We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kaitlyn Busuttil a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Kaitlyn thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
Kloud K9 was started for my late Greyhound, Elvis. When I moved to the area 4 years ago, we couldn’t find anywhere to buy his food so we decided to open a store & create access to high quality, natural pet food in the Syracuse area! When we adopted Elvis we were told he had a digestive disease and wasn’t properly digesting his food or getting the appropriate nutrients out of it so we set out to find the easiest to digest food for him. That’s when we tried feeding him a raw food diet – and in just one meal he was a different dog! All of a sudden he had energy, he wagged his tail (a first since we had gotten him) and overall seemed happier & healthier. Even our veterinarian couldn’t believe the change. When we adopted our second Greyhound, and then eventually our other two pups it was an easy decision to feed them raw as well. We have seen first hand that diet plays a very large role in overall health in our dogs. Since opening Kloud K9, I have continued educating myself as well as educating my clients on all of the options that are available for dogs now. I spend my days researching products, testing them & curating a store full of products that I believe in! Our dogs love their “jobs” as taste-testers and I love being able to provide them with the best products to keep them happy and healthy for as long as possible! Kloud K9 is here for the benefit of dogs (and cats), I want what’s best for everyone’s individual dog and I’m happy to help my clients figure out what that looks like for them!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Kaitlyn Busuttil. I opened Kloud K9 about 3 years ago to offer fresh food, natural supplements & high quality treats to the Syracuse area. We carry options for all types of diets, limited ingredient treats and all natural supplements. I work with a lot of clients who’s dogs have allergies or intolerances, so we started carrying intolerance tests! This gives pet-parents a starting point to figure out what works best for their pet and we work with our clients to pick out appropriate treats, food or supplements that suit their needs. We pride ourselves on offering a variety of products at all price points & we love helping clients find products that work within their budget! We also carry toys, puzzles, lickmats, & accessories. We are thrilled to be a dealer for Ruffland Kennels, they offer crash tested travel kennels for pets. We have met so many amazing new clients due to being able to offer these kennels as they are very popular with dog show & dog sport clients. We really care about our clients pets & we hope that’s clear from in the experience they have in-store to the products we carry. We recently started offering Private Shopping Appointments because many of our clients have dogs that prefer not to be around other dogs or need a quieter environment. We have gotten great feedback & a lot of bookings! We are thrilled to be able to continue to provide unique products & services that directly help our clients. These appointments are free & guarantee that they will be the only client in-store. We have had trainers utilize our appointments for a new environment to train in, clients with nervous dogs who want to socialize them but need a controlled environment, and clients who had lots of questions & wanted one-on-one service. As the owner & the primary employee – I directly deal with almost all of my clients so hearing their needs, what’s working/not working for their pups, and what products they are interested in allows me to curate the store to suit their needs. It also allows me to research & stock what I feel like is the best option within those categories. What I’m most excited about & most proud of is our raw food. We have our own house brand of raw food for dogs & cats. I was able to control the ingredients, size, containers, sourcing, etc. It’s made locally with all natural ingredients, everything is human-grade & FDA inspected with no preservatives, food dyes or chemicals (yuck!). We offer 10 flavors of dog food & 3 flavors of cat food currently and we are starting to offer completely custom blends for our clients with a lot of intolerances! This store is not just my job but my passion. I love chatting with my clients about their pets, meeting their pets & seeing them thrive using what they buy in-store.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Honestly, what I personally believe helped build my reputation & continues to be the reason my clients trust me is that I’m not a salesperson. Every now and then I have a new client come in asking for “the most popular treat” and I always say the same thing – that’s not really how my store works! Every dog is different, and I want show you options that will be best for your dog. I very much believe in “low-pressure” sales, I often remind my clients who ask for suggestions that they don’t have to buy every product I show them. I want my clients to pick what they think is best for them, not just the first option. I want my clients to have a good understanding of the products they buy, how to use them & meet their financial needs. A great example of this is pitching raw diets to my clients. I always make sure that they understand that it’s not as “easy” and scooping some kibble into a bowl, that they have to remember to thaw the food, that it can’t be left out all day, and that they have to be on top of cleaning & sanitizing their pet’s bowls. Many clients are okay with all these things but I do have a few clients that decided that wasn’t a good fit for them so we looked at other options. I firmly believe that a client who is prepared & educated will have a good experience & therefore will be a client for life! I set my clients up for success and sometimes that means a products isn’t right for them, but 99% of the time being honest with them also awards a client for life because people appreciate not being sold something that won’t work for them.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
Word of mouth! My clients are happy with their service & the products I carry and so they tell the people around them that have pets. So many of my clients are family members, co-workers, friends or even delivery people that heard about us from an existing client. Not only is this an excellent way to get new clients, but it is also the most rewarding way. When a new client comes in & tells me that someone told them about me it is the best feeling. A recommendation from someone you trust goes so much further than an ad or a coupon in my opinion!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.shopkloudk9.net
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kloudk9inc
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kloudk9inc/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaitlyn-cohen-busuttil-1095891b9
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/kloud-k9-east-syracuse
- Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kloudk9inc
