Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Scott Tarpley. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Scott thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
I started getting the idea of working with dogs when I was a swat man in New York. When we were attached to the SWAT team, there was always a dog available and I quickly fell in love with the training and control that they had over this very unique animal. They could do anything they could track or hunt by people and even find narcotics or explosives. Once I got in good with the K9 guys, I knew it could be a lucrative business opportunity to have in what I call my retirement years. So after I was able to retire from service, that’s exactly what I did.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I got my start back in 2009 when I was a Rescue Me attached to the SWAT teams. I started working with dogs within those teams and quickly fell in love with it. I started learning everything I can about Dog Training and Dog businesses and what was involved. Later that year I formed a business Next Level Kennels and started working my way towards learning to train as well as boarding dogs and basic veterinary care. As the years progressed, I was able to receive training clients who gave rave reviews for the things I was able to do for them in their pets. This was a great excitement for me as knowing I was helping somebody with the struggles they had was not only what I done my whole life but now what I could do in the later years as well working with animals. As the business crew and I seen it more as a career opportunity, I was able to take early retirement from being in the fire rescue service and purchased a large facility down in Henderson, North Carolina in 2019. We still operate out of that large facility today with other locations Trainers and Mobile Grooming all out there in our local area working with one goal in mine to help the client have a better relationship with their pet.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
Owning your own small business is definitely not for the faint of heart after I purchased this facility in 2019 it seemed Covid quickly came in early 2020 and there was a time there that I thought it would absolutely ruin us and put us out of business for sure. So we had to pivot and make quick adjustments. We did more Grooming with animals. We started doing doggy daycare and day trading classes to where people could drop their pets off with us and we would take care of anything they needed without that contact fear that Covid brought to all of us. After that, the business florist and we were able to take all those things we learned in all the new avenues we explored and put them into the daily life of the facility and staff here and it’s continued to grow ever since.
Can you talk to us about your experience with buying businesses?
When I bought this facility in 2019, it was a failing business that had almost no clientele in the ownership was actually absolutely horrendous. Navigating the purchase of the facility in the land was definitely difficult one but was able to secure a deal and to make that happen. So I sold my home in New York, as well as probably more than half of my belongings to come up with the money I needed for the down payment and to make everything work once I got down here it was off to the races. We’ve done nothing but excel over the long-term And I’m super proud of this business and all the staff and everything is brought with it
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Nextlevelkennels.com
- Instagram: https://Instagram.com/nextlevelkennels
- Facebook: https://Facebook.com/nextlevelkennels
- Youtube: @nextlevelkennelsoffical
