Tuesday, August 24, 2010 at 4:38:33 PM by Edward Knittel
Everyone knows that having a website is critical for a successful business. But a website alone is not enough to spell success. It has to have a lot of well-written, relevant content to maximize SEO. Not only should it look good and be easy to navigate but it should also be easy to update.
If you're in the pet care industry and you don't have a website or if you feel like your current website and developer aren't doing enough to get you ahead consider contacting Tasty CMS and see if they can help you out. They offer a complete website and content management system that puts you in control of your website.
Friday, February 01, 2008 at 11:35:55 AM by Edward Knittel
Lisa writes in with a very common question for people who are considering opening a doggie daycare:
Hello. I'm interested in starting a doggie daycare in Dutchess County, NY. My friend will be my partner. She is very impulsive and thinks this is going to be easy. I'm more concerned on finding the right place. What kind of place is the right place?? I've checked into two doggie day cares so far and one was in a warehouse with no outdoor grass and the dogs did their business inside. The other was in an old house/storage building with a lot of rooms, but small ones. Help!
While there is no easy answer here's what I told her:
Location. Location. Location.You'll hear that a lot. Where your business is located can make or break you. Choose the right location and you can stand to make a lot of money; choose the wrong one and not only will you not be making any money but you could also find yourself in a long-term lease that you can't get out of which can set you up for financial ruin.
Do NOT take choosing a location lightly. It's probably the most important decision you'll have to make should you choose to open up your own doggie business. There are many, many factors to take into account - many of which you will have no control over.
Zoning and building permits will be the biggest obstacle. Neighbors don't look kindly on barking dogs all day and night. So even finding a place that is zoned right could take awhile. Then you have to figure out if it's the right fit for you.
There are some factors that you do have some control over. Consider some of these questions when looking around:
- Is this location easily accessible?
- Can people get to you from major highways and streets?
- Does the location have a stop light or stop sign at the entrance so cars can get in and out quickly?
- How big is the building? Will it accommodate the number of dogs you anticipate having?
- Does it have an outdoor play area? Even if it does you cannot rely on it all of the time. Inclement weather such as rain, snow or heat will force you to keep all of the dogs indoors.
- If you're in a major city is there a lot of foot traffic in front of the building? In other words, can people in the city walk to your business on the way to catch their bus or train?
Additionally, if you're looking to offer overnight boarding ask yourself:
- Is this location on the way to or from an airport? Travelers heading out of town for vacation are more likely to consider a place on the way to the airport as it's less running around before a trip.
And as I said, look out for long-term leases if you're not 100% sure that the location and business is going to work.
Obviously, you'll have 100 other questions that you'll need to answer. So do not be fooled into thinking that this is a walk in the park or a "sure thing". Opening a doggie daycare business is a serious business with real consequences. Is it easier then selling ice to Eskimos? Sure. But it still takes hard work, determination and an open mind.
Good Luck!
If you have a question that you would like answered let us know. We'll see if we can answer it for you.
Monday, May 28, 2007 at 11:38:37 PM by Edward Knittel
A record number of Americans own pets—and they are spending a record amount of money to feed, clothe and care for their wee beasts. But is all the attention actually good for the critters? Why we need to remember the lessons of the wild kingdom.
More information from Newsweek
Tuesday, September 26, 2006 at 8:20:17 PM by Edward Knittel
It's happening. All over America and around the world. The pet care industry is changing and adapting to accommodate the desire of their clients. All the while it's the dogs that reep the rewards.
Personal suites, massages, swimming pools and one-on-one attention is becoming a lot more of the norm at kennels. Unfortunately, if your business is unwilling to invest the money and man power into implementing these additional services you're going to be left in the dust.
The increase is partly a result of rising pet ownership: about 63 percent of United States households now have pets, compared with 56 percent in 1988. But it is also an indication of the changing role of the pet in the family and growing emotional ties between owners and pets.
Kennelsource can help your pet care business realize all of these things and help you to choose the best approach and right technologies to make your dream kennel a reality.
