We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Justin Scher a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Justin, appreciate you joining us today. How did you scale up? What were the strategies, tactics, meaningful moments, twists/turns, obstacles, mistakes along the way? The world needs to hear more realistic, actionable stories about this critical part of the business building journey. Tell us your scaling up story – bring us along so we can understand what it was like making the decisions you had, implementing the strategies/tactics etc.

When beginning my journey as a professional Dog Behavioral Therapist, it was quite scary to say the least. For one, I started this endeavor in 2008, a time where the US economy was almost headed into depression from the housing market collapse . I did had formal training offered by Bark Busters USA, but coming in, I had zero experience and yet people were hiring me to resolve whatever issue their dog(s) had. To add, no one really knew anything about me or who I was in the industry. I didn’t have any testimonials as to what I could do but I knew, in order to build this business, I needed to gain necessary experience and build a reputation from scratch. So how did I scale this business from nothing? I went to essentially every vet office in the San Diego area and offered my services free of charge to the entire staff. That way, I could get some real experience as well as get referrals going into the pipeline and build some momentum organically. From there, I would ask everyone who was amazed and grateful for what I had done for them to write up a testimonial sharing their experience working with me. And roughly 15 years later, gratefully I’ve been booked 5 months out, for several years…

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I’m a professional Dog Behavioral Therapist and Master Trainer with International Company Bark Busters out of Australia. I was inspired to this profession by Cesar Milan, the Dog Whisperer who had a show on National Geographic for many years. He was the first I’d ever seen transform dog behaviors using a primal technique utilizing dog psychology and the pack leader philosophy which resonated with me. Having watched the show for years, I felt what he was doing was something I was born to do, it was my calling…After much research, I came upon Bark Busters Home Dog Training, a company that began training dogs over 35 years ago out of Australia started by Sylvia and Danny Wilson who essentially mentored and taught me their techniques firsthand being they had lived in San Diego for several years. They became like a second set of parents to me. They had created a method of communicating and resolving all dog behavior issues by teaching people to communicate to their dogs and resolve their dog’s behavior issues using the same approach to communicating as dogs do with each other; but more importantly the way a ‘pack leader’ communicates to lower members of the pack( ie. The mother dog with her pups). It is truly a brilliant approach that works instantly because we are essentially ‘translators’. I’ve been working and mastering at this craft obsessively for almost 15 years professionally. Over the past several years, I’ve mentored my soon to be wife, Jenna Finch, as well as one of my closest friends, JD Chapman to carry on and help people successfully resolve some of the most challenging dog behavior cases that exist. We do this without the use of treats, obedience, or any form of shock, prong or physical form of disciplining. It’s all natural, and all primal.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I’m a believer in the 10 year/10,000 hour rule. Nothing trumps experience. I feel there are 3 things that lends to a business and/or person’s success. One, it’s an optimal product/methodology, two I feel instincts or natural ability is huge and finally and most importantly, persistence and experience. I call it “THE TRIFECTA”. To have all three will inevitably lead to a successful business and career. I feel when I hit that 10 year mark, THAT is when I really hit my stride and felt truly confident in what I could do for my clients. Now I was successful up until that point, but internally, I truly felt I hit a milestone almost exactly when I hit that 10 year mark. From here, I’ve had, by far, the most fun with my career, carrying a level of confidence and skill set that my clients and their dogs are beneficiaries of as a result. And as I have stated on my web page, I never stop learning…There’s no pinnacle to knowledge ESPECIALLY in this field.

Can you talk to us about your experience with buying businesses?

I just recently bought a new territory to expand my business and reach to the Greater San Diego region. Initially, I was responsible for servicing clients in Central San Diego, Chula Vista, and East County. Recently a Bark Buster retired and I purchased her North County San Diego territory so now my reach is almost up to the south of Orange County. I’ve been fortunate to have built this business to a point of being booked out months in advance and I always said, if I could just clone myself, I could expand my reach and help so many more people and their dogs. And with this new recent purchase of the North County of San Diego, my dream has come to fruition. I now have a team of Dog Behavioral Therapists and Master Trainers doing exactly what I’ve been doing for the past 15 years.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://dog-training-sandiego.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barkbusterssandiego/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/bark-busters-home-dog-training-san-diego-san-diego-4
• Other: https://www.barkbusters.com/dog-training-sandiego