How can I serve you?

If you're just starting perhaps you've spoken to an architect. Maybe you've met with someone that designs state-of-the-art kennels and can build you the facility of your dreams. Now that doggie daycare has been around for a while, you'll find lots of amazing experts that can help you. What I offer is a bit different. I offer realtime answers, solutions, and feedback to the problems that you face on a day-to-day basis. What made my first few years the most difficult was not having someone that I could count on, someone that could give me clear guidance as to what to do in particular situations. My sister was supportive. She always answered her phone when I called. My parents were amazing too, but they didn't really "get it." My family lived far away and besides that, unless you've been in this industry you just can't understand how difficult it can be. We get to play with dogs all day, right? How stressful can that be? Let me answer that...a lot! Pet owners have high standards. They want their dog to play and have a ball all day but they never want their dog to get a scratch. They want live webcams, little or no breaks for their dog, an immaculate facility, convenient hours, holiday pick-ups (but with no fees), and, of course, they want all of this to be accompanied by outstanding customer service. Dog daycare owners constantly have to find the balance between always making the customer happy and making sure the dogs are truly experiencing an enriching and safe environment. Dog daycare is a business like no other. I'm here to be the mentor to you that I wish I had when I began.

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Staffing is another challenge. Traditional kennels can hire one set of people who interact with the clients and then another set of people who do the care of the pets and the cleaning of the facility. Different skill sets, different personalities, different positions. Daycares have to find all of these qualities in just one person. The daycare attendant must shine at customer service, being able to communicate about a pet's day to a worried owner. They have to be friendly and upbeat, have a knowledge of dog behavior and group play behavior, AND be willing to clean up poop and dog hair from the bottom of the outside fences. That's a tough combination to find. Once you do find that special employee, now you have to keep them around, pay them fairly, actively manage them and most importantly, make sure they have the training they need to be successful playgroup supervisors. With a staff of over 50 employees, I get lots of practice with managing team members. 

Examples of ways I can help

Dreaming of starting a dog daycare? I can help you with the following:

• Give you a realistic picture into what it's like to own a dog daycare (even letting you spend time at our facility to see behind-the-scenes)
• Help give you an idea of the kind of income you can expect to earn in this industry
• Give you direction on calculating your start-up costs
• Serve as your "expert" if needed when approaching banks for start-up loans
• Help you decide whether you should start by renting or buying your facility
• Look at (online) and talk to you about potential rental or purchase properties
• ​Much more...

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Is your dog daycare in the works? I can help you with the following:

• Look at your blueprints or rental space and help you with design and layout
• Give advice on products and companies I've worked what I would recommend
• Tell you the things that are must-have's and what project items can either wait, or would be a waste of money
• Walk you through my facilities showing you layout, products used, and which areas produce the most income
• Evaluate, or help formulate, your logo, "brand", website and all marketing material
• Provide paperwork such as enrollment forms, dog evaluation forms, etc.
• Provide a training plan for new staff
• Much more...
  

Already own a dog daycare? I can help you with the following:

• Evaluate all promotional materials; logos, your "brand", website, social media, etc.
• Evaluate your training material and suggest changes or provide use of our training materials
• Allow you and your employees to have in-facility training at one of our locations focusing on anything from playgroup management to customer service
• Be a "secrect shopper" and help evaluate where you might need additional customer service training
• Be on-call for daily questions and chats as needed (sample calls below)​​​
• Much more...

Example questions and phone calls from owners already in business:

• "One of my superstar employees doesn't think she should trim pet toenails without being paid more? Should I agree?"
• "I had a dog get injured on a playroom gate, should I pay for the vet expenses to have it looked at?"
• "Should I allow pitbulls in my playgroups?"
• "How can I better prepare my staff for tough client conversations?"
• "At what point do you dismiss a daycare dog?"
• "Help, Department of Agriculture is headed our way for an inspection and I'm nervous."
• "How would you suggest testing a dog for playgroups?" 
• "I don't normally allow unneutered males but this one is a show dog and I really like the client, should I bend the rules?"
• "I found a really great groomer, how much should I pay her?" 
• "I really think it's time to raise my prices but don't want to make my clients mad. Should I just wait?"

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Consulting Packages

Let's Chat

$100.00

Want to ask me a question? Are you trying to decide which consulting package to buy or whether you'll need one at all? "Let's Chat" offers you a chance to get to know me via phone and ask a few pressing questions that are on your mind. This is also good if you are at the very beginning stages of your business venture and just want someone to run your ideas by but aren't quite ready to dive head first into your project.
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Already own a business and have a specific issue you would like to talk through with someone? Call me. Either I've already dealt with the issue myself or I can talk you through finding a workable solution.

