Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Josh Feinkind. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Josh, appreciate you joining us today. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

Being a business owner certainly has its perks. The ability to call your own shots. Having the final say on business decisions. Deciding when you work, when you take vacation, how much to get paid and how much a raise to provide yourself. The satisfaction of creating something from nothing. Building and growing a business… and reaping its rewards. With that said… the flip side is you can be a slave to the business. Web site crashes while you’re on vacation and developer is nowhere to be found… it’s on you. Company needs more funding, on you to raise it. Make a wrong decisions on which product or service to launch could be disaster for your business and your employees whose livelihood may rest on your choices. You may think you set your own hours but really the business dictates them to you. Your business’ success rests on the time you put into it.

These are issues that I have wrestled with throughout my 18 years as a business owner. Products manufactured with defects, employees quitting without notice, website hacks, etc… Over time, like a house, things with go wrong, break down, and you’ll have to fix it. To continue with the analogy, if a business owner is a home owner, an employee is a renter. Free to pick up a leave when they want to. Things go wrong or it’s too much to take, an employee usually can just quit, find a new job. There is freedom in that. When times were tough I have thought of my business school friends with regular jobs making good salaries. The ease of a 9-5. But the envy doesn’t last. I enjoy the challenge and the rewards earned from sticking with it, solving problems that arise, and steering the ship into continued profitability.

Josh, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

It all started with a cat named Kerpal. Living in a small apartment in Englewood, NJ, 5 miles away from NYC, I was frustrated with current cat products on the market. These “cat tree” designs were unnecessarily awkward and very unattractive. The dilemma presented itself: how can Kerpal’s need to climb and scratch co-exist with our need for a nice-looking home. The solution: design cat furniture with both the cat and the cat owner’s needs in mind. Assuming others were facing a similar dilemma, The Refined Feline was born. The goal: to create a line of products that are affordable, easy to maintain, and fun for cats, in addition to being customizable to easily blend into any home’s decor. Since the development of our first cat tower, we have launched lines of modern looking litter box cabinets, cat shelves, cat beds, dog beds, and feline inspired clothing.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

The business was funded two ways. First, we applied to a bank for a line of credit which was granted and we still have today. If you’re even thinking of starting a business, incorporate now. Banks want to see that you’ve been n business for 2 years. The second was credit cards with 0% balance transfer promotions. We’d get two credit cards, run up a total on one, then do a balance transfer to another. Other than the 5% fee it was no interest money for a year. When the year came up we’d get another credit card and transfer the balance to that one. This went on for a few years. I have now have credit cards from every bank imaginable and they stack up like a pack of playing cards. Now we generate enough cash we no longer need to transfer balances. And the best thing is, since many of these cards are tied to my personal credit history, my available credit is quite high hence my credit score is near perfect.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

The business may not be here today without … my dad. I’m not quite an introvert, but I’m not a complete extrovert either and dont enjoy walking up to strangers to start a conversation. I attended my first trade show with two prototypes made in China. While we were selling cat furniture, it’s still furniture and other than my experience sitting on chairs, I knew very little. At the same trade show was a booth selling dog furniture. While I never considered it, my father took the initiative to visit the booth get information, and ask someone to look at our products, As it turns out, they were manufacturers from Vietnam. They looked at my product and confirmed they could build it. A relationship had begun. However, the lesson I learned the hard way was… factories need oversight. The quality of our first order was substandard. Extra holes drilled. Wood warped. Packaging non-existent. It took several trips to Vietnam and hiring an independent quality control manager to get the quality to the level the US market expects.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www/therefinedfeline.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/refinedfeline
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/therefinedfeline
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-feinkind-87ba163/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/therefinedfeline