How To Start A Dog Treat Business

You've stumbled upon the idea to build a dog treat business and now you're ready to take the next steps.

There's a lot to think about when building a business, so we put together a guide on how to get started, launch, grow and run your dog treat business.

We also provide you with real-life case studies and examples of founders running successful dog treat business (and how much💰 they're making today).

💡 Introduction To Starting A Dog Treat Business

Brick & Mortar vs eCommerce Business Model

When deciding whether or not to start a dog treat business, it's important to first decide what type of business model you want (brick and mortar, eCommerce, or both)!

Here are a few things to keep in mind when considering a Brick & Mortar store:

Brick & Mortar Model

If you do plan to open a physical store, it's important that you find a spot in a high-traffic area. This is a great way to gain exposure for your business and also get new customers.

It's also important to consider the higher costs associated with operating a physical store (ie - employees, rent, utilities, etc) and the long days/hours associated with running a store.

The main benefit, however, is that customers love being able to see products in person. It's important to recognize that although some people enjoy shopping online, there will always be the shopper persona that likes to touch, feel, and see the product they're buying.

eCommerce Business

One of the main benefits of operating online is that you are exposed to the entire world, versus just one local area. Rather than depending on foot traffic, you have all the tools at your disposal to create exposure for your store online.

Additionally, there are much lower costs to operate an online store - fewer employees, you can operate from your home, and you get to create your own schedules (yes, holidays included!)

Although you are operating online and have the ability to connect with people all over the world, it's important to consider that you will need to invest marketing money upfront in order to promote your store to the right audience.

So, which business model should you go with?

Each model has their benefits, however, the consumer trends for dog treat business are shifting towards e-commerce businesses.

How To Name Your Dog Treat Business

It's important to find a catchy name for your dog treat business so that you can stand out in your space.

Here are some general tips to consider when naming your dog treat business

• Avoid hard to spell names: you want something easy to remember and easy to spell for your customers
• Conduct a search to see if others in the space have the same name
• Try not to pick a name that limits growth opportunities for your business (ie. if you decide to expand into other product lines)
• As soon as you have an idea (or ideas) of a few names that you love, register the domain name(s) as soon as possible!

Why is naming your dog treat business so important?

The name of your business will forever play a role in:

• Your customers first impression
• Your businesses identity
• The power behind the type of customer your brand attracts
• If you're memorable or not

It's important to verify that the domain name is available for your dog treat business.

You can search domain availability here:

Although .com names are the most common and easiest to remember, there are other options if your .com domain name is not available. Depending on your audience, it may not matter as much as you think.

It's also important to thoroughly check if social media handles are available.

As soon as you resonate with a name (or names), secure the domain and SM handles as soon as possible to ensure they don't get taken.

Here's some inspiration for naming your dog treat business:

