There are a few key positions in your pet business that are critical to the amount of revenue you bring in. Not having the right people in these positions and neglecting to properly equip them to do their jobs can result in significant financial losses.

Lori Davis from Paramount Success Group joins us today to explain the importance of a good reservation specialist, how they should be trained, and how you can find the right person to fill this crucial role.

How would you like it if your summer daycare numbers didn’t decrease, but actually increased? And what if that increase caused a ripple effect, leading to additional service purchases and a flood of social media exposure, making your next summer your best ever?

That’s exactly what happened at Perfect Pooch. On today’s show, Kelli Dodds, the general manager, shares how their new summer camp program greatly exceeded all expectations and significantly boosted their summer revenue.

If you want to keep your staff on the same page and get them working as a cohesive team, you’ll need to have some meetings. The problem is that if you’re not intentional about them, meetings can become inefficient wastes of time. However, if done right, your meetings can energize your staff and improve your overall business operations. 

This week, I invited on a few people to the podcast to share some tips and best practices for your meetings. You’ll hear from industry experts and coaches as well as pet business owners who have cracked the code on team meetings. 

There has never been more competition in the dog daycare industry. More and more places are opening up all the time and you have new companies like Rover.com entering the marketplace, giving people a lot of different choices for their dog's care. 

If you want to separate yourself from all these other businesses and make you the obvious choice in a sea of similar services, you NEED to do a few things to make you stand out and survive the test of time. 

Many of the problems that dog daycares have with the play groups is caused by having dogs there that are not a good fit for the environment. These dogs are labeled "problem dogs" and cause stress for you, your staff and the other dogs in the groups. 

To create a happy pack that's easy to manage, you need to better assess dogs as they come into your facility for the first time. In this episode, we'll discuss what to look for when a new dog comes in and how to determine if they will do well in your daycare long term. 

Often the biggest issues in dog daycare facilities come from the dogs in the play groups. Managing a pack of dogs is not an easy thing to do and and requires some specific knowledge and skills to make sure that both dogs and staff are safe and enjoying their time there. 

In this episode, I'll teach you how to handle the play groups better so that you have less problems and stress, while creating a great environment for all. 

As entrepreneurs we tend to think that we can do it all on our own. We can figure everything, overcome every challenge and don't need any helping hands along the way. Often it's true, we can do it all on our own, however we could move much faster and go to higher levels if we just had some guidance along the way. 

In this episode, I'll discuss why I think every business owner needs a coach and share some of my personal experience with the various coaches I've had over the years. 

Are you running around all day crazy busy but still feel like you can't get to everything you need to do? And after a long day of work, feel like you didn't get much accomplished?

Running a dog daycare business comes with a lot of work that needs to be done on a daily basis and often it can feel like there's just not enough time in the day to get to it all. However, if you learn to better manage your time you'll find that you'll not only get it all done, but be much more productive as well. 

Traditional dog boarding has historically meant placing dogs in kennels and is still the most common method dog businesses use for keeping dogs overnight. Recently, some businesses have been taking a much different approach to boarding dogs. Instead of caging them, why not let them all sleep together in a group?

Cage-free boarding is actually not something all that new. In fact, there are businesses that have been doing it successfully for years. In this episode, learn how one growing business has perfected the cage-free environment. 

There's lots of new tools and channels that you can use to reach leads and customers in today's ever changing digital ecosystem. They all have value and can work but no matter what new tool comes on the market, there's one that's been around since the beginning of the internet that’s still a very powerful way to build your business . . . email. 

Yes, email. Today we'll talk about why email is still so important and how you can use it better to grow your dog business. 

If you want your business to be the very best you need to know how it's REALY doing and you, as the business owner, have a very one sided viewpoint. To know the complete truth about you business you need to ask both your customers and your staff for their opinion on things. 

Today we'll talk about how to use surveys to get gold nuggets out of your customer base and your employees that will enable your business to be world class. I'll also give you the exact questions you should be asking to get the best info. 

Do you want a business that's around 10 or 20+ years from now? If so, you need to do things today to set up that future success. In today's episode, we'll discuss some of the core things you need to be doing right now that will not only enable your business to stand the test of time, but also make the journey easy and enjoyable. 

If your customers (and prospects) only identify you as your main service, it greatly limits your business. If, however, you are seen as much more than "just a daycare" or whatever your main service is, you'll have no problem growing and remaining successful over time. 

