Notes from Chris

Episode 1345

Like many dog owners, Singaporean school teacher, Victoria Koay, is in love with her pet. When he fell sick, she took him to the vet right away. There, she learned that Oreo was ill because he didn’t react well to the mainstream dog foods sold in supermarkets. Furthermore, the combination of ingredients he was reacting to was so common in pet foods that she couldn’t simply switch to another brand, leading her vet to suggest that she feed her dog a custom diet.

This suggestion led Victoria down a rabbit hole. Although she’d had Oreo for some time, she didn’t know enough about canine nutrition to customize his diet. She had to start learning, and quickly! She leaped in by taking an online course on nutritional needs for dogs. She also picked up several books to round out her knowledge. Before long, she’d developed a base of knowledge that she could use to successfully care for him, giving him the dog life of his dreams.

But Victoria wasn’t content with just customizing the diet for Oreo. Reaching out to a friend who worked at an animal shelter, she shared that she had picked up this new skill set and was happy to work with the shelter dogs if they ever needed a custom diet. Victoria provided this type of occasional assistance for a while as she continued to hone her skills and gain valuable experience.

But Victoria’s side hustle breakthrough came in July 2017 when she got her first paying client, referred from a friend. A few months later she received another referral, this time through her vet who was now a friend as well. Eventually, the growing referrals led Victoria to set up her own website “Bowls N Blends.” This way, she had somewhere to share answers to her client’s commonly asked questions.

She was careful to make sure everything she shared was accurate and lab-tested. Although she had put in a lot of work to learn about the subject, she wasn’t a vet herself—and she knew that her lack of qualifications might dissuade potential clients from working with her. This meant she made sure to pay extra attention to every detail. She spent time learning exactly what each clients’ dog was like—everything from temperament to daily habits to fussiness when it came to food.

Today, she continues to increase her knowledge and qualifications while gaining more practical experience. One of the things she learned along the way was that working relationships don’t always work out, and that’s okay. Because dog owners love their companions, sometimes obsessively, frustration and worry could often make communication difficult.

In this respect, Victoria now spends more time to evaluate her ability to work with new clients, and isn’t afraid to refer them elsewhere if she thinks that they wouldn’t have a suitable working relationship. She says: be clear about your goals and don’t let jealousy and competition prevent you from doing the best for yourself and your clients. After all, it’s not a dog-eat-dog world.

 

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  MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Learn more about Victoria's business and specialized dog food at her website, BowlsNBlends.com.

SEE ALSO:

• Electrical Engineer Rides Demand to Dog Collar Empire: A short-term holdover project between jobs becomes a seven-figure empire, all built on dog collars.
• Frozen Pup Treats Are No Barking Matter: Frozen yogurt for dogs? Yep. It starts as one couple’s hobby, expands to a farmer’s market, and eventually earns a million dollars in sales.
• Sisters Find Puppy Love After Launching Dating App: After a dog lovers’ boyfriend rejects her canine companion, she partners with her sister to build a dog-friendly dating app that’s pawsitively pawfect.

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

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