• Dogworks check availability
• Dogs And More check availability
• K-9 Clippers check availability
• The Hairy Leash check availability
• The Good Puppy Dog check availability
• Bark In Style check availability
• The Doggie Chalet check availability
• Pawfect Tail check availability
• One Puppy check availability
• FirstJoy Business check availability
• Dogwind check availability
• Doggolix Treat check availability
• MysticBite Dog check availability
• Furry Pawsible check availability
• Blue Boss Bones check availability
• A Dog’S Life check availability
• Doggie Daycare check availability
• The Barking Lot check availability
• Brown Dog Bakery check availability
• Puppy Trail check availability
• In The Dog House check availability
• Treat your Dawg check availability
• Off Leash check availability
• Woody Gang check availability
• Pups Shop check availability
• CookieCrew check availability
• Canine Treat check availability
• More For Max check availability
• Fur Mutt Pet Store check availability
• Canine Candy check availability
• Paws Up! check availability
• Downward Dogs check availability
• Biesty Pups check availability
• Wet Noses check availability
• A Dog’S World check availability
• The Family Dog check availability
• Wag Around check availability
• Premium Business check availability
• All Dogs All The Time check availability
• Bark In The Dark check availability
• And Drool check availability
• Top To Tail check availability
• HappyPets check availability
• Pup Hub check availability
• Rescued Dog Bakery check availability
• Meyer Farms Dog Treats check availability
• PawHub check availability
• VIbeCookie check availability
• Riley’s Organic Dog Treats check availability
• CoreFood Business check availability
• Direct Dog check availability
• Commando DogFood check availability
• The Pet Bistro check availability
• Doggy Designs check availability
• Puppy Smiles check availability
• Puppy Breath check availability
• Aspect Treat check availability
• Dogify Food check availability
• Plato’s Pets check availability
• Land Rover check availability
• Pet Sitters of Mt. Prospect check availability
• Planet Canine check availability
• Dogvio check availability
• PropelFood Dog check availability
• InsightPet Dog check availability
• A To Dog check availability
• Woof Gang Groomers check availability
• Fetching Friends check availability
• Pawple Dog Pals check availability
• Finest Dog Treat check availability
• Shake A Leg check availability
• WiseMist Dog check availability
• GreatMade Bakery check availability
• Red Rover Dog Walking check availability
• Dogly check availability
• Happy Barker check availability
• Dog’S Life check availability
• FinestPet Treat check availability
• AFillJoy Dog check availability
• Doggie Heaven check availability
• Golden Pup check availability
• Treat Your Pup check availability
• Dolgado check availability
• The Fury Effect check availability
• Dogzoid check availability
• Dartenn Dog check availability
• All Breed Dog Co. check availability
• Products For Pups check availability
• Treatio check availability
• Penny’s Choice Dog Supplies check availability
• GoodBite Business check availability
• The Canine Crew check availability
• Top Of The Woof. Scruffy Turf check availability
• Dogsy check availability
• Abcdogs check availability
• Furry Friends check availability
• Wiggly Wag check availability
• The Bone Guys check availability
• Pet Pawer check availability
• The Dog Corner check availability
• Personalized Pooch check availability
• Super Pups Pet Store check availability
• The Canine Collective check availability
• Dentley’s check availability
• Double Dog check availability
• Treatify check availability
• Dog People check availability
• All-Fresh Treat check availability
• Green Pet check availability
• Loving Pups Pet Care check availability
• BoldFoot Dog check availability
• black leash check availability
• Supereva Treat check availability
• Petro Town check availability
• Better Bark check availability
• Vanity Fur check availability
• Dogs Of The World check availability
• BossBite Business check availability
• Fur Fit Dog Store check availability
• Barx check availability
• Dog Days check availability
• Chase The Tail Pet Store check availability
• Fido And Friends check availability
• Big Bark Dog check availability
• Rover Come Over check availability
• Dog Walker check availability
• Alpha Treat check availability
• Anything’S Pawsible check availability
• Furry Doggie check availability
• Bark Attack check availability
• Barker’s Dog treat check availability

Read our full guide on naming your dog treat business ➜

Players

Big Players

• iHeartDogs (53K Alexa Ranking)
• Allivet (85.9K Alexa Ranking)
• EntirelyPets (137K Alexa Ranking)
• Pawstruck (140K Alexa Ranking)
• Pet Food Express Delivery (167K Alexa Ranking)

Small Players

• iHeartDogs - Revenue $1.83M/month
• Pawstruck - Revenue $1.75M/month
• Dope Dog - Revenue $30K/month
• Treats Happen - Revenue $15K/month

Search Interest

Let's take a look at the search trends for dog treats over the last year:

Learn more about starting a dog treat business:

Where to start?

-> How much does it cost to start a dog treat business?
-> Pros and cons of a dog treat business

Need inspiration?

-> Other dog treat business success stories
-> Examples of established dog treat business
-> Marketing ideas for a dog treat business
-> Dog treat business slogans
-> Dog treat business names
-> Dog treat business Instagram captions

Other resources

-> Dog treat business tips
-> Blog post ideas for a dog treat business
-> Dog treat business manufacturers

🎬 How To Start A Dog Treat Business

Determine Which Business Bank Account You Need

There are hundreds of banks out there, and it can be overwhelming to find one that's right for your business.

