Hi, friend.
Your resilience inspires me. It helped pull me out of pandemic panic and regain my focus. I see how you’ve adjusted to the industry’s changes, and despite all of the challenges, you not only persevered, you grew.
And today, I see the new challenges you’re facing.
- how our national labor shortage is impacting your business (and life);
- how remote working has changed dog walking and pet sitting services;
- what it is like to operate a boarding facility that had little-to-no revenue in 2020 and then became one that can’t keep up with the demand in 2021.
My goal is to help you–and our industry–weather any other storms that come our way. One way I’m going to support you is to make sure FetchFind continues offering expert-backed education. In addition to that, we are committed to helping you as a business owner. I feel a massive responsibility for providing content that lowers your liability, boosts your profitability, and allows you to create and maintain a healthy culture.
It might sound obvious, but while I was taking time last year to reimagine the future of FetchFind, I realized that not all of the answers come from inside the pet industry. There’s a lot to be learned from people and businesses outside of our industry. If FetchFind was going to rise to the occasion and alleviate your pain points beyond staff training, then we were going to do it in the biggest and best way imaginable. More on this in a second.
During these ideation sessions with my team, I became passionate about Badges for pet pros…to keep them happy and safe while they worked for you. My aha moment: What about first aid for people? Our industry needs to focus on that as well as first aid for pets! (Dogs and cats have sharp ends!)
I made a shortlist of (dream) potential partners. I quickly found that Cintas (who I thought was just a hospital and restaurant supply company, btw) would be a fantastic content partner because they are (literally) workplace safety experts. Through my business network, I was able to connect with a decision-maker at Cintas. His name is Mike, luckily, a pet guy. After learning about FetchFind, he was hooked. Mike has been by our side since that first conversation in October 2020, and he’s become one of the pet industry’s biggest allies.
We initially worked with Cintas to develop a series of “First Aid for Humans” Badges. Soon after that, we realized they could help us build content around other common industry pain points. Things like ensuring your cleaning supplies and first-aid station remain stocked and that your fire safety protocols and equipment meet high standards.
It then became my mission to integrate our SME (subject matter expert) beyond content and allow our industry access to – Cintas in this case – solutions and services. Because it’s time our industry has the same opportunities and access to business services and solutions (at REASONABLE pricing) as other industries have.
After months of working alongside Cintas as our subject matter expert for first aid, it dawned on us that to help the pet industry grow and evolve; our industry needs access to workplace safety solutions and services. They need to be reasonably priced and alleviate some of the burdens of pet business owners.
That’s why we’re launching FetchFind Marketplace, proudly born out of FetchFind’s focus on education and our passion for elevating the industry in the most impactful ways.
I’ll stop there and simply say, this is major. Education alongside world-class partners who see the opportunity to help our industry via fair pricing and programs that impact your bottom line. I believe this programming and thinking will make a profound and lasting impact on our industry for years to come. Our Marketplace allows us to support the pet industry by showcasing premium services and solutions from best-in-class national brands outside of the pet industry (some best-in-class brands will be pet-centric, too). Together with our Marketplace partners, we will address the everyday needs of all kinds of pet businesses.
To be clear, working with FetchFind Marketplace partners is not required for you to have access to our First Aid and Fire Safety Badges. Those Badges will be a part of your FetchFind subscription, as that is why we exist: to provide cutting-edge content to as many pet professionals as possible.
As we move forward together, I’ll share more and more details about the FetchFind Marketplace, our partners, and other new industry-first resources we are curating for you and our entire industry.
So, yes, it’s been a hell of a ride to get here, but OMG, I am so ready to help you in ways that will change your pet business forever.
Thanks for being part of the FetchFind community.
XO,
Jamie