More information from International Herald Tribune
Tuesday, August 16, 2005 at 8:41:47 AM by Daniel Rubenstein
Pet businesses are becoming increasingly popular as a means for disgruntled professionals to leave the workplace and begin an adventure as an Entrepreneur. By in large part, this new breed of business owner in the pet industry is very tech savvy and they are competing for top placement amongst the search engines on the internet with the same vigor that they compete for actual customers. In fact, nowadays the former typically leads to the ladder. Most prospective customers are now doing their research on the internet first before making a call. Therefore, websites are becoming the lifeblood that brings in new customers. It is therefore of the utmost importance whether you have been in the business for a long time or if you are just starting out, that your website stands out, provides useful and meaningful information that is related to the industry, and contains content that is going to keep a prospective customer to stay on the site. Recent statistics gathered from a pet business in Chicago showed that over 25% of new leads were generated through their website but the national average for the length of a visit to any site across all industries is only 11 seconds. How then, you might ask, would this company be able to generate so many leads if people generally only stay on a website for such a short time? The answer is simple: they are blogging there way to the top of the search engines. Furthermore, they are keeping their prospective customers, users, clients parked on the site by creating a blog with interesting content that is related to their pet business or our wonderful industry.
Thursday, July 28, 2005 at 11:23:19 AM by Edward Knittel
One thing that's great about working on the most useful kennel application on the market is getting positive feedback from our users. We really like it when they tell us how easy Pawtracker is to use and how much their employees enjoy using it. But what really puts a smile on our face is when we get an unexpected message like this one:
FYI, we got a call from someone in Portland this morning who had found a female pitbull with a Downtown Dog Lounge tag on it (we put one of our generic tags on all of our dogs). I quickly took our pet spreadsheet from Pawtracker and sorted by breed (pit bulls, pit mixes, American staffordshire) and gender and found 23 dogs that loosely fit the description. One of our employees went down the list and started calling clients and•sure enough•one of our customers who recently moved to Portland had her "Daisy Doo" recently run away. In less than two hours we reunited the two!
Steve
Downtown Dog Lounge
So, with a little ingenuity on Steve's part and armed with Pawtracker they were able to reunite Daisy Doo with her family. Glad we could help!
As an aside: I think Steve's idea of adding a tag to each of the dogs that come through the door of Downtown Dog Lounge is a great one. Not only can it help in situations like these but they also serve as in inexpensive means of promoting your business.
More information from Downtown Dog Lounge
Wednesday, June 22, 2005 at 10:46:00 AM by Daniel Rubenstein
Dear Region 2 Members -
It has been quite a few weeks since we met at the Region 2 Conference. Although this is a bit belated, I wanted to extend my thanks for giving me the opportunity to make my presentation to you. I hope that you found the information that I provided interesting and educational. Have you followed up on some of the ideas shared at the conference? I hope so. If not, it’s never too late! I know that we reviewed a great deal of information but if there was one thing that I wanted you to take away from the presentation, it was the information about blogging. Blogging as you may remember is a term labeled by website gurus which simply means the free form exchange of articles, information, thoughts, ideas, etc. among Users via a website as directed by the website managers/owners themselves. Today, it is the most effective tool (cost effective as well) for smaller websites like yours gain ground on the ever popular search engine listings. Don’t be fooled by expensive search engine optimization companies (SEOs)! They will charge you a lot of money to “optimize” your site. It simply is not as effective. Why you may ask? It is because they are so popular that everyone is doing it. So simply put, if you are doing something that everyone else is doing while at the same time competing for the same position on the search engines, the inevitable course of action is that in all likelihood over time you will end up exactly where you started. The fact is that the great search engines today are looking for great content. Google which is tops on everyone’s list uses some very complicated algorithms to produce their page rankings. As a pet business owner the exact algorithm is not important for you to understand. What is important for you to understand however and the one thing that is known in the world of technology and websites about Google’s ranking algorithm is that they put the most amount of weight (importance) on the relevant (it must be relevant to your business) content of your site. And blogging is the most effective means of delivering that content. Next week, I will post the rest of the material that we covered at the conference (which includes some very useful tools and sites that help measure your websites performance). For your own edification, please be sure to visit our site as I will post the entire presentation via our blogging engine (www.kennelsource.com).