Here are some factors you may want to consider:

• Location - Is your bank close enough that you can easily make deposits or get cash?
• Low Fees - Make sure to understand any and all fees associated with setting up and maintaining your bank account. Ask for a list - banks usually try to keep this hidden and in the fine print.
• Online Banking Services - Make sure you can easily navigate through your online portal and you have easy access to everything you need.
• Line of Credit - What do your options look like (even if you don't need this now, you may need this down the road).
• Every bank has something that differentiates them from the rest, so make sure whatever that is applied to your needs and values.

Check out this list of the 13 Best Banks for Small Business in 2020 and what makes them so unique.

Setting Up Your Dog Treat Business (Formation and Legal)

When it comes to setting up your business, you may find yourself in a place where you have to make some financial and legal decisions.

The first thing you'll want to decide on is whether you want to be an LLC, S-Corp, or C-Corp.

These three options are found to be the most common when starting a small business, and all serve to protect your personal assets and also provide you with certain tax benefits.

• LLC: All income and expenses from the business are reported on the LLC personal income tax return.
• S corp: Owners pay themselves salaries + receive dividends from profits.
• C Corp: C Corps are separately taxable entities that file a corporate tax return (Form 1120). No income tax is paid at the corporate level and any tax due is paid at the owners individual expense.

Depending on where you're conducting business, you'll also want to consider securing the proper permits, licenses and liability insurance.

Learn more about securing the right permits and licenses ➜

Need to start an LLC? Create an LLC in minutes with ZenBusiness.

Write a Business Plan

Writing a business plan from the start is critical for the success of your dog treat business.

Why?

Because this allows you to roadmap exactly what you do, what your overall structure will look like, and where you want to be in the future.

For many entrepreneurs, writing out the business plan helps validate their idea and decide whether or not they should move forward with starting the business.

You may want to consider expanding upon these sections in your business plan:

• Executive Summary: Brief outline of your product, the market, and growth opportunities
• Overviews and Objectives: Overview of your business, target customers, and what you need to run your business
• Products and Services: Specifics on the products and services your business will provide
• Market Opportunities: Analysis of customer demographics, buyer habits and if your product is in demand
• Marketing: Outline of your marketing plan and how you plan to differentiate yourself from other customers
• Competitive analysis: Analysis of your competition and the strengths and weaknesses therein
• Operations: Hierarchal structure of the company and what it will take to run the business on the day-to-day
• Leadership Team: Detailing roles and responsibilities of each manager based on their specific skill-set
• Financial Analysis Understanding of all expenses, operating budgets, and projections for the future.

Learn more about how to write a business plan here

How Much Does It Cost To Start A Dog Treat Business

If you are planning to start a dog treat business, the costs are relatively low. This, of course, depends on if you decide to start the business with lean expenses or bringing in a large team and spending more money.

We’ve outlined two common scenarios for “pre-opening” costs of starting a dog treat business and outline the costs you should expect for each:

• The estimated minimum starting cost = $12
• The estimated maximum starting cost = $27,209

