Franchise QB

Episode 51: Theresa Napolitano- Dogtopia Franchise Owner

• Mike Halpern • Season 1 • Episode 51

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In this episode of the Franchise QB Podcast, host Mike Halpern speaks with Theresa Napolitano, a franchise owner of Dogtopia. Theresa shares her journey from being a dog lover and volunteer in rescue to becoming a franchise owner. 

She discusses the challenges of transitioning from an independent dog daycare to a Dogtopia franchise, the support she received from the franchise system, and her plans for growth and expansion. 

The conversation highlights the importance of community, collaboration among franchise owners, and the rewarding experience of combining passion with business.

Takeaways

Theresa started her journey with dogs through rescue volunteering.

Returning to work after raising four kids was challenging for Theresa.

She transitioned from an independent dog daycare to Dogtopia in 2017.

Theresa expressed her dream of owning a Dogtopia franchise during a meeting and her family was supportive of her dream to own a business.

The franchise system provides a blueprint for success and support from the franchise community is invaluable for new franchise owners.

Hiring for attitude and compassion is crucial in her business.

Teresa has seen consistent growth since becoming an owner in 2021 and she is exploring the possibility of opening a second location. 

www.dogtopia.com 

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Mike Halpern, CAFC
mike@franchiseqb.com

This is the Franchise QB Podcast, where we empower entrepreneurs to win big in franchising. We huddle up weekly to educate our audience about the most successful small business model ever created. Franchise it! Welcome to the Franchise QB podcast. I'm your host, Mike Halpern, a 20 year industry veteran and entrepreneur. My mission is for listeners to achieve their American dreams of creating wealth and independence through franchise ownership. Every week we speak with franchisees, franchisors or vendors that support the industry. Thank you for joining us and let's get started. Joining us in the huddle today is Theresa Napolitano, franchise owner with Dogtopia. Welcome to the show, Theresa. Hi, thanks for having me. Absolutely. So Dogtopia is a franchise that obviously deals with dogs. I want to hear about how you got started with dogs, and then we can kind of talk a little bit more about the brand as we kind of get into it. So how did you originally get started with dogs? Yeah, absolutely. So I mean, who doesn't love dogs? I've got one right here sleeping next to me, so I love dogs. Yeah, absolutely. Always, always love dogs. I actually started with rescue. So when my kids were little, it was kind of a nice way to do something outside of the home. Rescues are always looking for volunteers. And so that's something I would do. I would head out to shelters and pull the dogs for box training. That was typically just a weekend kind of thing and I did meet some trainers, got started doing dog training, providing classes outside of our local pet stores and from there just kind of grew to love it and learned a whole ton and started networking with people in the dog world. Very cool. So you mentioned your kids. So you've raised four kids over two decades. First, congrats on being a great mom. I have two boys and I know it's difficult to raise kids. Four of them is double the amount that I have. It must be difficult getting back into the workforce after a long absence. So what was that experience like for you? Absolutely. So, you know, I started my family young. I mean, I had my first at 20 years old. So really, not only was I trying to get back into the workforce, I was really just trying to get into it. You're going from being at home, you know, the day in and day out of just how much work that is raising a family and then trying to figure out what you want to do, how you're going to do it. It was always sort of a juggle. I did a whole lot of side jobs, side hustles. I did a lot of training in the evenings where my husband and I would just sort of like pass each other. So it's difficult when it was finally time for me to get back to work when my youngest was starting kindergarten That summer I'll never forget. It was it was a struggle trying to find Anything that had flexibility that I needed Right. So you eventually found your way working for an independent dog daycare place So how did you when did you start working for that business? Was it in 2017 or was it prior to that? No, it was prior to that. So that was the summer of 2013. Okay. We started working with them and I had then decided, you know, to try to get back into the dog world, whether it was training or doing something. Again, with the flexibility that I needed to still be home when I needed to be home with the kids. We passed this. It was actually it was a groom shop retail. I saw that they just opened the daycare. And I just walked in and introduced myself and was hired the next week. So it was, it was very lucky that owner started her tiny little groom shop and just grew over the 20 years. became, you know, well, good friends eventually. Definitely a mentor for me. That's awesome. So it's really interesting how you got into Dogtopia. So. That independent business was converted into a Dogtopia franchise in 2017. And you maintain your employment there from the independent side to the franchise side. I'm sure there was pros and cons going through that transition. What was it like kind of being there as an employee as a transition from an independent to a franchise? Yeah, so when it was the independent daycare, when I started working, was just dog handling like everyone else, running the play groups. And very quickly, I think within three weeks, I was managing it. So it went from just a part-time job to something much more. I made those connections with the customers. I really felt like I helped grow that dog daycare. So with the idea of someone new coming in, It was the first Dogtopia in Illinois, I believe. And so everything was brand new. And I think I felt very protective over my customers and my dogs. And, you know, I