Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Fetch! Pet Care | Best Pet Ever Contest Winner


Kathy Schmidt is the owner of Sadie, Fetch! Pet Care Best Pet Ever Contest Winner! Sadie is a one and a half years old Brussels/Griffin mix and they live in Kirkwood, WA. Here is a little bit about our winner Sadie!


Q: How old is Sadie?
A: She is one and a half. It feels like we have had her forever and I can’t imagine not having her!

Q: What type of dog is Sadie?
A: Sadie is a Brussels/Griffin mix. She has a beard like a Brussels.

Q: How did you come to own Sadie?
A: My husband and I adopted her about 5 months ago from Ginger’s Pet Rescue in Seattle. They rescue dogs from CA and fly them to Seattle. They do this because there is a higher percentage of kills shelters in CA. She’s really smart and very sweet. She’s learning a ton of new tricks.

Q: What is your favorite past time with Sadie?
A: My favorite past time with Sadie is walking. I feel more connected to the city because of our walks. She loves to go on long walks, except when it's raining. I had to get her a little rain coat because she is terrified of walking in the rain!

Q: How did you first learn about Fetch! Pet Care?
A: One of my friends owns a Fetch! Pet Care. When my husband and I got Sadie, we had a trip that was planned a year previous, but we didn’t want to leave Sadie at the kennel or the vet.  We wanted her to be at home so I looked up pet services and a couple of coworkers told me about Fetch! We have used Georgia, one of our favorite sitters, quite a few times now.

Q: What do you do for a living?
A: I am graphic designer in Seattle. My husband works in Kirkland.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Fetch! Pet Care Named to Entrepreneur’s Best of the Best List

Fetch! Pet Care was recently named to Entrepreneur Magazine’s 2011 Best of the Best list. The national pet sitting and dog walking franchise was selected as the best pet services franchise, exemplifying the brand’s commitment to providing the highest standard of professional pet care services.

Founded in 2002 after struggling to find consistent, reliable care for his pets while traveling, Paul Mann has grown Fetch! Pet Care into a nationwide business that now includes more than 3,000 experienced pet sitters operating in 1,500 U.S. communities. Specializing in providing in-home pet care services, Mann created Fetch! Pet Care with the goal of building a dependable business that could be duplicated through franchising.

“To be recognized by Entrepreneur as the best brand in the pet services category speaks to the consistently high level of care our franchise owners and their staff provide to pets and their parents everyday,” Mann said. “When I founded the company, I had heard so many stories about pet sitters not showing up, or pets getting lost or injured under the care of the kid next door. I knew Fetch! had to eliminate those concerns and add a greater level of reliability to our services in order for us to be successful.”

Focusing on unsurpassed customer service, Fetch! Pet Care franchisees aim to deliver peace of mind to pet parents by bringing the service to their doorstep. Instead of keeping their furry friend in a kennel or boarding facility all day with little time for play, Fetch! Pet Care customers know their pet is safe and comfortable in its familiar surroundings while it is being looked after.

Mann implemented a system that requires pet sitters to leave “report cards” that show parents how their pets are doing and the activities they engaged in during the day. Integrating technology into the business, many of the brand’s pet sitters also text message pet parents to provide them with instant updates on their pet.

“It’s the combined effect of everything we do that leaves the customer knowing their pet is getting the most attention possible,” Mann said. “With a 92 percent referral rate to friends and family, we know we’re doing something right. Our goal is to continue to refine our systems, processes and procedures, so we can provide an even better experience for our customers as we go forward.”

ABOUT FETCH! PET CARE

Fetch! Pet Care is the nation's largest and most trusted franchisor for professional pet sitting and dog walking services, serving thousands of pets and pet parents from coast to coast. They take the stress out of finding a sitter and add convenience to your life by doing all of the legwork for you. With over 3000 Fetch! Pet Care professionals in 1500 communities, they match you and your pets with the most qualified, experienced pet professional possible. Whether you need a daily dog walker or last-minute pet sitter, Fetch! Pet Care has got your tail covered! In 2011, Fetch! Pet Care ranked top of its category, making Entrepreneur Magazine’s Best of Best List. It also ranked in Entrepreneur Magazine’s Low-Cost Franchises, Top New Ranking, Top Home-based Franchises and Fast-Growing Franchises in addition to the top-ranked pet-care franchise on AllBusiness.com’s AllStar Franchise List for the current year. For more information, visit www.fetchpetcare.com.