In this episode we'll discuss 5 ways you can help you business be seen as the go to place for all things dog, keeping you top of mind and helping your business reach expand well past your customer base. 

If you want to create a pet business that excites, not only your dog customers, but the human clients that bring them, you need to focus on constantly improving your customer experience. Unfortunately the current pet business model doesn’t provide a lot of opportunities to engage people or allow them to have a much of an experience with your business at all.  

Allison Strauel of Skydance Pet Lodges joins the show today to share how her team dazzles their customers and creates memorable encounters that have really sparked the  growth of her business. 

When someone is searching the web for the services you provide you want your business to show up as close to the top of the search results as possible. If you're not up there, they may never see your business and head over to your competitors. 

In this episode, I'll go over some simple things you can do to help your business get ranked higher so that you get more people to find you online. 

There are a number of annual conferences that are specifically for dog daycare and boarding businesses. These events are an amazing way to learn new information that will help you move your business forward, as well as allow you to network with others doing just what you are. 

In this episode, I'll go over the main events in the industry and tell you how you can get the most out of them. 

So much of the stress and frustration created by employees is in some way related to the communication within your organization. If you get intentional about how you communicate with your staff and foster an environment where open communication is encouraged, you'll see an improvement in not only your staff's productivity but create a better company culture all around. 

This episode will give you specific tips on how you can do that. 

Everyone wants to be profitable as soon as possible but very few have a plan on how to do it. If you know how to run and market your business, it's actually not as hard as you might think, as you'll learn from this week's guest. 

Discover how The Dog Patch in Florida went from just opening to looking for their second location in only a year and a half. 

Discover how a new, indoor only, dog daycare in South Philadelphia was able to double their revenue in only a few months. Hanora Rodgers from Wag Days joins the show to share her incredible growth journey.  Learn what she did to get more clients, increase her profit margin and expand her services in such a short period of time. 

How cool would it be if both customers and non customers were so excited about what you are doing that they feel compelled to share it with everyone they know? That would mean that other people are talking about your business and there's a buzz about your business that keeps customers coming back for more and brings in new people who are fired up by how you do business. 

In this episode, I go over 4 things you can do to make your business go viral and create more excitement for your brand. 

With all the responsibilities and daily stresses, it's easy to feel burned out and exhausted, however you can't stay that way for too long. If you do, both your personal life and your business will ultimately suffer. 

But there is a way to run your own business, keep your sanity and enjoy your days. On today's show I'll go over some ways you can create a lifestyle and business that runs smoother, is less stressful and brings you more daIly joy. 

Satisfied customers will get you no where. To have a thriving business that beats the competition and is around for years to come, you need to turn your customers into raving fans. Raving fans are loyal to your business no matter what, buy more stuff from you and go out of their way to promote you. 

In this episode you'll learn exactly how you can turn all those average customers into high octane raving fans. 

I really believe that in the very near future all dog daycare businesses are going to have to incorporate training into their service offerings. Having a training program enables you to provide a much needed service to your customers, helps shape better behavior in the dogs and will bring in more money to your business. 

The question then becomes, how do you create a structured program to accomplish all that? Today's special guest has been doing it for years and is going to show you how. 

In this weeks episode Fern answers a question from a listener why he's struggling to get in more dog daycare customers and keep them for a longer period of time. 

The key is to figure out where the problem is in your sales process and then take action to improve it. Learn how you can determine where you need to focus your time in order to make your customer acquisition and retention rates go up and stay up. 

Finding and keeping good staff is something that comes up again and again in this industry. The main reason that you’re not finding the fright people is that you’re not asking the right questions when you interview. 

In this episode you’ll learn how Natalie Kramer from Albany Pet Hotel switched to behavior based interview and how it totally changed the quality of of the people she hired and improved her company culture. 

Every business wants and needs customers. It's what brings in revenue and helps us to grow. Customers are the best, BUT they are also the worst. Nothing saps the fun out a business quicker than pain in the butt customers who cause you and your staff aggravation and stress. 

In this episode, we'll discuss how to make sure you're brining in the right kind of customers, how stop them from becoming problematic and the best way to let them go when necessary. 

We learn more from our mistakes than we do from our successes, but what's even better is that if we can learn from the mistakes of others, so that we don't have to make them at all. 