Startup Expenses: Average expenses incurred when starting a dog treat business.	Min Startup Costs: You plan to execute on your own. You’re able to work from home with minimal costs.	Max Startup Costs: You have started with 1+ other team members.
Office Space Expenses
Rent: This refers to the office space you use for your business and give money to the landlord. To minimize costs, you may want to consider starting your business from home or renting an office in a coworking space.	$0	$5,750
Utility Costs For Office Space: Utility costs are the expense for all the services you use in your office, including electricity, gas, fuels, telephone, water, sewerage, etc.	$0	$1,150
WiFi & Internet: Whether you work from home or in an office space, WiFi is essential. Although the cost is minimal in most cases, it should be appropriately budgeted for each month!	$0	$100
Total Office Space Expenses	$0 (min)	$7,000 (max)
Inventory Expenses
Upfront Costs For Inventory: This includes all upfront inventory you will need in order to launch. Be sure to compare prices of wholesalers to ensure you're getting the best deal and margins remain high.	$300	$5,000
Inventory Storage: If you decide to have a physical space for your dog treat business, whether it be used for inventory or as a showroom, you may have monthly rent payment or a large down payment associated with renting/buying the space.	$0	$5,000
Package Design: Packaging refers to wrapping and protecting products during distribution, shipping, and sales.Your package design is your customer's first impression of your brand, so it's important you spend some time and energy to get this right from the start.Many businesses design their own packages using design software and tools. There is always the option to outsource this to a design expert, but that route tends to be much more expensive.	$50	$3,000
Shrinkage: Shrinkage refers to the loss of inventory at any point between the purchase from your supplier and the purchase by your customer. Although you will try to avoid this at all costs, this does happen sometimes (especially in the learning stages of your business), and it's important to plan ahead financially in case this happens. Fortune states that retail shrinkage costs U.S. retailers approximately 1.4 percent of their total sales.	$0	$1,000
Distribution costs: Depending on what distribution plan you choose, expenses such as renting vans, hiring delivery drivers and gas costs can add up. If you are looking to save money upfront, you may want to consider conducting distribution on your own.	$0	$750
Total Inventory Expenses	$350 (min)	$14,750 (max)
Software Expenses
Design Programs & Software: These programs might include the Adobe family of design tools: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and others. This is typically a monthly subscription ranging from $10-$50/mo.	$0	$50
Email marketing tool: If you plan to grow your email list and email marketing efforts, you may want to consider investing in an email marketing platform (ie. Klaviyo, MailChimp). We put together a detailed guide on all of the email marketing tools out there + the pricing models for each one here.	$0	$100
IT Support: IT support installs and configures hardware and software and solves any technical issues that may arise.IT support can be used internally or for your customers experiencing issues with your product/service.There are a variety of tools and software you can use to help with any technical issues you or your customers are experiencing. This is a great option for businesses that do not have the means to hire a team of professionals.	$150	$2,000
Accounting & Invoicing Software: It's important to have an accounting system and process in place to manage financials, reporting, planning and tax preparation. Here are the 30 best accounting tools for small businesses.	$0	$50
Project Management Software: You may want to consider using a project management and collaboration tool to organize your day-to-day. This can also be very beneficial if you have a larger team and want to keep track of everyones tasks and productivity. For a full list of project management tools, check out this full list here.	$0	$25
Internal Communication Tool: If you plan to have multiple members on your team, you may want to consider an instant message tool such as Slack or Telegram. The cost is usually billed per month (approx $5/user/month) or there are freemium versions available on many platforms.	$0	$20
Social Media Management Tools: If you plan to do social media marketing for your dog treat business, you should consider investing in a social media automation or publishing tool. This will save you time and allow you to track performance and engagement for your posts. Here is a list of 28 best social media tools for your small business.	$0	$50
Payroll Software: The main purpose of payroll software is to help you pay your team and track each of those payments (so that you don't have to do it manually). If you do not have any employees or have a very small team, payroll software may not be necessary at this stage. Here are the 11 best payroll tools for small businesses!	$0	$200
File Hosting Service: It's important to make sure the information for your dog treat business is stored and protected should something happen to your computer or hard drive. The cost for this is affordable and depends on how much data you need to store. To learn more about the different options and pricing on the market, check out this article.	$0	$299
Total Software Expenses	$150 (min)	$2,794 (max)
Website Costs
Domain Name: Your domain name is the URL and name of your website - this is how internet users find you and your website.Domain names are extremely important and should match your company name and brand. This makes it easier for customers to remember you and return to your website.	$12	$200
Business Email Hosting Service: An email hosting runs a dedicated email server. Once you have your domain name, you can set up email accounts for each user on your team. The most common email hosts are G Suite and Microsoft 365 Suite. The number of email accounts you set up will determine the monthly cost breakdown.	$1	$15
Total Website Costs	$13 (min)	$215 (max)
Advertising & Marketing Costs
Customer Research & Surveys: Many dog treat business's conduct industry and consumer research prior to starting their business. Often times, you need to pay for this data or hire a market research firm to help you in this process.	$0	$300
Affiliate Marketing Commission & Fees: If you want to increase revenue for your dog treat business, affiliate marketing is a great way to promote your product to a new audience. When determining affiliate commission rates you will offer, you will want to take into account the price and margin for your product to ensure affiliate marketing is worth it for your business. According to Monitor Backlinks, the average affiliate commission rate should be somewhere between 5% to 30%. To learn more about how to set commission rates, check out this article..	$0	$250
Influencer Marketing: Partnering with like-minded influencers is one of the most effective ways to grow your social media presence. Many small businesses simply gift a free item in exchange for an influencer post, or pay the influencer directly.	$0	$750
Press: If your business and story is unique enough, press and media attention may come to you, but odds are, you may need to do your own outreach and budget for this. We put together a guide here that discusses different press opportunities (both free and paid).	$0	$500
Google Ads: With Google Ads you have the ability to control how much you spend by simply setting a monthly budget cap. Additionally, with these ads you only pay for results, such as clicks to your website or phone calls! It's okay to start with a small budget at first and make changes accordingly if you see valuable returns.	$0	$300
Facebook & Instagram Ads: With Facebook and Instagram ads, you set your budget and pay for the actions you want (whether that be impressions, conversions, etc).You can learn more about pricing based on your impressions here.	$0	$350
Total Advertising & Marketing Costs	$0 (min)	$2,450 (max)
Total Starting Costs	$12 (min)	$27,209 (max)

