer

I had business in downtown Seattle yesterday, and I came away with a full dose of holiday spirit. Nevermind the rain, the 4 cops getting yelled at by the homeless guy, the car that ran the redlight and nearly ran me over. Nope. Nothing could deter my holidaygleeishness.

I had some time before my appointment, and wandered over to Pike Place Market for lunch. (Actually, I had lunch at the pasta bar in the "Sanitary Market" across the street, which is less touristy and you don't have to watch for flying fish.)

The entire downtown is in full holiday mode, and spending 10 mins in the market can really get you revved up for the holidays. It's just a darned happy place and the decorations and gifts and smells really make for a nice way to kill a half-hour.

After my meeting, I just missed my bus (see: car running red light above), so while sipping an eggnog latte and waiting for the next bus, I wandered through Westlake Park, which is the epicenter of all things Noel.

I noticed a banner above the stage erected at the center of the park. "Pet Day Dec 1. Have your photo taken with Santa". What a great opportunity for meeting new clients. People will have their pets (and their wallets), be in a festive mood, and will be a captive audience (ie they will be standing in line).

Here are some tips on how to "work" and event like this:

1) Create a short pitch. "Hi! What a cute pup/cat/bird you have there. I'm Jenny and I have a dog walking service. Here's my card. If you ever need a dog walker, give me a ring." Short and simple and give them a way to contact you.

2) Make sure your cards or flyers inlcude your name, phone, email and website. (Need any of these? Contact us at Chew Toy Media for a free consult.)

3) Sell products? Have samples to show or a backpack full of inventory to sell. Have ample change to enable you to make a quick easy sale. Round off prices. Check with the event organizer about prohibitions on vending on site.

4) Sell services? Pass out flyers detailing your skills. Sell gift certificates. (They are instant cash, and between 6-19% don't get used.) Do demonstrations, but keep them short and ask onlookers to take a card or flyer if you can't hand one to them yourself.

5) Have fun. Smile and create a buzz. People want to be associated with happy people. Wear something festive.

6) Ask people to sign up for your mailing list. Make follow-up calls.

7) Take notes afterward on ways to better work this event next year.

You'll be amazed at how quickly time will fly, and you'll walk away from the event with new energy and your own dose of holiday spirit.

Spot the Trend!

Our local paper, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, has a feature article about the growth of do-it-yourself dog washes in our area. This time of year, business really picks up at these establishments, since our pets are now inside most of the time due to inclement weather. Also, a stinky dog can really put a damper on a family gathering during the holidays. So these businesses are doing really well.

"Like most self-service facilities, The Wash Dog offers several private rooms, each equipped with a standing-height stainless steel sink, a board that older or smaller dogs can use to enter and exit the sink and steps that younger dog washers can stand on. Aprons are available for those doing the washing." Rates start at $15 for 30 mins, and most shops offer all sorts of extras like nail clipping, and anal gland expression.

It's a good business model. Provide a service in a fast, efficient way. Set the price point where most people won't hesitate to make the purchase, then offer extras which will push up the total order amount.

However, one point jumped out at me and in the context of starting a NEW animal business. They are turning away business.

The article tells us "an informal count reveals 11 such facilities in the Puget Sound region, and "there are definitely new ones opening up," said Mike Ruffo, 33, co-owner of GroomingSPA Greenlake. "We send others our business if there's too much. There's enough to go around.""

So they get so busy they are turning customers away. And the demand is growing. So in the future, they'll be turning away even MORE customers.

How to fix this? Raise prices. Music to every accountant's ears, but most owners are really reluctant to implement a price increase, for fear of alienating their customers. But if they are turning away customers, aren't they alienating them then too? (Sorry. You have to load your dirty dog back in the car and drive to the ABC dog wash. We are too busy for you. But come back soon, ok?)

But there are ways to raise prices without alienating your customer. How? Add value.

I remember reading over the weekend that a 15-minute shower uses 60 gals of water. I thought that seemed high, so I found this water consumption calculator online. It's true. The average shower head has a rated flow of nearly 4 gallons per minute. So add in a customer using the toilet while at the shop (5 gals), and another 5 gals for washing the towels, and that 15-min dog wash session used a whopping 70 gals of water. At only 8 customers a day, a dog wash uses over 200,000 gallons of water annually.

Anyone who has driven around the Whole Foods parking lot looking for an available space knows that anything green or organic is HOT. So why not merge green and dog washes and create a green dog wash? Install a gray-water recycling system, use green shampoos and cleaning products, install low-flow showerheads, install compact flourescent light bulbs, and whatever else will save water and energy.

Then equally important: TELL EVERYONE! Every media outlet is clamoring for any type of story that has a "green twist". Send out a letter/email to every media outlet. Send emails to your customers. Post signs in your shop (and maybe even add some photos of the rainforest, polar bears, etc to your shop). Add "green" words to your ads.

Here are the messages you want to get across: 1) we are the area's first and only green dog wash, 2) we use XX% less water than our competitors, 3) a green dog is a healthy dog.