thought, well, I'm not going to go anywhere. We're going to see this through. Learned more about Dogtopia and right away just saw the potential in it. So definitely stuck around and helped the new owners, you know, transition. That was hard too. We had employees that were starting to get scared away and it was really important for us to all stick through it, stick through the transition and mainly for our customers and our dogs. Yeah, now that's great that you took that attitude and mindset to kind of hang in there and because you cared a lot about the the dogs you were caring for and the the owners of those pets. Then, this is interesting, like during a meeting with the Dogtopia franchise owners, you expressed a dream of one day owning your own location, and they supported you, and so did the corporate staff, and eventually you made that happen. So tell us a little bit about how that all came to be. Yeah, that was huge. So like I said, I instantly saw the potential that Dogtopia had. And those were conversations that my husband and I would have. what ifs, all the what if conversations. And at the time, it was just something in the back of my mind that, you sometimes you're scared of speaking up and saying what you want or what you hope for. And it was something that my husband and I had talked about and we were at a meeting and they sort of asked what goals were and I voiced my, you know, my dream of one day owning it. saw that. They could do it. This is a couple that had decided that they were gonna branch off from what they were doing and try something new. And I started thinking in my head, I have now been working in the business. There's no reason I couldn't do this. So you mentioned that your family was supportive of you, because it could go either way. They can think you're crazy. It's like, hey, you got a good thing going on. You work there. Do you really want to own it? Because sometimes owning the business and working in the business or being a customer of the business are very different things. But you said that your family was supportive of you and they kind of believed in your dream. yeah. And you know, at that point I was I was struggling with my work life balance. I think if I could have lived at the shop, I probably would have loved it. I cared about it. You know, so I think naturally the next step was to be able to own it. And. through all the years of working with rescues. mean, my family really played a huge part in helping anyway. So they were at the shop very often with me. At the time before it was Dogtopia, we did a lot of rescue work right outside of the shop. So my family definitely grew up working with the dogs. So it was a very natural step for my whole family. Yeah, that's really great. And it's really cool when you're like working on the inside of the business and then you have an opportunity to, you know, become an owner. I interviewed a, franchise consultant that I know on an episode I dropped today. And when he was selling his business last year, he had owned it for 26 years. It was a home inspection business called AmeriSpec and an employee that had been with them for 10 years is who eventually bought the business. And I always think it's great when someone that really has an intimate familiarity with the model, with the franchise. with the customer base, with the specific technical work can take over the business. It's a much smoother transition. know franchisors like that as well. that's really cool. you've said that without the franchise, there's no way you'd be able to do what you do. So what do you mean by that? Can you touch on what Dogtopia as a franchise system offers that supports you as a franchise owner? Yeah, well, I think the most important part is the the blueprint that they provide for you. I've seen how much work it is to build a brand and to try to build an independent business. That's a lot of work. It's a lot of time. Probably the biggest thing playing against me was just my own self-doubt. With the franchise model and Dotopia's structure, blueprint, it's laid out for you. So even if I had no experience in the dog world, coming in to a franchise that's already established, they lay out what you need to do. They offer that support. So if you have questions or issues that come up, or you just have a question, you don't know what the answer is, there's always help and support there. So that makes all the difference. Building a brand all by yourself. That's a scary thought. Yeah, no, I bet. So how about systems? Are there any tools that you use like technology or a way of doing business that you can see is a lot more sophisticated than what things were like when it was an independent? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, when it was an independent, we were just kind of doing the best with what we had. If you wanted to switch systems or if you were, know, right now, Doug Chopey has these webcams to try to put something into place on your own, you certainly need people with the knowledge to put that together. And I think for an independent, that means trying to hire outside and learning a lot as you go. With a brand that's already established, again, they're putting those things in place for you. Yeah. Well, you mentioned a little bit ago that if you can do it, anyone can. So is that because of the support and guidance that you're getting from the franchise or is it partially due to the peer network that you have access to, the community of owners that are in the same brand, going through the same struggles, facing the same challenges? What did you mean by that? I can do it, anyone can. Yeah, I mean, all of the above. So the support aside, think just someone coming in without a business background. without the knowledge of, you know, starting something from the ground up, lack of time, lack of resources, you know, financially, I think there's a way, I've learned anything, if there's a will, there's a way. You know, I, in my case, it was really just getting your foot in the door and working your way up. You'll still find me. in the playrooms, working in the business. So I do feel like with someone like me, I was home raising kids, we've got busy schedules, and