In this episode, I'll highlight 8 mistakes I see being made by dog daycares over and over again. These things are holding businesses back, causing more problems and hampering growth potential. See which one's you can improve upon and make your daycare business the best it can be.  

Luckily for you there are so many different channels available to market your business. This is great because you've got a lot of options to grow your dog daycare business, however it's also overwhelming and more than a bit confusing. 

In today's episode we'll go over all of the marketing options out there and help you determine which ones are the best use of your time and will give you the best results, at the lowest cost. 

Having a business with plenty of clients is great, UNLESS it has you overworked, overstressed and overwhelmed. If you feel like you're stuck putting out fires all day and are constantly scrambling to balance too many things within your business, you need to listen carefully here. 

I'll go over 8 tips that will help you create a business that runs smoothly, that requires less effort and allows you to step away a bit. Sound good?

There are two things I know to be true of the future of the dog daycare industry. One, that business owners need to get creative in finding new ways to bring in more money and two, that we need to figure out how to provide more value to the customers. If you do #2, you'll get #1. 

On todays's show Kristen Delea-Sacco of Metro Pooch joins us to share a few of the inventive programs she's come up with in her business that have increased her revenue and, at the same time, is really helping her customers out (both dogs and people). 

Getting all the leads in the world won't make a damn bit of difference if you can't convert them into paying customers. To do that, you need to have a process designed to make people feel comfortable, overcome their objections and help them take the next step. So, what's your process? Do you have one?

No worries, I've got you covered. In this episode we'll go over the things you need to do in order to transform those hard earned leads into life long customers that will continue to buy from you over and over again. 

The trend in dog daycare is moving away from just playgroups to more of an enrichment and training model. That sounds great but how do you do it?

On today's show learn from Mandy Eakin of Manners Matter, a dog daycare that has been doing day training and working with dogs while they are at daycare for some time now. See how they structure their services and how it works as a revenue stream. 

How cool would it be to have access dog owners right in your area? How great would it be to be seen in the community more often and have your business be top of mind to them?

All this is possible with Facebook groups and in this episode I'll show you how you can utilize them to position your business as an authority and help you get more customers. The best part is it's totally free to do and can be insanely impactful - IF you're willing to put in the time to build it right. 

Bigger isn't always better. Having a small boutique dog daycare business that is thriving can make you a good living without the stress and problems of managing everything that comes from having a larger facility. And there's plenty that big business can learn from the little guys. 

Today I bring on Kritika Prakash who owns Pack of Paws in Toronto Canada, who shares what she's done to cultivate loyal, long term clients and dogs that don't cause trouble and love being there. 

How do you determine what to charge people for what you do? Was it a well thought out process or just some numbers you chose at random?

Your pricing is very important to not only how much money you make but also the impression of your business and how the public will perceive you.  In this episode, we'll discuss your pricing so you'll have a better understand of what you want and need to charge for all your services. 

If you’ve ever dreamed about growing your pet business to multiple locations and creating a recognizable brand that customers love, this is the episode for you. On today’s show, we’re joined by Dan Rubenstein of Pups Pet Club, who shares his journey, including various obstacles and detours. Dan reveals the important steps you can take to grow from one location to two, and eventually to multiple locations.

He has a great story and has created a strong business and brand. You’ll come away with lots of tips and insights on how you can set your business up for long-term growth and success.

Finding good employees for your dog daycare is hard - now more than ever. And if you're able to find good people, they often don't stick around long enough. It's an ongoing, never ending problem that seems to have no solution. 

But what if there was a way to both find good people and keep them for years? There are companies out there that have cracked the code and are thriving with great staff that sticks around. Today's special guest will tell you exactly how they are doing it. 

Everyone always is so focused on getting new customers into their business, however, the single best way to increase your revenue is not from new people but from the clients you're already serving. By taking care of them better, offering them more services and understanding the additional ways you can provide value to them, you'll be able to bring in more money with less effort. It takes way more time and money to get people who have never used your services to try you out then it does to resell, upsell or cross sell an existing customer. Learn just some of the ways you can make more money from your current client base in this episode. 

Offering grooming services is a great additional revenue stream for your business but it can be difficult to know the proper way to structure it and sometimes a pain to deal with the groomers. However, if you learn how set it up the right way, understand how to find the right groomers and know how to manage them, it can really boost your business. 