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Behind-the-Scenes Tour with Q&A

$450.00

Pawtropolis currently has two locations located within 15 miles of each other in Athens, GA. Pawtropolis "Westside" is 12,000sqft and averages around 75 dogs each day (approximately 125 at max capacity). "Eastside" is 17,000sqft averaging around 115 dogs daily (approximately 175 pets at max capacity). The ability to view an actively working daycare is invaluable. You'll be able to see all the nooks and crannies, helping you gain ideas for your own building layout and potential products to use.

We'll begin the tour at our smaller Westside location then head 17 minutes away to the larger Eastside facility. We'll point out upgrades and changes that were made when we built our second location. After touring both locations, Amanda Crook or Sara Beth Pinson will sit down with you for a question and answer session. You can pick their brain on everything you saw in the facilities as well as run some of your ideas by them for feedback.

Included: A list containing many of the products and materials seen throughout the facility.

-We offer these facility tours at the discounted rate of $350 when added onto a Mentor Package.

-We ask that you not take pictures within the facility.

-Though length of time is flexible for the Q & A, we ask that time for that section be limited to no more than 1-hour.

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Financial Projections, Start-up Information, and a Get-Started Phone Call

$800.00

THREE YEARS OF FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS

Coming up with financial projections for the first few years of a business is one of the most valuable, yet difficult, tasks to tackle. This is especially true when writing up a business plan that will be presented to a bank for a loan approval. Banks and investors want very detailed financial plans but you, as a start-up, can only provide a best guess estimate of what you hope to obtain.

If you are anything like me, simply guessing won't work for you. Yes, you can have an idea of how many daycare dogs you can accommodate, how many luxury suites you'll have, how many kennels, but can you guess how often your facility will be at capacity? Can you closely estimate the percentage growth you'll have year over year for the first three years? What will your expenses be each month? How much can you expect to spend on payroll, utilities, cleaning supplies, or insurance? Having answers to these questions will dramatically improve the accuracy of your projections.

That's where I can help. I've created a Google sheet that automatically calculates revenue and expenses month by month for three years. Each month is calculated based on a percentage occupancy for that time period and each year reflects revenue growth from the prior year.

My daycare Pawtropolis has been opened for over 21 years. I used the financial data collected over those years to determine what percentages are spent, on average, on specific categories. Our reservation totals by month were used to calculate possible percentage capacity throughout the year. A five year period of growth was used to determine growth year over year for the projected period or three years.

By inputting what base services you plan to offer, along with capacity and price, you'll get an instant detailed report by month and by year for three years. You will also have the ability to input a known rent or loan payment amount allowing you to see how said payments will affect your cashflow. You'll have two options available to calculate how much owner salary you will be able to pay. With the first option, you can leave the box labeled "Minimum Required Monthly Owner Salary" blank. Doing so will allow the chart to calculate owner's salary based off of the percentage put in that reflects what is done at Pawtropolis. The second option would be used if you knew there was a minimum amount of salary you'd need each month in order to cover personal expenses. You would put that amount in the "Minimum Required Monthly Owner Salary" box to have the chart calculate how that monthly amount would affect cash flow each month.

Once you have the projections completed with your information and it is ready to be presented to a bank or investor, I will provide a letter explaining how the formulas were determined along with background on Pawtropolis. This will help validate the information being provided to them. I will first review your projections to confirm no formulas were changed and to catch any possible mistakes.

START-UP INFORMATION

Included with the three years of projections, you'll find a minimum of three additional Google sheet tabs (may add more over time) that include other useful start-up information. Currently included:

Start-up Costs

Here you'll find a list of items that need to be considered when calculating start up costs. It is formatted in a way that allows you to insert a company name that you may potentially buy from, the number of the item needed, and the cost.

Design Notes

I'll list miscellaneous notes regarding building design that will be helpful when making building decisions. I will include rooms and areas that I feel are necessary to have in a dog daycare and boarding facility.

Hours & Staff Needs

Here I layout a potential daily schedule for a daycare and boarding facility as well as example shift times for different positions. Though this information will need to be modified depending on your facility's open hours, it will still be helpful as you come up with your own daily plan.