Revenue Expectations

We've interviewed several different founders in the dog treat business and asked them how much $ they're making today.

Treats Happen

• $180K/year in revenue
• Sells dog treats
• 2 founders
• 0 employees

Pawstruck

• $21M/year in revenue
• Sells natural dog treats.
• Solo founder
• 25 employees

iHeartDogs

• $22M/year in revenue
• Sells lifestyle store for dog owners
• 2 founders
• 50 employees

Dope Dog

• $360K/year in revenue
• Sells cbd dog products
• 2 founders
• 2 employees

Identify Target Customer

A very critical piece in building dog treat business is to identify your ideal target customer.

• Develop a niche and create a consistent brand that reflects your target customer.
• The colors, logo, content, and overall website should resonate with your target customer and should draw them in by helping them solve their specific "need".

How To Find A Supplier For Your Dog Treat Business

Here are the steps to consider when finding a supplier:

Know your product

One very critical step to finding the right supplier is having an initial idea of what your product will look (and taste) like.

Sketching is one of the most simple ways to get started in the design phase.

What's great about sketching is that you can practically do this anytime, anywhere - even on the back of a napkin.

You can also experiment and test out your own recipes just to gauge an idea of what you want your product to look/taste like.

Decide your supplier type

You'll want to identify the type of supplier you are looking for.

Here are some questions you may want to ask yourself prior to searching for a supplier

• Are you looking for a manufacturer to produce your product idea?
• Do you want to find a supplier that can simply purchase existing products for you?
• Do you want a drop-shipper to supply and fulfill orders?
• Do you want a domestic supplier or an overseas supplier? Read more about the pros and cons of each here

A great place to start is by simply searching in google for dog treats suppliers.

Manufacturing Your Product In House

It's also very common to manufacture your dog treats on your own - either from your home or in a commercial space.

In order to get the product right, you may want to consider experimenting with different designs and recipes until you find the perfect one.

Some founders choose to manufacture their product in-house so that they can control quality, manage costs, and easily handle production/logistics.

Down the road, you can always choose to outsource your dog treats.

How To Price Your Dog Treats

One of the most challenging aspects to starting a dog treat business is determining how much to charge for your dog treats.

When businesses under-price their product, this can be extremely detrimental to their bottom line and reputation.

Often times, businesses under-price their products to drive demand and volume, but that last thing you want is for customers to view your product/service as "cheap." Additionally, this can have a big impact on the type of customer you attract, which can be difficult to recover from.

On the other hand, when businesses over-price, this tends to be just as damaging to the business.

When customers buy, it's likely that they will explore the internet and look at other competitors to ensure they're getting the best value + deal. This is why it's so important that you research your competition and understand where you land in the marketplace.

Here are some factors to consider when pricing your product:

Understand your customer

It's important that out of the gates, you identify the type of customer you want to attract and how much they're willing to pay for your service. One great way to do this is by surveying your customers. Here are some important items you'll want to takeaway:

• Customer demographic: Age, gender, location, etc.
• Buying habits of your customer: What they buy + when they buy
• Level of price sensitivity with your customer

All of these segments will help you identify the type of customer you're attracting and how to price your product accordingly.