Joe Zuccarello of Paragon Pet School, joins the show to give you insight into how to best work with groomers - whether you already offer grooming services or are thinking of adding them into your business. 

There's so much you need to do in your business but there is only so many hours in the day. This typically forces you to make some choices of what to do and what to let go, which can cause long term problems and lead to a bad experience for potential new customers and existing clients alike. 

The way to create more space in your day (and life), as well as improve the efficiency of how things work in your business AND deliver a better experience for people, is become more organized and utilize technology to automate some of the processes. 

In this episode I'll give you a bunch of examples of how you can do just that.  

The problem with most people is that they don't understand that building a business takes time and that certain things need to be done now, that you won't see any results from until well into the future. But it's very worth it - and actually critical - if you want to have a successful business long term. 

In this episode, we'll discuss the building blocks you need to put in place today in order to create a solid business that's around for years to come. 

What most people put lots of time and effort into building a strong business that performs at its best, however often neglect to put that same energy into themselves. This is a huge mistake as a business is only has good as its owner. 

You need to be functioning at the highest level and you should always be actively working to improve yourself. If you do, the ripple effects on you business can be dramatic. 

In this episode we'll go over 6 important ways you can work to make you the best version of yourself for your business. 

Where do you want your business to go next year? 

If you find that you don't typically reach your goals and that your business isn't moving forward fast enough, it could be that you're just not planning properly to set up your success.  

If you choose the right goals and have a detailed plan on how you'll achieve them, you will find that you'll be much more likely to hit the mark. 

In this episode, learn how to properly assess where you're at, understand what parts of your business need improvement, exactly how to set good goals AND how to craft a plan of attack to get you there. 

The early part of a dog's life is the most important in their social development. They need to get positive exposure to people, dogs and the environment. This is the time when puppies and pet parents need dog daycare the most, however it's the only time they are typically forbidden to attend. 

Most daycare's don't take puppies for fear of the health ramifications of unvaccinated dogs in the building. There is a way to safely take puppies in and keep all the dogs safe and in this episode you'll hear from one dog daycare owner who has been doing it successfully for years. 

Your website is your online storefront. It's the first impression people have of your site and if it's done right, it will lead the viewer to become a customer. If done poorly, however, it will cause them to click away, never to return. Your website should be an asset to your business, not a detriment. If you are thoughtful about the way your website is set up and do certain things, your site will funnel people into your business every day. 

In this episode you'll discover 9 things that your website needs to have to get it working for you and convert all that traffic it's getting into paying customers. 

The pet industry is booming and grows every single year. That means more and more dog businesses are popping up all the time. All the new competition for customers makes it harder and harder to stand out in the marketplace - and because so many are doing similar things, it makes them all blur together. 

If you want your business to get noticed and engage people for years to come, you're going to need to do some things to get the attention of the consumer and keep them interested so they don't get lured away. In this episode we'll talk about how you can do it. 

Building and growing a pet business is not only challenging but also lonely. Your friends and family members don’t really understand what you’re going through, and it can feel like you’re all alone, struggling to succeed. Well, it turns out you’re not alone—there’s actually a whole community of people doing exactly what you’re doing. These are people who can help you overcome challenges, avoid mistakes, and provide some much-needed support along the way.

Today, we’ll talk about how networking with others in the pet industry can really accelerate your progress and make the journey less stressful and more fun. 

Building an amazing business with world class service is useless unless people know about. If you build it they will not come without the knowledge that you're there, understanding what you do and seeing how it can benefit them. 

That's where marketing comes in. In this episode learn just how important marketing is and what kind of things you need to do to attract customers to your door. You'll also discover how to create your very own marketing plan for the year. 

Would you like to make more money for your services? Of course, who wouldn't?

Well, in this episode I'll share some ways that you can get people to pay you more money for what you do. It's all about positioning yourself as a business that is worth more and then providing the value that justifies it. You'll learn a bunch of ways you can set your business up to be viewed as a premium service, that's well worth the extra money. 

You've worked hard to get your customers and they are the life blood of your business, but are you taking good enough care of them?

In this episode we'll go over how to really make your customers feel the love from your business so that they will stay with your longer and become outspoken advocates for you. We'll also discuss how to recognized when you might be losing a customer and what you can do to get them back.