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Peoples pets are big business

Written by: Roger Pierce

Article Overview: People love their pets - and they’ll spare no expense on them. “My dog is my child and I want the best for him,” agrees entrepreneur Roxanne Pettipas.

Peoples pets are big business

People love their pets - and they’ll spare no expense on them. “My dog is my child and I want the best for him,” agrees entrepreneur Roxanne Pettipas.

Pettipas owns a company called Class Art Productions Inc., makers of a unique dog harness called the Buddy Belt (www.buddy-belts.com). It hugs a dog around its armpits, offering dog owners a safe, comfortable and humane alternative to neck leashes and other harnesses currently on the market.

“I designed a special harness for my dog, Buddy, and it quickly became a popular product,” recalls Pettipas. Now in its third year, her company started out as a home-based business but now manufactures the leather product at a factory. After machine cutting, each harness is hand-crafted to ensure a comfortable fit for any body type of dog.

While she was originally motivated to improve the quality of life for her own pet, Pettipas soon realized she was on to something big. “The timing was great for such a product. In Canada, the pet industry is worth $3 Billion annually and in the United States it’s worth $34 Billion annually,” she says.

Buying everything from gourmet treats to walking services to insurance, pet owners show no signs of slowing down their spending on cats and dogs. In fact, the industry is projected to grow at a rate of 6 percent each year.

Pettipas’ biggest challenge now is keeping up with the demands of her growing business. “There’s a lot of work to do and it can be overwhelming at times. I’ve always thought of myself as a very organized person but the demands of entrepreneurship have pushed this concept into a new realm,” she comments.

Small businesses that survive the first few “chaotic” years will usually stabilize and achieve success, providing the owner sets clear goals, establishes a vision and remains positive. “Keep your eye on the ball by staying focused,” recommends Pettipas. “Believe that step-by-step and inch-by-inch, you will get to where you are going.”

Creating your identity

Like naming a new baby, you’re going to want to invest considerable thought and time into the process of creating your small business identity.

Your identity combines three elements: The legal name of your company, a logo and a descriptor.

* Your business name should clearly express what you do. Avoid being clever, mysterious or ambiguous when choosing your words. “Smith Consulting” doesn’t say much about your enterprise. Play with word combinations until you generate a short list of three name possibilities. Test your list with colleagues and prospective customers.
* Develop your one-line descriptor. Also known as a slogan or tag line, it should convey a benefit or position. For years, BMW used “The Ultimate Driving Experience.”
* Add a visual element to your words. Known as your logo, a good graphic should somehow illustrate what you do and be memorable. Hire an experienced graphic designer to produce three design drafts. Again, do your homework by soliciting feedback on those designs from business people or customers before selecting a final version.

Ironically, you may not end up with an identity that you personally like. Go with the one that resonates most with your potential customers.

Related Articles
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  Home-based Business: Pet photography
  Pet Service Franchises are Taking a Bite Out of the Multi-Billion Dollar Pet Care Industry
  Memories on canvas
  From the Publisher: Kids & Pets

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Related Forum Posts
Re: What's your Business, Ladies? - This appears to be quite an old thread, but I thought I would add my two penneth worth anyway. Having only recently joined this forum, and already very impressed with the level of skills, intelligence and thoughtful responses, I am still "poking" around to find those areas I can contribute and learn from. This place seems like a good one to start, so here goes: I am from the UK originally, but after the loss of my husband in 2000, I decided I wanted to live my own life somewhere new, so here I am in Spain. Unfortunately this country and its inhabitants (at least the areas I have lived in) have more than a disregard for animal welfare, I was shocked at the sort of conditions pets were forced to live in and the frequent abandonment of dogs, who roam the streets causing problems and generally being a nuisance. I love dogs and no "ex" pet should be put through this, so I am very actively involved in rescue, care and rehoming of escaped, unwanted and abandoned pets. Therefore my website! It is actually aimed at ensuring an animals diet is correct, I figured if anyone cared enough about their pets diet, then they werent going to be the sort of person to "dump" their animals after any length of time. The funds raised from the website will go to ensure I can continue to be active in my care and rescue activities. It just seemed very appropriate. Ive been "playing about" on the internet for a year or so, but now need to take this seriously, as a business, and have joined here to teach and learn.
Re: what brings tears to Your eyes ???? - Nope, it never goes away. I'll still tear up if I really get to thinking about my pets of the past even if it has been years and years since they passed on.
Re: Do you have to have your own business in order to - I think you really have to go with your gut feeling. If you think it's a product that you can keep selling over and over (consumer) and never have to worry about not having enough business, then I say go for it. Do one product and do it well. But if the product is something they probably will only buy every 10 years or even just once in a lifetime, then you may be better off thinking the whole thing through before putting a lot of money into it. Most internet marketers tend to sell one product and then have several "up-sales" for the same customer that are in the same line. For example: their logic may be that if they'll buy one book about how to start a profitable pet walking service and it was a helpful piece of information, they'll buy another book about how to expand on that same business or how to teach the pets to walk without twisting the leashes. That's goofy.....but you get the idea.
Re: Non-profit Organizations - I helped set up a non-profit charity for helping stray pets and people who had lost their pets in our local area last year. There are so many things I learned from the experience, I'm not sure where to start. First of all, I hold to the teaching if you can dream it, you can do it! In one way, it was incredibly easy to find support for something we were so passionate about. On the other hand, our passion needed to be tampered with reason so that we didn't burn ourselves out. It is so important to set things in order as soon as possible. There should be an official board of directors and at least general protocols set in place for key services. Expectations among board members should be clear. Keep non-urgent decision making to during meetings only! Otherwise, you will be working 24 hours a day! And make sure you use your volunteers as soon as you get clarity on your first steps. Clarify your message as a whole before you take it to the public. Otherwise, you will create confusion on what you do or don't do. It was really helpful to connect with other organizations in the area who had a similar mission. In our case, we met with the SPCA so we could avoid doubling up on services and instead fill in the gaps of what they were unable to provide in our area. Fundraising IS important, but make sure you are keeping up with the services you offer. The mission of your organization is the priority. In a nutshell, setting up a charity was a great experience, but I certainly didn't need to work as hard as I did. I plan on doing it again in about 2 years where I will set up a charity to help women in both Canada and Third World countries.
Re: Hi from sunny Spain - Ritz100, Seems like you're going about it the right way with us. Not sure why someone would treat you poorly, or maybe you did it a little different and learned from it. Either way, we're happy you're here and hope we will be of help to you in some way. You have a great cause. In the U.S. we have commercials with one of our popular singers singing a sad song and they show the forlorn animals that have been mistreated. It makes me cry every time. We also have a show on cable that has true stories with various rescue leagues. I can't believe how some people treat animals. They are so helpless. I have a cat now (Used to live on a farm and had LOTS of pets) and he stands on his hind legs to reach for a hug as soon as I walk in the door each night. So sweet!! Not sure why I shared that.. I guess because it almost seems he has a personality. Keep up the good work. Hope to hear from you soon on the forum!


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