For more information about blogging and how to start using this powerful tool, please feel free to contact me directly at 718-801-5590. As I had mentioned at the conference, I have started a small office here in the Northeast and would welcome the opportunity to speak with or come meet with you to discuss blogging and your other technology needs. In the meantime, I would like to invite you all (Vendors Included) to submit a FREE listing on our site for your business. Due to blogging and good relevant content, our site is now ranked in the top ten for our users relevant search strings. We therefore have a large amount of traffic to our site which even includes searches for Dog Daycare, Boarding, Grooming, Training, Etc. Since we are not in your business, that traffic on our site ends up on our listing page. From there, our users can find your site. That is, of course, only if you submit a listing. For vendors, we get many searches and requests as to what information and materials are needed to start a kennel or related pet care business. Please take just a few moments and click on the link below, follow the instructions, fill out the form, and we will have your listing up in a day.
http://www.kennelsource.com/listings/how.asp
Take care
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 at 1:07:59 PM by Edward Knittel
In the United States, there are more pets than people, 377.8 million pets versus 290 million people. 64.2 million U.S. households own a pet - 46% of all households own more than one pet.
Those statistics and others might surprise you - but the dollar figures will force you to stand up and take notice.
Recently, the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association (APPMA) released new figures proving that the pet care industry is experiencing an explosive growth over the last 10 years. In 1994, the total industry expenditures were $17 billion, nearly doubling in 2003 to $32.4 billion. It's estimated that the number raised nearly 2 billion more for 2004.
"The strong growth in the industry demonstrates what an important role pets are playing in the lives of Americans," said Bob Vetere, APPMA COO and managing director. "They have become a part of the family. Spending across all sectors from pet food and veterinarian care to toys and treats reflects what lengths we are willing to go to for our pets."
Consumers are spending more than ever on their barking and meowing companions, and not just on toys and tiaras. According to the APPMA National Pet Owners Survey, basic annual expenses for dog and pet owners can be broken down as such:
- Dog kennel boarding - $202
- Dog groomer/grooming aids - $107
- Cat kennel boarding - $119
- Cat groomer/grooming aids - $24
And that's just your average American. These numbers soar when you account for those clients who go that "extra mile" for their pets.
And if you think it's going to slow down consider this fact: pet owners spend more on their pets than they spend on candy or even toys. And that's nothing to bark about.
More information from American Pet Products Manufacturers Association
Monday, January 17, 2005 at 8:34:56 AM by Staci L. Hayes
While most of us have a first aid kit for ourselves and our children, few of us have thought about having one set up for our pets. It is just as important and as easy to be prepared for an emergency for our pets as it is for humans.
The first thing you want to do is find a box that is transportable (shoe box size) and with a handle. It should also be water resistant and non-locking for easy access. Place a large, easy to read label on the box saying "Animal First Aid" and store the box where it's easy to get to and remember.
Here is a list of some of the supplies that should be in the first aid kit:
- 2 rolls of 3" gauze bandage
- Gauze pads (3" x 3")
- Nonstick adhesive tape
- Nonstick bandages
- A tube of Neosporin or Polysporin
- Saline solution (like you use for contact lenses)
- A small bottle of Hydrogen peroxide
- Rubbing alcohol
- An eye dropper
- Nail trimmers
- Muzzle (nylon is the best for your pet)
- Some paper towels
- A pair of tweezers
You should also have a piece of paper with the following information on it: Your vet's name, poison control (yes, they will help you with animals as well as people), and after hour vets.
A few other items you might want to have in your first aid kit are a small bottle of Quick-Stop (for bleeding nails), a dose of any medication your pet takes regularly and a baggie of pet treats. You should also have a copy of your pet's inoculation records.
Emergencies can be very stressful for both you and your pet, but if you are prepared you will be able to better care for a pet in trouble.
As printed in Essay Magazine
List acquired from Emergency First Aid For Your Dog by Tamara Shearer, D.V.M.
Monday, October 25, 2004 at 12:02:16 PM by Edward Knittel
Dog boarding, grooming, and training have always been the standard services offered in the pet care industry. But people and the media are catching on to new services like transportation (taxi service) and what I believe to be the next big wave - doggie daycare. If you haven't heard about daycare for your dog you soon will.
So what is it? Doggie daycare owners believe that if you're not going to leave your kids home alone all day, then why do that to your dog? Therefore, it works a lot like daycare that has been often associated with children. Drop the kids off so they can run around and play; have a few snacks and a nap; then in the evening you pick them up for a nice relaxing night by the fire. Instead of your companion sitting at home all day waiting for you to get home to play with him, now he's running around with his buddies having a fun and energetic time.
Doggie daycare is being offered more and more at traditional boarding kennels but we're also seeing a trend with business owners opening up facilities that are specifically designed and tailored for daycare needs.
