OverDog: Dog Daycare & Boarding Business Tips

Marketing is essential for success in every pet business. You'll constantly need to bring in new leads, educate your audience and build your brand in order to see long term, sustained growth. Often, success or failure of your marketing efforts hinges on the timing of your campaigns.  In this episode we'll discuss how to determine when marketing is necessary and how to deploy campaigns th...

In the episode of the Overdog podcast, Fern interviews Kelli from Perfect Pooch, a comprehensive pet care service. They discuss the successful strategies implemented at Perfect Pooch, focusing on personalized client services and staff incentives. Kelli highlights the importance of action and implementation in seeing results, sharing how proactive measures in training, customer engagement, and staf...

The pet industry is constantly changing and evolving. As our human lifestyles are altered by events like COVID and the work from home movement, things that worked previously for your business are no longer effective. If you want to stay relevant and be able to compete with all the new businesses in your area, you need to understand the current trends in the industry and take the actions that will...

As an entrepreneur there's so many things you need to do on a daily basis that it can be hard to keep track of what's really important. To make sure you're heading in the right direction, you need to focus on the metrics that will have the biggest impact on your business success. By knowing where you're at and where you want to go, you can craft the proper plan to get there.  I...

Learn the strategies and insights that can transform your dog daycare business into a recognized authority in the field. From creating a nurturing environment for furry friends to implementing innovative services, we explore the key elements that set successful dog daycares apart. Get valuable tips on building credibility, establishing a strong online presence, and fostering positive relationships...

Thanks to technology you have some amazing things available to you that can help you build your business in many ways. These tools are readily available to everyone and very user friendly so even the most un-tech savvy personal can utilize them.  In this episode, Fern goes over is favorite online tools and how you can use them in your business. 

Every year the dog daycare and boarding industry gets more crowded with new businesses vying for the same customers. It's never been more important to separate yourself from your competitors so that you can attract right kinds of people to your business and show everyone why you are the right choice.  In this episode we'll go over exactly how you can determine what your competitive advan...

How you look at the world around you is so much more important than you realize. Your personal mindset is greatly affecting everything that happens to you and if you're not careful, it can limit and often totally derail your success in all areas of your life.  Fern shares his personal story on how he was able to transform his life from one of negativity and become the positive, outgoing perso...

Over the last couple of years the pet industry has been a bit of a roller coaster. We've had ups and downs but through it all, the industry as a whole has grown. But what's to come for the new year? Some things are going to change in 2024 and this business is going to continue to evolve. If you can keep up with it all, your business should flourish, but those that can't will find th...

Enrichment is a hot topic in the industry right now and many businesses are figuring out how to incorporate it into their current business model. Some pet businesses are taking it further and making enrichment a main offering. Pet Camp in San Fransisco is one such place that's really elevated the idea of enrichment to an exciting new level.  In this episode you'll hear from Mark Klaiman,...

I'm a firm believer that dog businesses can learn a lot from looking at what other successful people and businesses are doing outside of the pet industry. And nobody - nobody - does it better than Disney.  Walt Disney is my all time favorite entrepreneur and we can learn so much from his life and the way he and his team have created an unforgettable business. In today's podcast I'll...

Everyone in this industry complains about the constant employee turnover. It seems that most dog daycare businesses can't seem to find good staff have trouble keeping people for any length of time.  There are a few businesses out there that seemed to have cracked the code and are experiencing great retention rates, as well as high engagement and happiness from their staff.  Today you'll...

Most people who start a pet business do so with the dream of being their own boss and having the control and freedom of working for themselves. They no longer have to do what someone else tells them and now get to make the big decisions and grow the business they way they want to.  The unfortunate reality for many is that they get sucked into doing the day to day tasks of running the business, lik...

I just got back from the Pet Boarding and Daycare Expo in Hershey Pennsylvania and wanted to share some of the things I learned there. I met so many great people and saw some amazing presentations that have opened my mind to new ideas and fired me up to implement in some things for future growth. Learn what I discovered there, as well as what you should do with all that knowledge that you've...

Everything starts at the top and trickles down throughout your entire business. If you, as the senior leader, or your management team are not effective leaders, everything will suffer. Learning how to lead properly is a skill that is worth investing in for everyone of influence in your organization.  To help you understand exactly how you can become a better leader and build leaders in your staff...

Taylor Swift seems to be on an unstoppable journey to take over the world. She just become a billionaire and is the most popular artist on plant Earth. Whether you're a fan of her music or not, you can learn a lot from how she continues to build her brand and grows her empire.  In today's episode we'll look at some of the ways Taylor markets and promotes herself, and how you can do...

They say "success leaves clues." I believe that's true but failure also gives us valuable lessons that can teach about success. I've found that businesses that experience problems have certain things in common that cause or greatly contribute to their ultimate failure. In this episode, we'll go over the top 5 issues that are plaguing failing dog daycare businesses, as well...

For one week (or more) every year people are ready and happy to spend lots of money. If done right, Black Friday promotions can mean a giant cash infusion right before the holidays. Many businesses, however, miss out on this prime opportunity because they don't understand  how to structure a good offer or market it effectively.  In this episode we'll break down how you can take advantage...

Just under 100 years ago Napoleon Hill published his success principals after studying and interviewing the most successful people in the world. He found that all the top successes did some of the same actions to build their empires and compiled these into a course on how anyone can achieve great results by following the same principals.  Reading these and then putting them into action has greatly...

A giant problem in the dog daycare industry is that you don't get much time with the paying (human) customers.  That means you need to find creative ways to get in front of them if you want them to feel connected with you and your business.  One easy way to do this is with regular email newsletters. In today's episode we'll discuss why they are so powerful, what to put in them and e...

The term "work-life" balance it thrown around a lot these days, however I don't think people are having the right conversations about this topic and most people are not properly prioritizing it.  In today's episode Patrick Lyons from Culture By Design comes back on to teach you why this is so important, as well as how to implement it for yourself and all your employees. 

Running your own business is a lot of work. There's always so much to do and never enough time to get it all done. So, we do what all entrepreneurs do, we put our heads down and grind it out. We sacrifice our time, energy and often, our sanity for the good of the business.  The problem that so many face in the dog daycare industry is that you can only keep that up so long and then you fall ap...

Traditional group play dog daycare is great for many dogs, however it's not the right environment for all. Those dogs that are not a good fit for group play typically have to be turned away because most businesses are not set up to handle single dogs that can't be in the groups.  Learn how The Yellow Dog Barn has turned solo dog play into a lucrative revenue stream and one of their most...

I know you really love your customers but do they know? Too often we are so concerned with the day to day activities of running a dog daycare business that we neglect to continually show our existing customers just how much we appreciate them. In this episode, we'll discuss some ways you can make your customers feel the love from your business, keeping them coming back for years to come, whil...

Just about every single dog daycare business owner struggles with staffing issues. It's always the number one complaint, and yes, dealing with staff is challenging, stressful and exhausting. However, your staff is the backbone of your business, whom without, you would never be able to keep your doors open. On this episode we'll be discussing ways to show your employees some love, so they...