if I can pull it off and make it successful, I do thank anyone out there. If they have a passion for something, they can turn it into something. So what does the staff look like at your shop in terms of full-time employees, part-time employees? I know it fluctuates from, you know, time to time, but what does it generally look like? Yeah, so our staff, have a total of, at any given time, a total of about 15 to 18 staff. Per day, there's usually about five to six per shift. So we do need to make sure that we have our K9 coaches in each group. have multiple rooms running per day. There's always a front staff working the counter, answering the phone, scheduling appointments. And then we always have someone in the back, we call them rovers, and they are the extra help. There's always meals to be made, know, dogs to run back and forth. So, and that's pretty consistent with the number of employees that we have for my size. And do you find that you're hiring for kind of attitude and behavior and punctuality and you can kind of train the rest or is that not accurate? Yeah, actually that is accurate. One of the things that we always look for when hiring, know, first they have to have a certain level of compassion and patience to be with the dogs. We're treating these dogs as if they're our own. So that's number one. They really have to love the animals. And then the second, I mean, attitude, we want them to be honest. We want them to be punctual. We want them to be motivated to work. We want them to really care. you know, we've had, I do have a lot of college students that are coming in looking to kind of get their foot in the door, whether they're going to go into school for vet tech or something in the animal field. And many times I've had these students love it and they've sort of changed their goals and they've stuck around. So I have a great core group of people. Yeah, it's really cool if you can kind of marry a passion for something with a business. I can see how that kind of makes it lot more fun. So how long have you been operating the shop as the owner currently? So I bought it at the end of 2021. Okay, 2021. So do you think based on now that the unit is stable, mean, have you seen consistent growth since 21? I know we came out of pandemic and everything was kind of weird for a couple of years. Have you seen growth from 21 to 24? Yeah, absolutely. We are definitely growing. are always I'm always thinking of ways that we can grow even more. So, you know, adding adding grooming, adding any kind of service that could be of interest. We've definitely seen growth both in the daycare and the boarding. Awesome. So what about expansion? Do you think it's in the horizon that you could possibly add a second location? Yeah, absolutely. So again, last couple of years have taught me to start to set goals that maybe I think are impossible. But why not? The only thing holding me back is myself. right now we are in the works for looking for a second location. hopefully that's something that I announce. Congratulations. know it takes a lot of time in identifying the right site and the right location and all that. So I wish you a ton of luck with that. And then recently you had spoken on a panel with other franchise owners. How was that experience? is that something that you do from time to time? So definitely not. That was the first time I've ever done anything like that. Okay. Again, last couple years, pushing myself out of my comfort zone. But it was a lot of fun. You know, I think of my own story as not being anything special. But when I share it, you know, people want to hear more about it. They want to know how I was able to raise a family, own a business, you know, how that all worked together. So that was a really neat experience. I got to meet other franchise owners with similar stories. Very interesting, a lot of fun and would definitely be willing to do something like that again in the future. Yeah, do you find that that experience kind of opens your eyes to like collaborating more with other owners that are around the country to kind of share best practices and kind of get better and really even avoid mistakes that some have made and said, hey, don't do this, do this. Is that something that you're open to doing and do you kind of help new owners as they get in kind of, you know, understand, you know, the Dogtopia way of doing business? know corporate, you know, bears that responsibility contractually, but it's just, I'm curious about the dynamic in the system. it, is it collaborative? Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, the owners, other franchise owners, the other Dogtopia owners, they've been great with communicating. always reaching out to one another, whether we've got questions or sharing something that worked, sharing something that didn't work. I remember there was a time when I was really struggling with hiring and just being able to reach out and get those questions answered, troubleshooting, very supportive. That's awesome. Very cool. Well, this has been great, Theresa. Anything else you want to add to the mix before we wrap up today? Gosh, no. I think we covered just about everything. Awesome. Well, if anyone listening would like to connect with Theresa to learn more about becoming a franchise owner with Dogtopia, contact me at FranchiseQB.com or on X @QBfranchiseQB. I'll get you connected. Thank you so much, Theresa, for taking the time to get in the huddle and discuss Dogtopia with us today. Great. Thanks for having me. Thank you for listening to the Franchise QB podcast where you're at the helm of your future as a franchise owner. If you enjoyed the content, please rate the show and recommend it to anyone that might be interested in franchising. Make sure to visit franchiseqb.com to subscribe to my newsletter and for an actionable playbook to go from walk-on to legend in your new business. Follow us on Twitter @QBfranchiseQB and join us every week for a new episode. See you next time. franchiseqb.com. take the next step of your journey towards wealth, independence, and franchise ownership. And remember, when working for the man gets old, you must do something bold. Thank you for listening.