Poo For Profit 💩

Issue #20

August 22nd, 2023

Quick Hits:

• WalletHub released its list of the most & least friendly dog cities in the US. Where is your city ranked?

• Should you allow your dog to be off-leash while hiking?

• We aren’t the only social animals

• Cat performances ranked

• 2023 Pet Industry Award winners

"Business stinks, but it's picking up." 💩 = 💵 

In 1999, Jacob D’Aniello worked as an IT consultant and Susan D'Aniello was preparing to leave for nursing school. Commuting home from work one evening, Jacob was listening to an interview on the radio. The conversation was with a man whose career was as a pet pooper-scooper. Jacob almost changed the channel, but then it clicked – this man loved his job! Jacob’s wheels started turning.

Jacob and Susan wanted to start a business but also spend more time together. After some initial research, they concluded that pet waste removal services benefited from low overhead, a variable cost business model, recurring revenue, and are fairly recession-resistant (dogs keep pooping - even when the economy slows down!).

With the little money they had, they decided to start DoodyCalls, a pet waste removal service. In the beginning, as with most businesses, it was slow, they had a website, placed classified ads in local papers, and went door-to-door offering their services to fellow pet owners. The first DoodyCalls client responded to their website and wanted to purchase six months of pet waste removal services for a friend who had just bought a new home. Slowly but surely the convenience of their service started to pick up steam and soon they were servicing multiple neighbourhoods. They were scooping poop in the mornings and working their full-time jobs in the evening. Their core business model relied on affordable monthly subscriptions for regular waste removal. To continue growing the business, they reinvested every dollar made back into the business.

What they offer:

• For residential dog owners, DoodyCalls provides dog waste pickup, brown spot treatment, and deodorizing services.

• For communities and parks, DoodyCalls designs, sells, installs, services, and maintains common areas, pet waste stations, equipment, and supplies.

Initially, they thought that lawn and landscaping services would want to start competing with them and take away their existing clientele. They found out that it was the exact opposite. Landscaping companies have enough business without worrying about dog poop. Pet waste mucks up their machinery and they have to spend a lot of time cleaning it. They saw an opportunity and decided to partner with landscapers. Over time they became the company’s greatest sources of referrals. Some lawn companies will even refuse to mow the lawn unless the dog waste is picked up first, and if the homeowner doesn't want to do it, they recommend DoodyCalls.

In 2004 they decided to develop a franchise model, providing comprehensive training, equipment, and ongoing support to franchisees. In order to launch the franchise concept they raised money by selling part of the company. They currently clean up in over 57 territories across 23 states and have been named the number-one pet waste removal franchise in the United States by Entrepreneur Magazine.

DoodyCalls has currently over 80 franchised units and company-owned units, for a total of 10 million doggy deposits collected in a year. Although the company has units in 23 states, it’s heavily focused on the Mid-Atlantic states that have a lot of busy urban professionals.

• In 2022, their top-performing franchisee had a gross revenue of over $1.28M.

• In 2022 the top 50% of a single territory owner’s average gross revenue was over $590,000.

Despite the pandemic, 2020 was the brand’s best year in history for new sign-ups. In 2021 Doody Calls was acquired by Authority Brands, LLC (who own The Cleaning Authority, Junkluggers, Mosquito Squad, and many more) for an undisclosed amount.

Jacob and Susan are living proof that hard work + long-term vision can grow a profitable and successful business. They successfully scaled and sold a service-based franchising business focussed, all from picking up 🐶 💩. In this day and age where everyone is looking for a quick exit, our bet is on the long game.

• Mixlab announced $10 million in additional funding - Mixlab is offering pet prescription and wellness solutions.

• A $7.2 million investment - After raising capital, Scrumbles is significantly expanding its portfolio.

• Petco & Ollie have launched an exclusive partnership - Premium human-grade dog products are coming to a Petco near you.

• Under one woof - Natural Balance, Canidae join forces to create Ethos Pet Brands.

• Future pet? - Chinese tech firm Xiaomi unveils a robotic dog that can perform ballet steps and even MOONWALK!

• PB & CBD - Honest Paws is offering $100 for canine ambassadors to promote their all-natural CBD-infused peanut butter products.

• Aurora bans the sale of dogs & cats - More cities across the US are passing similar laws.

PAWS right there!!! Don’t forget to subscribe 👇👇

• Purina sends $25,000 to Hawaii - Greater Good Charities in providing medical care, pet food, and supplies to Hawaiian-based animal rescues.

• Mimicking on Melrose - These vet technicians at Melrose Animal Clinic were having a bit too much fun with this.

• Dogwalk on the Catwalk - a Michigan town decided to showcase some canine couture.

• Nope, not a dog! - California homeowner finds out his dog is playing with a… mountain lion.

• Dogs are helping in Hawaii - Cadaver dogs are helping rescuers find the dead.

• Disaster at District Dogs - An absolute nightmare occurred at a pet boarding facility in Washington D.C.

• The cutest reunion ever - This is a must-see!

• Best maze ever - This is some lucky hamster.

Update on Loyal, a company we covered here a couple of months ago.
Loyal, the company that's developing drugs intended to help dogs live longer, healthier lives, recently announced that they are developing a new drug. This drug is a result of a partnership with Crinetics Pharmaceuticals and is intended to extend the lifespan of large-breed dogs. Referred to as LOY-003, this is Loyal's third drug in development, and they aim to bring it to market as soon as 2026. Full story

We have had some great insights from amazing entrepreneurs over the last weeks. Let’s change gears for this one and cover a couple of considerations around raising investment from external investors. You may have operated your business for a couple of months or perhaps a couple of years and have now decided to go on a “raise”. Here are some things to keep in mind:

What stage is your business in – Are you raising a seed round? Series A/B/C? perhaps even growth equity? A lot of it will depend on the commercial and financial traction you have achieved to date. A seed round may mean you are pre-revenue. Growth equity could mean you operated a profitable business but now need a capital injection to accelerate growth. You will need to target different investors and need to demonstrate different items/metrics and communicate different messages. Do your homework: determine the right investor universe and prepare accordingly (see next point).

Prep, prep, and hmm… yeah, prep some more – Fundraising rounds can be extremely intense. You may need to present a lot of information, have a ton of meetings, and answers hundreds of questions (we are not kidding). Better be ready. What are your key selling points? What do you plan to use the funds for? Are your numbers (and potential projections)robust and ready for scrutiny? Taking the time to prepare will ensure you don’t spend precious time scrambling for things down the road.

Execution – Executing an investment round can take a month. It could also take six or even nine months. Here is the thing, you just don’t know. The economic environment plays a role but so are many other factors (i.e. try and avoid fund-raising in the summer, people are away). The fund-raise will also require a lot of focus and attention from you when you still have a business to run. Make sure you and your team go into this with full clarity and alignment on what the next months will require from each of you. Lastly, keep an eye on that cash balance. The last thing you want is to be in a position where money is running out and you are still out there seeking an investment.

* Oops, small correction - last week's European landscape was reported in billions. The right denomination should have been millions.

You reached the end, you deserve a treat 🍖

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Finally, Why don’t cats play poker in the jungle?

Too many cheetahs.

See you next week!

The Woof is a weekly newsletter dedicated to covering the pet industry.