Understand your costs

When pricing your dog treats, it's critical that you first identify all of your costs and consequently mark up your dog treats so you can factor in a profit.

The actual cost of your dog treats may include things like:

• The actual cost to make the product (ie. raw materials, supplies, manufacturer).
• Shipping + overhead fees
• Rent
• Operating costs to run your business

You may want to consider creating a spreadsheet with every single expense involved in operating/owning your business. This will give you an idea as to what you need to generate in order to at the very least, break-even and will help you price your products to factor in a profit.

Create revenue goals

When determining the price of your dog treats, you'll want to create goals for revenue + how much profit you want your dog treat business to make.

This process is simpler than you may think:

1. Think about your breakeven cost (by completing the above step).
2. Create a revenue goal based on your break-even cost
3. Evaluate the # of items you plan to sell in a given period (make sure this is a realistic number)
4. Divide your revenue goal by the number of items you plan to sell

This figure will help determine your estimated price per product in order to meet your revenue goals.

Evaluate your competition

The last piece in determining how to price your dog treats is by simply looking at your competition.

The best way to do this is by finding like-minded businesses that offer product(s) with similar perceived value. Then, you can compare prices of the different businesses and determine where your dog treats fits best in the marketplace.

All of these factors play an equal part in pricing your dog treats, so it's important you evaluate each one individually to come up with an accurate price that will help optimize your business from the start.

🚀 How To Launch Your Dog Treat Business

Make Sure You Get The Package Design Right

The way you package your dog treat business is often the first impression your customer has - so it's important to get it right.

You may want to ask yourself these questions:

If my product is on a shelf next to hundreds of other similar products:

• Will my dog treat business stand out?
• Will the branding/packaging create a connection with my customer, and hence, lead them to buy?

There are hundreds of tools you can use to help with packaging and design:

• Canva - Allows non-designers to create beautiful Instagram/Pinterest posts, flyers, business cards, etc.
• Stickermule - High quality custom stickers you can include on or in your packaging.
• Noissue - Custom tissue paper and compostable mailers
• Rollo Label Printer - A great tool to print all shipping labels at home

Build A Website

Building a website is imperative when launching your business, and with the right tools in place, this can be a simple task to check off the list (without having to hire someone).

1. Pick a domain name that's easy to remember and easy to type
2. Choose a Web Hosting Plan (ie. Shopify, Squarespace)
3. Make sure you choose the right theme and design
4. Implement the proper page structure (ie. about page, contact page, pricing etc)

To learn more about how to build a stellar website with little stress, we give you all the details on this step-by-step guide.

Traditional Launch Strategies For Your Dog Treat Business:

There are various different ways you can launch your dog treat business successfully.

Here are a few different strategies to get customers excited about your dog treat business:

• Set up a Facebook page for your business. This is a great way to establish an online presence
• Host an event in a fun location with drinks & food. This is a great way to get exposure in the local community.
• Get Press! Pitch your story to the media and you may just land in an amazing publication
• Live sales to get customers excited
• Send a hand-written letter in the mail with a discount on your services to the local community/neighborhoods.

🌱 How To Grow Your Dog Treat Business

Build A Blog

One of the most effective ways to build brand awareness and grow your business is through consistently blogging.

We've outlined some useful tips for you to consider when creating content:

Consistency and Quantity

Quality is important, but it should be the standard for any content you publish.

What’s more important is consistency and quantity.

Consistency is as simple as committing to publishing and sharing a certain number of posts per week. For me, that’s three per week right now.

This kind of commitment is key, because one day, a random post will blow up, and you will have never expected it.

Oversaturation

The easiest mind trap is to think "I’m posting too much", and “I need to give my readers/audience/this platform a break”.

This is nonsense.

There is no such thing as oversaturation. Well, there is, but it is just someone else’s opinion.

For every person that tells you you are posting too much, there is another person that wants even more of your content.

You should ignore people’s opinions on how much you post.

Patience & Persistence

Keep posting, keep trying, and keep putting out good content on the regular. Your time will come, and when it does, it will change everything.

The only thing you have control over is your content.

You can’t control how people will react to it. You can’t control pageviews, likes, or shares.

So the only metric you should focus on is how much content you can put out in a week, month, etc.

