We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Makenna Kuncaitis. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Makenna below.
Makenna, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. It’s easy to look at a business or industry as an outsider and assume it’s super profitable – but we’ve seen over and over again in our conversation with folks that most industries have factors that make profitability a challenge. What’s biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?
There are a few big challenges to profitability in my industry.
These would be the two main things:
First, it is quite a saturated market. It can be hard to stand out and catch attention of buyers. Reaching new customers typically requires a lot of social media reach, creative marketing, and really getting the brand out there.
Second, Dogs Galore and More tries to be as affordable as possible. Selling lower priced items can make for a complicated profit margin sometimes. Although, that is the whole base of our brand and it is worth it!
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
The story behind this brand is a little crazy. When I was about 4 years old, I was diagnosed with Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS). GBS paralyzed me and left me unable to walk, talk, etc. it took around 4 months of hospitalization before I could go back home. Then years of physical and occupational to learn how to walk, talk, write, and everything in between all over again. In those 4 months of hospitalization, I had to find a lot of different ways to cope. One of the best “coping mechanisms” provided to me were service/therapy dogs. I vividly remember so many service dogs coming and just sitting with me. The dogs helped me so much by just being there. This caused me to fall SO in love with animals, primarily dogs. I still am often in awe of how fantastic and mood lifting they can be. Many years later, when I was 17, I applied and was hired at my first dog handling job. I absolutely LOVED it. A few of years later, I had been working as a professional dog handler for 4 years. I then ventured off to start business #1; Makenna’s dog handling.
A few years into that business, February of 2022, I chose to branch out even further into the business world and start #2 because I loved owning my business and my passion was continuously growing. From there, Dogs Galore and More was founded. I started this business both to share my passion and love for dogs and their owners, and to give fellow dog lovers reasonably priced, high-quality products they would LOVE. I work very hard with my customers to make sure they absolutely love the products they receive.
Dogs Galore and More was founded in February of 2022 and has grown so much since! What started as a small online business for friends and family that were dog lovers, turned into much more than I could’ve imagined. Dogs Galore and More is now not only making online sales, but is also in 2 stores!
I am still so passionate about my love for dogs and allowing customers to get high quality, cute, affordable products, I have loved working hard and tweaking designs to make the perfect custom products, the excitement on the customer’s end has to be my absolute favorite part of this whole business.
Dogs Galore and More provides just about anything for dog lovers and any others. The main products sold in this business are; custom decals, stickers, any custom vinyl printing, and embroidery ( on bandanas and beanies primarily). We use high quality vinyl to make high quality products for dog lovers and any others!
We’d really appreciate if you could talk to us about how you figured out the manufacturing process.
At Dogs Galore and More (DGAM), we manufacture our own products. From stickers, to decals, and everything in between, it is all made right at the office! What started as hand cutting, tracing, etc. to get products made, is now machines measuring, printing, creating, and cutting products that are individually checked before being shipped out. DGAM has software for some of the decals and stickers made, others I draw/trace out my self if I don’t love what the software does. All in all, these products are made to be high quality and low price!
In the beginning, I had no idea how to make any of these products. I did a whole bunch of research on my machines; which would be the best and create the highest quality items while not breaking the bank, which were fastest, etc.
Eventually, after I decided what machines to use, I did a bunch of research on the best ways to use them; good tactics, how to increase quality, how to increase durability, and how to make the product look good. It was a lot of work but so worth it. I recommend starting in a niche you’re very passionate about and focusing on trades/crafts already enjoy doing. This helps a lot on the days you simply don’t feel motivated. I truly enjoy making all of the products sold through my business!
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
The best source of new clients for Dogs Galore and More has been social media by far! Social media has such a huge reach now days that it can be quite easy to gain traction from just one post getting a lot of attention. It can also be very fun to interact with clients and get research at the same time. Personally, we have a “dog of the day” picture with a poll we post daily on our instagram page. It keeps everyone engaged, and let’s us in on their interests/likes. This has led to a fair amount of our sales and a lot of interaction on our stories.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.dogsgaloreandmore.net
- Instagram: dogsgalore_andmore
- Facebook: Dogs Galore and More LLC
- Other: Tik tok: dogsgaloreandmore