Paul Mann was not happy with where his life was going in 2001.
He was in New York at the time, so the 9/11 terrorist attacks certainly didn’t help matters, but it was more than that.
“I really was questioning what made me happy and what my life purpose was,” Mann says. “I sold my company and bought a house in the hills of Berkeley, California.”
It was there he met the dog walker of the previous owner of the home he had bought. He didn’t realize it at the time, but the next phase of his life, which would quickly become quite profitable, was about to begin.
“I learned about this thing called dog walking and was really impressed by it,” Mann says. “I started to do research and realized it was an amazing marketing opportunity.”
Mann discovered there was a great need for reliable pet walkers. Many of those businesses that had entered the industry were producing lackluster results, at best.
“Whether it was people being available for assignments, showing up on time or just doing the job correctly, I was hearing a lot of horror stories,” Mann says. “So I had a passion to start the highest quality pet care service possible.”
Fetch! Pet Care launched in 2002 and was an immediate success.
“We were experiencing so much demand in the Bay Area, we were struggling to keep up,” Mann says. “We had to staff more and more pet sitters. Within a year, we had more than 75 pet sitters on staff and over 1,000 clients.”
By 2008, there were more than 200 franchise units and today, the company has more than 3,000 pet sitters on staff across the U.S.
“There really is nothing else like us as far as a nationwide service,” says Mann, the company’s founder and CEO. “You could have service provided in your hometown or you could travel across the country with your pet and have destination pet care. It’s going to be the same high-quality service wherever you go.”
Building a company that can live up to such a bold guarantee in so many locations takes a special level of commitment to detail.
Build your infrastructure
Mann believes the reason companies often fail to replicate their business models in new locations is impatience.
“They do not set up clear requirements and standards for the type of business owners or players they want on their team,” Mann says. “I know in our early days, we brought some people on that we would never accept today. We spend a lot more time evaluating candidates to make sure they have financial capability and the time to devote to the business. They also need to have that entrepreneurial spirit.”
Those standards are huge because in providing that service guarantee, franchises are built on the idea that no matter where customers go, they can feel confident they’ll have a great experience.
But the franchisor also needs to build strong lines of communication with franchisees to keep service at that high level.
“The franchisees have their finger on the pulse of the market,” Mann says. “They are in there every day running their business and they learn new things that they can share with the franchisor.”
Once a structure is in place, there needs to be a plan to deal with any situation that might come up so when that problem does arises, you’re not caught off guard.
“We show up every day in thousands of homes caring for animals that need to be fed, exercised and cared for,” Mann says. “We can’t screw it up. So we have software that manages the logistics of these sitters to make sure they are there and doing what they are supposed to be doing.”
There is also an electronic survey system that works on a one to 10 scale. Any response that is less than an eight gets flagged at the company’s franchise support center.
“We have our franchise operations manager jump on a call right away with that franchise owner to correct the issue,” Mann says. “We’ve also got policies and procedures in place so if something happens, we can jump right on it.”
Fetch! has built a strong system that keeps his company in good working order and while success happened quickly, the tools that enabled the success took more time.
“You need to take the time to research your market, understand what the market wants, who your target market is and then make a plan to go after that market,” Mann says. “Be honest with yourself about the true potential of your business idea in this marketplace. Build a team that will make it come to life and do it in the most professional way possible. Don’t cut corners.” ●
How to reach: Fetch! Pet Care: (866) 338-2463 or www.fetchpetcare.com