So now that you have differentiated your business from all the others AND created a perception of added value over those competitors, you can raise your prices accordingly. How much? Considering the significant barriers to your customers to make the modifications necessary just to meet your business model, I would suggest charging at least 15-20% more than the competition in your area. Call it the Green Premium.

(Photo credit: Meryl Schenker / P-I)

All signs say ???

I spent the afternoon at Microsoft doing some user-interface testing in exchange for free software. I love the whole process of new product development, and it's a great way to see how the 800-lb gorillas start a business. Plus free pop. What a deal.

I live about 4 miles from the testing facility which is on the outskirts of Redmond. The drive home consists of 2-lane roads and the traffic is backed up in the afternoon when school lets out.

As I was putting along at 5mph, I noticed all of the horse farms in the area known as Gunshy Ridge. There were five farms in a 2-mile stretch. All had various forms of signage-- some signs were a little weather worn, while others were looked brand-new.

But not a single one had a web address on their sign. Not one.

More surprisingly, when I returned home, I checked to see if any of these farms even had websites. Four of the five farms did, in fact, have websites. But no one driving by would know it. There are likely 5000 cars a day traveling by these farms. 5000 customers. Every day. Going right on past.

The takeaway?

Whether you are at ground-zero of the tech world, or somewhere else altogether, if you have a website, tell people about it! Spend $100 at your local sign shop and reach those customers!

Creative living

Pet-sitting (and house-sitting) is #10 on the list of the 75 ways to "live on less" in the current Mother Earth News. From Craig Idlebrook's "Live on Less and Love It!" in the Oct-Nov 07 article, caretaking of homes is a great option for those looking for a longer term solution. Caretaker.org is an excellent place for making contact with someone looking for a caretaker.

I've had to cancel a number of vacations in the past due to having trouble finding someone to watch my farm. Well-marketed farm-sitters are in short supply in this area.

What's cooking.....

It's been a week now since our last post, but we here at Animalcareerist.com wanted to let you know that you are not forgotten. I wanted to take a few moments to explain a little about what we have been doing. (And trust us, we've been busy!)

We are getting to ready to spread our wings a little-- launch few new projects at Chew Toy Holdings, start production at Chew Toy Media and even get a little help here at Animalcareerist.com.

In speaking with business advisors over the past weeks, it's become clear that a few of the projects we've been considering have real merit and we are moving ahead with some of them.

Last week, I placed an ad on Craigslist with the headline "Help me Start a Business". The results were amazing. In less than 24 hours, I was contacted by over 20 people. Many had compelling stories, and I was fortunate to meet a handful of these talented people.

The results? A few new projects, and a refocusing of a few others.

Sophie Paladichuck is taking the lead with Chew Toy Media, which is our innovative animal-focused company which is geared toward assisting animal businesses in their sales, marketing and development efforts. Services include logo/image development, search engine ad campaigns, video production, web design. Why choose CTM for these types of work? Because we have decades of experience in the animal world. We know how to reach the customers.

We are also moving forward with an innovative insurance business, which will offer unique insurance products for both the animal owner AND animal business people. The time has come for a new business to step into this market and look at the animal world in a new light. I am in the process of bringing a CFO and Marketing Director to help launch this business.

Perhaps our most exciting new project is our development work in the area of social networks for animal lovers. Our first projects will focus on the horse show markets and the dog show markets, although we have other markets identified. The network platform is complete, and we are hoping to have the prototype available within 6 weeks. We are currently seeking investors for this project.

Lastly, we will be seeking to bring at least two contributors into the Animalcareerist family. More on that later.

More market data

From the American Pet Product Manufacturers Association:

• Americans spent $38.5 billion on pet products and services, with spending expected to surpass $40 billion in 2007.
• 63% of American homes have pets.

From Entrepreneur Magazine, Sept 2007

The number of pet franchises rose 23% between 2005 and 2006 among the Entrepreneur Franchise 500, an index of the top franchise opportunities in the US.

Some stats

In preparing some business documents today, I ran across some statistics regarding the horse show and dog show industries.

From AKC: There are 340,000 registered dogs who participate in 18,500 sanctioned events annually.

From USEF: There are 80,000 riders who participate in 2,700 events annually.

3-2-1 Liftoff!

Welcome to Animalcareerist.com! Join us on a journey into the business side of the animal industry. We'll be covering all aspects of the animal business world: planning your new business, sales and marketing, industry news, products, services, success stories. We'll also incorporate interviews, book reviews and funny stories along the way.

Obviously, every species of animal is different. However, we believe there are common threads to every successful animal business, regardless of the animal or breed specialty. In fact, you can learn a great deal about your area of specialty or interest just by looking at how other markets are being served. (More on this subject later.) So just because a topic is related to a different area of interest, don't click away. Instead, consider how that idea might be incorporated into YOUR own business.

In the meantime, we welcome any comments, tips, and stories you would like to share.