First Financial Bank’s Dr. Schwanda Flowers chats with Joe Zuccarello on the “Hey Joe” podcast to highlight tips for those looking to start or expand their pet care business.
The pet care industry is an incredibly rewarding one, however it comes with ample challenges and obstacles that demand more than a passion for our favorite furballs. It requires financial strategies, impeccable planning, and choosing financial partners that have “walked the walk.” In a recent conversation with Joe Zuccarello on the Hey Joe Podcast, First Financial Bank’s Dr. Schwanda Flowers (Managing Director and Loan Officer) chats about financial strategy, driving growth, and finding the perfect financial partner for pet care business owners.
Below are main takeaways to consider as you’re looking to start your own pet care business, or to diversify and expand your existing one.
1. The Importance of Strategic Financial Planning
Financing must always be strategic, with the ability to distinguish ‘good debt’ and ‘bad debt’. Good debt leads to increased revenue, operational efficiency, and/ or higher profitability, providing a positive ROI. Whereas bad debt drains resources without adding significant value.
Every financial decision must answer one key question: How will this increase my bottom line?
2. Diversify, Diversify, Diversify
A key element of the podcast chat was diversification. There’s grooming, daycare, boarding, training and more. The more you can diversify revenue streams, you’ll reduce risk and stabilize your business. As Joe points out, one piece of negative news from the media (such as a recent piece that dissuaded dog grooming) can impair certain parts of the business. Luckily, this was short-lived. However, these market fluctuations can be better controlled by a well-diversified business. When investing, we hear about having a well-diversified portfolio, which should also be applied to running a successful pet care business.
3. Working In the Business Versus Working On The Business
There is a massive importance in finding the right people, and continuing to invest in their training. As Schwanda states, “once you start growing that business, you really need to think about taking a step back, putting key people in place, so that you can spend your time actually on the business instead of in the business, and you can focus on areas and what needs to be done.”
4. Expand With a Plan
When adding new pet care services, or opening additional locations, Schwanda highlighted that SBA loans can be helpful for financing growth. SBA loans can be complex, but First Financial Bank can help demystify the process and help navigate you through the best options. “There’s a huge advantage right now with SBA, with expansions. Small Business Administration loans provide expansions with zero money down”, says Schwanda.
There’s also stipulations a pet care business owner needs to consider. For example, it must be a ‘true expansion’ with the same business owners with similar NAICS codes. The SBA is built to support and nurture small businesses, so while there are many nuances, First Financial Bank can help businesses navigate the complexities.
Expansion is inherently rooted in First Financial Bank’s culture. The first loan actually came from a veterinarian looking to expand to a pet care business. Schwanda states, “they were actually a veterinarian and wanted to expand and open a pet care facility with boarding. That was the first person that came to us and said, ‘hey would you think about doing a loan for this business’, so I did a ton of research, and then we really sort of dove in. We just jumped in with both feet. And, you know, we absolutely love the space!”
