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

Alright, Randy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you share a customer success story with us?

One of our customers (who has become a friend) has a very special pup who had three seizures within two months. The pup’s mom has a degree in natural healing and did her due diligence researching the medications the veterinarian prescribed. The potential side effects are awful and mom did not want to give the medication to her dog! She reached out and asked if we could discuss other options. We had a lengthy discussion about the potential benefits of cannabidiol (CBD) oil and she was willing to try it. The pup has not had a seizure in 5 months.

Randy, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I worked in mental health for 25 years in Chicago. My wife and I purchased a second home in Douglas, Michigan in 2011 and immediately knew we were going to retire here. We enjoyed walking around town, supporting the local businesses and the fine dining. There was a cute dog store in downtown Saugatuck that we visited every time we were in town. Knowing that we wanted to retire here, I started researching businesses for sale in southwest Michigan and found that dog store available! We did not end up buying that store, but that was the moment that I knew I wanted to open a pet boutique. It took several years, but that gave us time to figure out the ins and outs of running a retail store. We established our name and began selling online–just to get some experience, learn the ropes, find the distributors and vendors, etc. Eventually, the timing was right and we were able to open in downtown Douglas.

Owning a pet boutique in a small, resort town is interesting! We have a very small storefront, but we try to have the items that locals need and want (food, brushes, harnesses, etc.), while offering unique, fun finds for the tourists. One thing that is unique about our pet boutique is that I am the only employee. This allows me to establish relationships with customers–many of whom have become friends over the last four years. Building those relationships has helped us to grown our business. Not only are our locals return customers, but we have a lot of people who vacation in southwest Michigan each year and return to visit us. I love that!

I am proud to be actively involved in our community. I serve on the Douglas City Council, the Downtown Development Authority and the Community Pride MI Board of Directors. I am passionate about helping Douglas become a destination. Our sister town, Saugatuck is the draw to our area. Many people do not know that Douglas is here! My work on these boards is to help my business, the other merchants and restaurants by drawing people to our charming town. In the last two years, I have seen the growth and it makes all the work worth it.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

Marketing is one of the most important aspects of business. As a healthcare professional turned boutique owner, I had no experience in marketing. One of the challenges is to identify your audience and figure out where they are and the best avenue for reaching them. Fortunately, we were in the financial position to explore various means of marketing (social media ads, radio, print, billboard, television) which helped us figure out the best options. The most risky thing we tried was a billboard. This was a large monthly expense with a one year contract. We were fairly new in business still, so this was a big investment and a risky one. We loved having our dogs face on a billboard on the highway, but after one year realized that the ROI was not there. When we decided not to renew the contract, it helped us realize that we can spend more monthly on other, more appropriate marketing platforms.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

There is a Facebook-based group for independent pet businesses called Pet Boss Nation. After following their free platform for a while, I decided to join the paid membership…The Pet Boss Club. I knew there would be a lot of benefits to joining the group, but little did I know that this was exactly what I needed. I was a fish out of water in many ways, learning as I went along. The Pet Boss Club’s mantra is “community over competition.” The founder, Candace D’agnolo, emphasizes that there is room for all of us in this industry and the pet business owners who are members truly believe this. We have the opportunity to share ideas, learn from one other, ask for resources and guidance, etc. We meet up at trade shows and visit each other’s stores. My nearly two years in the Club has helped me to grow as a business owner. It is kind of like having a bunch of cheerleaders on your team!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lakeshorepetboutique.com
• Instagram: instagram.cm/lakeshorepetboutique
• Facebook: facebook.com/lakeshorepetboutique

Image Credits
Emma Varley Photography