Friday, August 5, 2011

Franchisee Spotlight: Karen Culley & Danielle Proctor – N. Pittsburgh

Originally loyal customers of Fetch! Pet Care, friends Karen Culley and Danielle Proctor took the leap into business ownership together in 2008 when they bought an existing franchise from an owner who was moving to a different state. Knowing that business ownership can put a strain on friendships, the two work hard to maintain a balance between their business and friendship to ensure they are able to work well together and continue to have fun as friends. Each with a strong background in business, the pair splits responsibilities to ensure all aspects of the business are looked after. Karen has four cats, and Danielle as one dog, one cat and a chinchilla.

Q: What were your careers before franchising?
Karen: I worked as a paralegal and corporate manager for a privately owned family investment company for 25 years before accepting an early retirement package and retiring for a year. I now work for a private wealth manager in addition to owning Fetch! Although the clients are definitely a lot different (some with fur, some without), there are many similarities in the areas of customer service and the need to be efficient and organized.
Danielle: I am somewhat of a serial entrepreneur. I had been in the software industry for 12 years when I left to start my own construction company back in 2003. It was around that time that I fell in love with golf, which is how I met Karen, and I started to get into the golfing scene. While golfing I was injured and as a result I began to do Pilates. I liked it so much that I started my own Pilates studio, too — so I own three businesses right now. My philosophy is that I see businesses that are out there and I want to see how I can run them to make them better. I’ve brought that mentality to running Fetch!, where we are purely customer driven rather than focusing on the mentality of being driven by the masses.

Q: How did you decide to start a business together?

Karen: We both discovered Fetch! as clients before we considered buying the franchise. When we heard that the former owner was relocating out of state and was interested in selling her business, we explored the possibilities. As animal lovers, we had always talked about going into business together and doing something that focused on animals, so this seemed like a natural fit and a good opportunity. By purchasing an existing franchise, as opposed to starting a new franchise location, we were able to hit the ground running without having to experience the early growing pains of a new business. Of course, we had to really keep on our toes to make sure our existing clients and sitters were taken care of seamlessly.

Q: What has business been like since you took over?

Karen: We have grown slowly and steadily, relying on the Internet and word-of-mouth, rather than spending a lot of money on print advertising. Because Pittsburgh is such a big city, local advertising in all the areas that we cover proved to be costly. We sometimes see a slowdown in the winter months for obvious reasons, but we have never had any bad months. Last year was our best performance to date, increasing our gross sales by more than 70 percent. We now have more than 40 sitters and we cover the City of Pittsburgh and all points North.

Q: Was there a moment that you knew this was the right move for you?

Danielle: The morning we were leaving for our training in San Francisco, one of Karen’s cats wasn’t feeling well. In fact, she was worried that there was a serious problem. She had to make a decision as to whether to continue to San Francisco or turn around and go home. She called her Fetch! sitter, who promptly took the cat to the emergency room. When our flight landed in California and I turned on my phone, I had a message that my chinchilla had gotten its leg caught in its cage and was also on its way to the emergency room. We both wondered if this was some kind of omen. What it really showed us was how good our pet sitters are and how well equipped they are to handle any situation. They each sat with our animals and saw them through their emergencies. That experience solidified our decision to join Fetch! It drove home the point that our sitters are really our best asset.

Q: What are your expansion or development plans?
Danielle: For this franchise, expansion comes in the form of ZIP codes. We recently bought two more ZIP codes and already have a double territory. We are quickly expanding our coverage to service more people’s pet sitting needs.

ABOUT FETCH! PET CARE
Fetch! Pet Care was founded in Berkeley, Calif., in 2002 by Paul Mann, who wanted his pets to remain in his home instead of kenneling them while he traveled. Finding no professional company suitable to the task, Mann started his own firm with the goal of providing as-needed, reliable, and loving care to pets of all kinds. Today, there are more than 3,000 Fetch! professionals operating in 1,500 U.S. communities. FETCH! Pet Care is the nation's largest and most trusted provider of professional pet sitting and dog walking services, serving thousands of pets and pet parents from coast to coast. Comprised of pet lovers turned business owners, each independently and locally owned Fetch! focuses on taking the stress out of finding a sitter and adding convenience to customer’s lives by doing all of the legwork for them. Fetch! matches you and your pets with the most qualified, experienced pet professional possible. For more information, visit www.fetchpetcare.com.
 
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