GET STARTED PHONE CALL

After purchase, I will reach out via email to provide you the information needed to access your personal Google sheet. We will then schedule a phone call, FaceTime, or a Zoom meeting where I will review the tabs in Google sheets with you and spend an additional 30 minutes answering any start-up questions you may have. After this initial call, you may purchase additional "Let's Chat" calls whenever you like. These calls can be used to discuss any aspects of your project you may need help with. You may also be interested in upgrading to a mentoring package. If you do so, the cost of this Financial Projections Google sheet will be deducted from the price of the package you choose.

ADDITIONAL DETAILS REGARDING PURCHASE

Due to Google sheets being easily copied once shared, once purchased we are unable to offer any refunds. For this reason, if you have any questions prior to purchase feel free to reach out to me at amanda@pawtropolis.com.

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Mentor

$1,800.00

The most basic package includes unlimited phone calls and emails for one year. It also includes our extremely helpful start-up product called "Financial Projections, Start-Up Information, and Get-Started Call"

For New Start-ups, topics include:

• Brainstorming company name and/or tagline and developing a detailed vision of what you want your company to be
• Helping you decide whether to rent, buy or build a facility
• Helping with expense and income projections when preparing a business loan plan
• Looking, and helping with, marketing materials such has logo design, website, social media, etc.
• Deciding what services to offer and developing your pricing plan
• Creating a work-life balance
• Much more...

For Established Companies, topics include:

• Reviewing staff training and helping to make modifications
• Assessing services offered and evaluating current prices
• Tackling customer service issues or bad publicity
• Helping decide the next steps for the company
• Learning to delegate to staff and transition from a full-time employee to an owner with a flexible schedule
• Much more...

*Expires 12 months after date of purchase.

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Mentor Upgrade

$4,500.00 - $5,500.00

This package includes all the bells and whistles of our Mentor Package (which includes our extremely helpful start-up product called "Financial Projections, Start-Up Information, and Get-Started Call") with the addition of the following:

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Behind-the-Scenes Tours at 2 Pawtropolis locations ($450 value)


Help with facility design and layout

• If purchasing/renting an existing building, we can help come up with the best layout for your desired services
• If building from the ground up, we can help with a design (pencil drawing on graph paper) incorporating all the space needed for your desired services

Training materials in digital Word format

• Training timelines for customer service & animal care staff
• Animal Caretaker Training Manual ($600 value)
• Employee Handbook ($400 value)
• Job descriptions for customer service & animal care staff

Small client pet notices in digital Word format

• Happy Note
• Health Note
• Watch Card
• Tooth Fairy Card
• Activities Card

Miscellaneous Documents

• Manager follow-up form in digital Word format
• A copy of our current Prices and Polices in pdf format

Product Discounts
Coupon code provided to save $10 off any 3-pack purchase of documents. Valid up to 12 months after package purchase.


*All packages are good for 12 months from the date of purchase.

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All Access Pass

$10,250.00 - $11,250.00

The most comprehensive plan, the All Access Pass package has all the bells and whistles of the Mentor Upgrade Package (which includes our extremely helpful start-up product called "Financial Projections, Start-Up Information, and Get-Started Call") with the added benefit of in-our-facility training and a visit to your location.

Training in Pawtropolis

• Full Animal Caretaker Training Program for 1 person so they can be confident to train new animal care staff at your facility. This includes nearly 100 hours of animal husbandry, playgroup management, and customer service training. We will take someone through our full 13 day training program, with the ability to narrow the focus to areas of interest. Training will be held at an active 17,000sqft facility, that averages 120 dogs for daycare each day. 
• Option for an additional 3 people to shadow for 2 full shifts each, included.
• Manager and/or staff assessment. If you have someone you are considering for a position, especially a leadership position, but wonder how they will do once the business is up and running, we can have them come in for a "working interview". We'll be able to give you an initial assessment of how they handle large groups of dogs, see if they have the experience they claim to have, are they outgoing with clients and staff, and if we see any red flags that might affect how they would do at your facility, etc. This can also help highlight areas in which that person needs additional training.

Your Facility Visit

• One of our consultants will come to your facility (within the contiguous United States) for one 8-hour day. This can be scheduled before or after opening depending on your preference. Our visit goals will be solely dependent on what you need. Examples of what could be covered: staff training, walking the facility and making suggestions regarding set-up and assessing any safety concerns, time spent for open questions by owner, managers, and staff, playgroup training with staff, coming up with a daily routine based on the layout of the facility, etc. 
• Additional days can be added to trip for $350/day.
• Additional trips can be added at $350/day if you cover costs of travel and lodging.

Product Discounts

Coupon code provided to save $10 off any 3-pack purchase of documents. Valid up to 12 months after package purchase.​

*All Packages are good for 12 months from date of purchase.

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