Sherry Redwine, Odyssey Pets LLC
We are a family owned and operated business. We do grooming, boarding, daycare and aquarium service. We also sell high quality pet supplies.
Who do you consider your best customer or Target audience? Our clients are well educated. They have done a little bit of research. Millennials are a big part of our target audience but we sell to all ages.
What's been the greatest impact of COVID-19 on your business? Being a small business, we can make decisions quickly and implement them fast. We set up an online store, we went on social media and started selling on Facebook. We also started delivery. We were already doing curb side and people really started to take advantage of that.
What are some actions you have taken to make a difference? Going onto social media more has really made a difference. We have tried to run more sales promotions. For example one month we did bingo. It had several prizes and it was fun for people to do.
It's been said that smart people learn from their mistakes, but the wise learn from the mistakes of others. What are some mistakes that you’ve made that could help others? About a year ago I joined a pet business owner mentor group and I don’t feel like I’m floating on my own island anymore. It is a group specific to my industry and it has really helped keep me on track. I am learning from other businesses and they are learning from me. It has been life changing.
What is most inspiring to you today? My employees and my staff members have inspired me. They have shown up and done their job. They have been on the front lines. Thank you to my staff.
Contact: sherry@OdysseyPets.com / P: 972-407-1166 / http://www.odysseypets.com
Blake Boyse, Sandy’s Dancewear
We have been in business since 1956 and we are a dancewear retail store. We have 3 locations in DFW.
Who do you consider your best customer or Target audience? We target dance studios in the area as well as the school districts.
What's been the greatest impact of COVID-19 on your business? We didn’t have the volume that we typically do. A lot of studios did zoom classes but people weren’t buying as much during that time and the schools weren’t spending money on extra extracurricular. Our business almost came to a halt.
What are some actions you have taken to make a difference? We updated our online presences and started offering things like buy online and pick up in store or curb side delivery. We also started making ballet boards and bars for people to use at home. This was a lot of my business in March, April and May of 2020. It was another way to get the store some more income.
It's been said that smart people learn from their mistakes, but the wise learn from the mistakes of others. What are some mistakes that you’ve made that could help others? One of the things that I learned pretty quickly is that you can't do everything yourself. You need a good work/life balance and you have to surround yourself with good people.
What is most inspiring to you today? The most inspiring thing to me is to see so many people out there doing everything they can to make it through to the other side. The resilience is really cool to see.
Contact: (214) 458 9453 / sandysdancewear@outlook.com / www.sandysdancewear.com
Steve Snyder, Visual App, Inc.
We do online marketing and website strategy. We add content that is designed to bring in leads. We focus on adding communication strategies to the company's website. One of our primary focuses is on the existing client base. We put a strategy together to take care of current clients and look for leads.
Who do you consider your best customer or Target audience? Our niche market is industrial manufactures.
What's been the greatest impact of COVID-19 on your business? Our business has really been taking off now that a lot of people are working from home and still need to be in communication but can’t do it in person.
What are some actions you have taken to make a difference? What we have been doing is adding additional functionalities to the company's website to make it easier for the sales people in the field. We are helping companies better highlight what they are offering.
It's been said that smart people learn from their mistakes, but the wise learn from the mistakes of others. What are some mistakes that you’ve made that could help others? One of the things is to organize your information as much as you can. We learned the hard way that we built a lot of our initial strategy on a platform that was not around long term. Don’t build on a platform. Build on the content.
What is most inspiring to you today? The most inspiring thing that I’ll point out is that Google has 80% market share and they have truly been improving their search results every year. From our point of view it works extremely well for our niche clients.
Offer: We offer a digital marking analysis for free ($500 value)
Contact: steve@visualapp.com / P: (972) 235-5353 / www.visualapp.com
Delia Sous, Caring Senior Service of Dallas
We are a care giving agency and we provide care givers to elderly and adults with disabilities. Our care givers are able to assist with personal care, meal prep, house keeping, errands, doctor visits and transportation. We are able to keep people in their homes to live more independently.
Who do you consider your best customer or Target audience? Our best customer is the son or daughter of an elderly parent who also has kids of their own they are taking care of. They are sandwiched and they need extra help for their parents. Another target market is a primary care giver that is taking care of the loved one but is aging themselves and they need an extra hand.
What's been the greatest impact of COVID-19 on your business? We have been extra careful and we have had to educate a little more to eliminate the fear. We have also had staffing challenges due to the generous unemployment benefits.
What are some actions you have taken to make a difference? We found really good training and education for our caregivers and our community. We also discovered that a lot of our clients live in communities that were having a difficult time accessing PPE equipment. I was able to contact congress and find information on the states PPE inventory and pass it along to anyone having difficulties.
It's been said that smart people learn from their mistakes, but the wise learn from the mistakes of others. What are some mistakes that you’ve made that could help others? I am part of a franchise and the benefit of that is learning from others and their stories. The mistakes that I made was extending customer's credit and then not getting paid. I would recommend to always have a collection method in place.
What is most inspiring to you today? I think what is most inspiring especially through COVID is that I’ve seen people at their best and at their worst. And the people at their best have really come through and shined. I’ve seen people rise to the task and find their inner strength.
Offer: I am an end-of-life Doula and we offer that service complimentary to any family that needs it
Contact: (214) 327 5100 / dsousa@caringinc.com / www.caringseniorservice.com
Scott Craig, Class Canine Daycare, Inc.
It is a dog daycare, boarding and grooming facility. We have installed an indoor air filtration system to provide a cleaner and healthier atmosphere.
Who do you consider your best customer or Target audience? It is hard to say because I have such a diverse crowd. I serve many busy full time professionals like teachers and nurses.
What's been the greatest impact of COVID-19 on your business? The fact that people are staying home and can’t afford to take their dogs to daycare. Our grooming picked up because people are home with their dogs and boarding went down because people are not traveling.
What are some actions you have taken to make a difference? We require everyone to have a mask--both customers and staff. We have turned up the volume on our air filtration system – it runs 24/7 and it is running on high. We are also enhanced are cleaning protocol and are wiping things down.
It's been said that smart people learn from their mistakes, but the wise learn from the mistakes of others. What are some mistakes that you’ve made that could help others? Doing a start-up in this business is expensive. If I was to do it again, I would have purchased a pre-existing dog daycare and changed the name, then improved and made it better. When I started my overhead was massive and I didn’t have the dogs yet so I had to cover payroll and expenditures. As a result I didn’t make money for the first 9 months.
What is most inspiring to you today? People are still purchasing dogs. Because of COVID many are spending more time at home and they are buying pets as entertainment. We have seen a fairly new influx of people that have never had a dog before. It's cool they are still rescuing these dogs.
Offer: ALL new customers, 2 days free doggy daycare. (We also have package rates for multiple days) Free webcams
Contact: scott@classycaninedaycare.com / P: 972-931-3000 / http://www.classycaninedaycare.com
◉ 5740 Prospect Ave. Suite 1000 Dallas, TX 75206
◉ 469-850-2448
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