Take Playful Paws owner Kelly Carroll, a one time Chicago area pet sitter, for instance. Back in June she opened up her 4,200 square foot indoor/outdoor, cage free facility in Federal Way, WA and has already seen her business grow.
Carroll says that 80 percent of her clients are empty nesters or don't have children.
"Their dogs are their children," she said. "They're people who work long hours and know their dogs need attention and activity."
People who are bringing their dogs to daycare have already seen the benefits it offers. One of Carroll's client's says:
"[Ripley] plays all day, comes home, eats dinner, goes to the bathroom and goes to sleep. In my opinion, a tired dog is a happy dog. I think doggy day care is the answer to life. We want to spoil our dog. We have a dog to make our lives better and we want to make her life better."
And for a small business owner, owning a doggie daycare can have a lot of benefits for you as well. Consider each of these:
- Most dogs will come at least 2 or 3 times a week which means you can count on a steady, consistant clientel.
- Most doggie daycares operate 12 hours a day during the week. They're typically only open from 7:00am - 7:00pm Monday through Friday.
- You're playing with dogs all day - do you really need a better reason?
More information from King County Journal
Tuesday, October 12, 2004 at 2:16:09 PM by Edward Knittel
Receiving payment for the work you do and the services you provide shouldn't be like pulling teeth. However, a sometimes common problem in any new business is not receiving payment from some of the clients. Have you ever heard, "I forgot my credit card - can I just pay you next time?" Or how about, "My husband has the checkbook - can you just send us a bill?" These same people wouldn't think of doing that at the grocery store for a gallon of milk so why should your business be treated any different?
All of that changes today. Today, KennelSource would like to announce that our premier pet care management system, Pawtracker™, has an exciting, new module that we're calling PawPay™. With the help of the PawPay™ module, there will never be an excuse for one of your employees not to collect a payment from a customer.
PawPay™ works by assigning and storing client credit card information into the application thereby enabling you, the business owner, to automatically collect their payment. With one click your employees can help to reduce your receivables to nothing.
More information from Pawtracker
Thursday, July 22, 2004 at 10:41:49 AM by Edward Knittel
One of the biggest obstacles that many prospective kennel owners face when looking to build a kennel is getting the town's approval through the appropriate permits. Dr. Curtis Geary of Bullskin Township in Pennsylvania has been fighting such a battle with his neighbors.
Dr. Geary, however, is not new to these matters you see. Dr. Geary currently owns two veterinarian clinics in the surrounding township but the neighbors of the proposed new kennel location don't want to see another one opening up right next to them. With all of the barking and traffic from his clients how could blame them? Except the nearest of his neighbors lives 750 feet away. You can't even see the house from the property. Yet even with the distance between the properties Dr. Geary is still finding it hard to get the approval to build the two story facility.
As I said, this is often the toughest and longest parts of the whole process. It's the one thing that you will have little, direct control over. If you design and plan a facility for a specific location only to be denied the proper permits you will have wasted a lot of time, money, and energy. That's why it's important to secure the building permits before you begin to make plans for the rest of the construction. Make sure that the land that you are considering building on is also zoned for a kennel business. Purchasing the land only to realize later that it is not zoned appropriately will leave you only with some "worthless" property that you must now get rid of AND you will need to find a new, and properly zoned location.
Share your success stories or nightmares that you have encountered when looking to start your new kennel business.
More information from PittsburghLIVE
Monday, June 21, 2004 at 2:17:10 PM by Daniel Rubenstein
As the former owner of All For Doggies, Chicago's largest pet care facility, I was able to experience all the all of the benefits of being in business for myself while spending my days with my dogs. For a person who grew up loving animals, there was no better business to be in. However, just because you open you doors and post a sign saying “Your Pets Welcome” does not mean that people will just drop off their pets at your door step. These days, pet services' customers do not just give you their pets without a thorough understanding of how they are going to be cared for, how well your facility is maintained, and how much attention is going to be allotted to themselves and their pet. Therefore, a continued pattern of success and customer loyalty in this business is for the most part dependent on three pillars; Pet Care Management, Customer Service Management, and Facilities Management.
Of course, there are other business practices that can help contribute to a successful pet care business such as a good technology plan, a well designed and built facility, a properly targeted sales and marketing initiative, solid management and motivated personnel, tight spending controls, and efficient operational procedures are among the many. However, if you take a closer and more in depth look at these things you will see that even they all point back to our three pillars.