Where to share your blog content

Mailing List

I know it sounds obvious, but the best places to share your content is on your mailing list. It is guaranteed traffic and it is a great way to get rapid feedback from your most loyal readers.

Send newsletters often. I have done once a week since starting, and I’m moving to twice a week soon.

Work on increasing your mailing list as well. Look into ways to increase your conversion rate to your mailing list. I added a flyout popup thing to my site and now I’m collecting ~30 emails per day.

An email newsletter is one of the most powerful assets you can have and it is worth its weight in gold.

Reddit

Reddit is one of my favorite places to promote content.

It is a very scary place because you will often get banned or heckled, but it can really pay off.

Create social media accounts for your blog, the main ones I use:

Twitter Facebook Instagram LinkedIn

Set up Buffer and share all of your blog posts to all of your accounts. All of these little shares really do add up.

Automate this as much as possible. I automated all of my social media for Starter Story.

Facebook Groups

When I started out, I put together a spreadsheet of relevant Facebook groups for my niche, and I would post to these groups whenever I had a big story I wanted to share.

Grow Your Email List

The more engaged list of emails, the more engaged customers, which ultimately leads to more sales.

One of the best ways to start growing your list is by providing your customer with something free (or discounted) in return.

This could also be anything from:

• Ebook
• Fascinating case study
• Video series
• Free week of the product
• Discount on the product

Learn more about how to grow your email list and improve email marketing ➜ here.

Add an exit-intent popup to your online store

A great way to double, or even triple, your email opt-in rate and to grow your list is to add an exit-intent popup to your site, and offering a discount or content upgrade for subscribers.

Here's an example of what that might look like:

Improve Your Email Marketing

Different types of emails

Here are the most common types of email campaigns you can send to your customers and their benefits:

• Welcome emails - the perfect way to provide information from the start with a clear CTA. Make sure to tell your customer everything they need to know about your product or service.
• Newsletters - a great way to give customers updates or send out your latest content
• Product launch emails - the quickest (and easiest) way to increase sales is by selling to current customers. Make sure they're the first on the list to know about your new product
• Promotional emails - promote discounts, deals coupons etc. Try and make this feel exclusive and for a limited time only
• Abandoned cart emails - give your customers a reason to complete their purchase!

Here's a great resource for finding curated email designs, for all types of email campaigns!

Email Marketing Tips

Sending a weekly newsletter or roundup to your email list is a great way to stay front of mind for your customers.

Dog owners take pride in staying up to date with the latest trends in the dog world - here are some great ideas for writing content in the space:

• Training Tips
• How to make your dog comfortable at home while you’re at work
• Write a collection of short stories about life as a vet
• Types of dog food to use

Wag does a great job at personalization with their email marketing.

In the subject line, they always mention the name of your dog with an enticing reason to open the email.

For example, one of the last emails I received from them was a subject line that said:

Build A Facebook Community

Building a community is a great way to grow your network and your business.

There are several different ways of building a community, one of the most effective (and simplest) ways is to build a Facebook group

Setting up the group page takes less than 10 minutes, and we've outlined ways the top 5 ways to create an engaging and successful group:

• Make the group exclusive. This may sound counter-intuitive, however, this ensures privacy and that the group will feel comfortable posting and engaging with members.
• Try to be warm and welcoming. A great way to do this is by having a "Member Monday" where you welcome new members and ask them to introduce themselves in the group
• Use polls/surveys. This is a great way to know your audience and see what people want more of in the group (more business tips, networking opportunities, etc).
• Include influential people & conduct AMA's (ask me anything). This is a great way to get members engaged
• Host an in-person (or virtual) event with members in the group. This will create stronger relationships and build a strong community.

Consider Working With Instagram Influencers

Partnering with like-minded influencers (within your industry) is one of the most effective ways to grow your social media organically.

Industry influencers already have an established and loyal following. With one post, your product immediately establishes a connection with a brand new audience. It's that powerful.

When finding influencers to promote your product, do your research and make sure that their following will actually be interested in your product.

It's easy to be blinded by any influencer with a huge following, but if those followers don't resonate with your product, there may not be any value there... so make sure you do your research!

