I Started a Homemade Dog Treat Business

[Sunny77]

I have this desire to be a business person in my old age. Since I retired, I have thought up countless business ideas, but only rarely do I actually try them out. The homemade dog treat business was one I actually got into for awhile. It was fun, I got to be creative, and people thought it was a neat idea. Alas, it was very labor intensive, and I made no money.

Has anyone else ever tried this, or some other idea, that you loved, but that just didn't work out for you?

 

[K]

Awesome man but sad to see you made no money, is the business still going?

What was the model etc?

 

[harpazo22]

That's a great idea, but there's already so many dog treats out on the market. People probably grew to trust what they've already been buying for so long. I'm sorry it didn't work out. Keep using your creativity! You never know what could happen with it.

 

[Pop]

If it was a home-made product, the only place I tend to buy these is at craft and seasonal fairs. Whenever I go to a fair there is one or two stalls of premium handmade dog treats and I normally pick some up. Somehow in that context the extra price matters less than the cookie being squirrel-shaped (or some other novelty).

 

[dyanmarie25]

I think it's also a pretty good idea, but I am sorry it didn't work out for you. Well, have you tried advertising your products online or you just do offline selling? No worries, probably in the right time, you'll gain success with your business.

 

[nailah783]

I have tried to start an online bookstore, but that really didn't work out too well for me. I'm pretty passionate about reading and I loved the idea of people finding gems in my rubble, but I couldn't get enough traffic to my site. Especially when you have sites like Barnes and Noble and Amazon. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but it just didn't work out. Sorry to hear yours didn't work out either.

 

[T J Tutor]

I have this desire to be a business person in my old age. Since I retired, I have thought up countless business ideas, but only rarely do I actually try them out. The homemade dog treat business was one I actually got into for awhile. It was fun, I got to be creative, and people thought it was a neat idea. Alas, it was very labor intensive, and I made no money.

Has anyone else ever tried this, or some other idea, that you loved, but that just didn't work out for you?

I was in the Start-Up business for a while in Vegas and I can tell you that even with all your ducks in a row, one may find their success a bit out of reach.

When it comes to physical product start-ups developed by someone that has no experience bringing such products to market, no written plan for sourcing materials, streamlining the assembly of the product, and a solid product presentation, the prospect of success will generally be bleek.

The way around this is to spend some time fulfilling these areas of your start-up. You see, this is what attracts vendors. If a vendor knows and sees that you have these elements in place, then they will have confidence in your ability to meet the product demand.

Anyone can do this, all you have to do is a little bit of educating yourself on the areas outlined above, giving out samples, building a report with vendors, and establishing a small following. You can then attract the eyes and ears of the "angels" in the startup industry.

 

[Jessica Danes]

This is a great business idea! I do agree with @harpazo22 that many people trust their specific dog brands. I used to love homemade dog treats from local businesses, but the trouble with animal food is it's harder to tell how your dog will react to it. We've discovered my dog is allergic to just about everything except Kirkland-brand dog food and treats, so it limits what we can give him. I do remember buying a dog treat mix one year, maybe that would be less labor intensive? Kind of like a brownie or cookie mix layered in a jar and all you add is the water? I would try that again.

 

[grNadpa]

Off topic, but want to share. The slogan on a pickup I came upon recently is "We're #1 in #2". The business? They pick up dog poop. Guess you need an affluent (effluent?) Chicago suburb for a large enough market.

 

[YourRetailCoach]

Homemade dog treats is an ideal business that you can run from your home. To start this business you have to have a love for dogs along with money, time and right knowledge.