Scenthound CEO Tim Vogel talked to us about how his enterprise advanced from a typical grooming salon
right into a membership-based wellness studio for canines—after which right into a quickly-expanding franchise, hitting
No. 127 on our Prime New & Rising Franchises listing.
How did Scenthound get began?
In 2005, my spouse Jessica and I began a cell grooming enterprise, and later transitioned to retail
places. After studying what canines’ and canine dad and mom’ wants had been, we pivoted right into a wellness mannequin. If
you take a look at the highest 10 breeds within the U.S., solely a type of 10 wants a haircut—however all canines want care. It
was round 2015 that we launched what’s in the present day known as Scenthound—”scent” being an acronym for
“pores and skin, coat, ears, nails, tooth,” the 5 core areas that every one canines want routine look after.
Why did you resolve to franchise?
There have been a handful of causes. First, we wished to amplify our affect, to assist folks care for his or her
canines in a proactive manner to assist them reside happier, more healthy, longer lives. Second, I’ve all the time been
concerned within the entrepreneurial group, and I cherished the concept of serving to different folks take the
entrepreneurial journey. Third, we had created this totally new class, and we wished to be the
leaders in that class, and franchising provided a option to scale quickly. Lastly, a part of our price
proposition is that we gather every canine’s well being profile, and the extra knowledge we gather, the higher
suggestions we will make on what canine dad and mom can do to maintain their pets completely happy and wholesome. So
the extra places now we have, the extra knowledge now we have to personalize and curate options.
How do you get pet dad and mom to grasp the necessity in your companies?
Many canine dad and mom come to us initially simply because they do not wish to wash their canine or clip its nails
themselves. However each time they arrive in we give them what we name a Scent Test—a report card the place
we assessment their canine’s well being and inform them the place there are alternatives for enchancment and the way
they’ll resolve or stop issues. So buyer by buyer, we’re educating them about canine well being,
after which abruptly they seem to be a wellness buyer, not a grooming buyer.
Like a whole lot of human wellness franchises, you have adopted a month-to-month membership mannequin, proper?
Yeah, and that is one of many actually highly effective issues on either side of the fence. The primary motive
our prospects say they love us is as a result of the routine upkeep and accountability is ready up for
them. And on the opposite facet, it is actually good for the enterprise proprietor, since you’ve stabilized income.
You even have a canine that is in good condition as a result of they’re coming in often, and you’ve got a
relationship with that canine so that they have a terrific expertise and are simpler to work on.
What forms of franchisees are you searching for?
One of many elementary advantages of our system is that we’re a multi-unit franchise. We now have an inner
system to coach trimmers, and after a 12 months of working one heart, you are going to have too many trimmers, so you need to open your second heart to offer them a continued profession path into
administration. So we’re actually searching for searching for multi-unit operators, and operators who’ve been
there and finished that and have expertise within the service trade—somebody who is aware of how you can construct a
high-performing group.
What are your targets for the 12 months forward?
The pet trade is forecasted to be a $277 billion trade by 2030, so the tailwinds now we have proper now
are great and the chance for progress is absolutely limitless. We’re principally opening one location
every week for the remainder of the 12 months, so we’ll be at 100 by the tip of 12 months, which is absolutely thrilling, as a result of as
we scale, we’re altering the psychology of the general inhabitants about canine care and serving to folks be
the perfect canine dad and mom they are often. We’re additionally creating our personal private-label product line. In order that’s one other large a part of our mission, to construct this multi-channel ecosystem to not solely to carry canines in and provides them routine care, however to offer canine dad and mom options at residence to assist them be certain their canine stays on the trail to wellness.