Consider Selling On Amazon

In addition to selling your products directly on your site, you may want to consider selling on Amazon to reach a wider audience and attract new customers.

Here are some pros and cons of selling on amazon:

Pros

• Easy and seamless process to get your product listed on Amazon
• There are roughly 100 million thoroughly committed prime customers, so you're bound to tap into new business
• Can help grow your business exponentially and reach new audiences

Cons

• You may encounter some "copycats" and counterfeit products
• Amazon owns the relationship with the customer (you lose control over product reviews + customer service)
• If you already have a low-markup, amazon may not wrth your while and you could end up losing money
• Commissions and listing fees are high - it's easy to lose control of your offering

Follow these instructions to get your product listed on Amazon or check out the video below on how to get started:

🏃🏼‍♀️ How To Run Your Dog Treat Business

Authenticity

As a brand, you want to deliver an experience that authentic, honest and transparent.

Don't make the mistake of giving your audience less credit than they deserve.

Word of Mouth

The most tried and true way to grow a dog treat business is through word of mouth - some entrepreneurs would say it's more important than all social media.

Why you should focus on word of mouth:

• Consumers trust word of mouth above all other forms of marketing
• 92% of consumers believe recommendations from friends and family over all forms of advertising
• 64% of marketing executives indicated that they believe it is the most effective form of marketing

Learn more about word of mouth in our guide: 30 Ways Founders Grow Their Business ➜

Provide Great Customer Service

Providing exceptional care and creating relationships with clients is a great way to build your reputation and retain customers.

Whether you are an online business or a physical business, it's highly important to communicate with customers and make them feel like they are the priority.

Just remember: customer service represents your brand, values, vision and YOU as a person.

Build a Referral Program

Word of mouth is one of the best ways to get the word out about your business and acquire new customers. Especially when you are starting out, it’s important to build a solid referral program to encourage existing customers to help you find new ones.

A great way to do that is by offering a reward (ie. credit on your service or cash) to customers that refer you to their friends and family.

A fantastic referral program will help with clout, credibility, and establishing yourself in the space.

Resources

We put together the best resources on the internet to help you start your dog treat business.

Tools

• Platform tools such as Shopify, WooCommerce, Amazon, eBay, Google Shopping, Bing Shopping or Cratejoy
• Email tools such as Klaviyo or Planoly
• Social media tools such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn or Buffer
• Advertising tools such as Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads, Google Adwords or Bing Ads
• Reviews tools such as YotPo, Product Reviews or Smile.io
• Design tools such as Canva or Adobe Suite
• Shipping tools such as ShipStation or Amazon FBA
• Analytics tools such as Google Analytics
• Productivity tools such as Google Suite, Dropbox, Slack, Asana, Evernote, Notion or Airtable
• Payments tools such as Paypal, Shopify Payments or Stripe
• Customer service tools such as Zendesk or TawkTo
• Blog tools such as WordPress
• Accounting tools such as Quickbooks or Google Sheets
• Fulfillment tools such as ShipBob
• Freelance tools such as Fiverr
• Affiliate tools such as Refersion
• Referral tools such as ReferralCandy
• Sales tools such as Shoelace, Bold Cashier, Bold Upsell or ClickFunnels
• Crm tools such as PipeDrive
• App tools such as Pixel Cat
• Inventory tools such as TradeGecko or Finale Inventory

Books

• Start Your Own Gourmet Dog Treat Business: Bake Your Way To Success: Karen Freeman

• Progressive Business Plan For A Dog Treat Bakery

• Shoe Dog

• The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It

• Shoe Dog

Web Resources

• Pros And Cons Of Starting A Dog Treat Bakery Business
• Starting A Dog Treat Business At Home

Videos

• Why I Started A Dog Bakery Business // The Backstory Of Bobby & Bambi's Dog Bakery
• How To Start A Dog Bakery Business 🌟E-Course Coming Soon 🌟

Case Studies

• How This Couple Started A Healthy Dog Treat Business
• How Kyle Goguen Started An Online Pet Supply Business
• How We Started A $1.2M/Month Lifestyle Store For Dog Owners
• How We Started A $16K/Month CBD Dog Treats Company

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• 4,818 founder case studies
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