Small Dog Carrier Sling By Kangapooch
The market for pet brands is booming, so I spoke to Chelsea Snyder about how she built her brand. This AAU alum is the designer of the small dog sling carrier line, Kangapooch. I learned about the business from her to help me run my own pet store in the future.
1. Your brand is called “kangapooch”, so what does Kanga mean?
It means kangaroo, you can carry your dog just like a kangaroo mother carries her roo.
2. Why do you want to build this brand? What kind of things inspired you?
I never wanted to be a designer for dog accessories before. Me and my husband travel a lot. We need something to carry our small dog, so I designed a carrier for myself first, and then my friends start to like a lot. I realized compare with a bag, this kind of carrier is actually more convenient. You don’t need to hold it. It’s handy and more comfortable.
3. During my research, I found the numbers of dogs in San Francisco are actually more than babys. Do you think this may make your business easier?
There is only one store selling our product in San Francisco right now, because we are a small scale business. Through Amazon and Etsy we are able to sell every where in the U.S. We also have had sales in France, Indonesia, Australia and Canada.
4. I think selling online is a good idea. It has many advantages. On the other hand, I think customers can touch or feel the product at physical store. What are the advantages of selling online?
We don’t have enough products to do physical store right now (wholesale). We do get returns and exchanges occasionally from size issues.
5. How can you promote your brand?
We have Facebook, Instagram right now. Sometimes we donate some of products to pet stores and organizations. For exposure in the communities.
6. Can you tell me some differences with other brands?
We have an affordable price point compared with other brands, and use high quality natural and organic fabric . The Kangapooch is also Made in the US, not too far from us in Daly City.
7. What is the fabric?
100% cotton denim for the strap. Organic cotton for the black pouch.
8. Can you tell me some weakness of your product?
One of the big problems is the color, we only have few color choices right now. Some customer have suggested us add more colors. Another problem might be the adjustment, you have to measure your T-shirt size to see what size you need to buy. Some people complain the size are only S,M,L and XL. It’s better to add more size choices for every one.
9. Where do you manufacture your product? In U.S or China? If it’s in the U.S, is that expensive?
It’s in Daly City San Francisco. Our business is still small scale, so if were manufacture in china it would take long time and also the process is too complicated to a small business. I think if we expand our business model later, we will consider doing that in China in order to get a good deal.
10. As a pet owner, do you have some suggestions for other pet parents?
I would suggest people feed dogs as healthy as possible because we all want what’s best for our pets.
After interview with Chelsea, I knew small business in wholesale can not offer price as low as retail shops because they do not have a big profit margin. This remand me think about the business model if I want to run my own business.