If you are already in the pet care business and have experienced success immediately after your start-up then you understand that keeping the momentum proves to be just as difficult as opening your doors. In fact, recent government statistics have shown that 90% of startups fail within the first year of operations. Why do they fail? It is primarily because of a lack of cash for operations which in the pet care business means that you are not getting the repeat business.
The pet care business is primarily a service based business and if the customers, both two-legged and four-legged, are not happy with their experience at your facility they will find another facility to service them. The pets, especially dogs, speak to their owners in many ways when they arrive and depart your facility. Your ultimate goal from when you first receive that pet is to do everything you can to help insure that the pet is going to be returned to the owner in the same health and condition that they were brought to you. These days, pet owners treat their pets more as part of the family then ever before. Therefore, it must be ingrained in your staff that the pet comes first. In this respect, no cost cutting measures can be put in place that may compromise your goal. Here are a few of the simple things that you need to do:
- Make sure you have enough staff to watch over the pets
- Make sure there is a proper feeding and watering plan in place
- Pay special attention to pets with medical conditions and make sure it is clearly defined who has responsibility for administering medications
- Assign a Kennel Manager because someone needs to bear the burden of the responsibility
- Make sure you have a system of reporting everything concerning the pets activity during their stay
- Make sure your people in your front office are aware of what is going on with the pets
Let's focus on the last point which so clearly ties in to the next pillar of our successful operations, Customer Service Management. So many times, I have seen pet care facilities provide exceptional care for a customer's dog but the customer would never know it. Communication is the key here. Sure, we all know that most of the time when a dogs head is up and ears are pointed, their eyes are opened wide, and their tail is wagging that they are saying that they are enjoying themselves, but what about when the customer does not see what you may be seeing with their dogs. It is imperative that there is an easy flow of communication from the Kennel Manager and Kennel Staff to the General Manager and Office Staff to the Customer so that all important information pertaining to their pet's stay at your facility is communicated. Let's just say that the same dog who had his head up and ears pointed, their eyes opened wide, and their tail wagging during their stay is now being returned to the customer with his head down, his eyes barely open, and his tail between his legs. There is obviously a reason for this and don't doubt for a moment that the customer won't interpret what they are seeing with their dog as nothing less than pure misery. Make sure that you are communicating exactly what is going on with that pet at all possible times because if there has been any break in any line of the communication, at any point from arrival, stay, and departure of that pet than it will cause a terrible rift between the customer and your facility and you probably won't ever see that customer or their pet again. Here are some other tips in implementing a successful customer service management program:
- Always answer the phone during business hours
- Always be polite to the customers
- Make sure customer service issues are addressed immediately
- Put a customer suggestion box in your lobby
If you do not immediately know the answer to a customer inquiry, then inform the customer that you that you will find out and get back to them. NEVER tell a customer that you "can't, won't, or shouldn't" do something for them. Remember, that your success depends on you being able to take care of their needs and the needs of their dogs. You will have to say no from time to time, everyone does, but choose those times wisely.
The last pillar which by in large part ties the three together is proper Facilities Management. If your facility is not meeting certain standards of cleanliness, then chances are you won't have many pets staying with you or many customers to service. It is obviously important to make a good impression with your customers when they enter the lobby. A well maintained lobby and reception area is nice but it is not the key to success in Facilities Management. The entire facility must adhere to some basic guidelines:
- Proper ventilation will make sure the pets are breathing clean air and your customers won't smell a terrible pet odor
- There should not be any standing water. Keep the floors as dry as possible at all times
- There should staff assigned to remove pet waste at all times. A pet should never be overly exposed to their waste or another pets waste
If you are in the business already then you know that this list can go on forever. One thing that I will say that was invaluable at setting a standard at my facility was that I always walked my facility at random times during the day to inspect. If you're the boss then your standard for your facilities upkeep should be the example for your staff. Make sure they are adhering to those standards. If you are not able to do that you had better put someone in charge of it because poorly maintained facilities will lead to poor overall performance of all of the other key areas of your pet care business.
There is a lot that goes into operating a successful pet care facility. However, the goal of each pet care business in and of itself is quite simple: In order to get people to pay you to take care of their pet, you need to prove to them with your facility, your customer service, and your ability to take care of their pet that the level of attention given to all these areas warrant a return visit.
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