Running A Dog Business Doesn't Have To Mean Chasing Your Tail

A SHROPSHIRE CANINE charity trustee is turning things on their head by using the skills she has learnt in the third sector to become a guru in the business world.

Andrea Newton is the founder of dog rescue charity, Finding Furever Homes (FFH) which uses kennels in Condover.  Having managed to rehome over 500 dogs in the last four years and build up a very loyal supporter/fundraising base – including more than 33,000 Twitter followers – all without a single member of staff, Andrea has a proven pedigree in dogs, business and marketing.

Now Andrea, who also runs ABD Training – a successful human resources business – is using all her knowledge and experience gained as a lifetime dog owner and Founder of FFH, combined with her marketing and business skills to launch The Canine Business Coach, so she can help others start, improve and expand their dog businesses.

Andrea explains: “People are always talking about how charity needs to be more business-like and how the third sector needs to encourage more business people, but when I started Finding Furever Homes I always knew it needed to be run like a business – one which needed to make every penny count and make the best use of all the marketing tools available in order to save as many dogs as possible.

“The charity does not exist to make profit like a business would, but we still have a product we need to promote and a customer base of adopters we need to keep happy. That is why we work with dog trainers and behaviourists, even after our animals are adopted and continue to offer comprehensive support in the new homes which we think really sets us apart.

“We also have a massive online following and supporter base which is vital to fundraising, finding homes for animals and also general support and awareness of dog welfare issues.”

Having worked alongside a number of kennels, dog groomers, dog behaviourists and even walkers and pet sitters, Andrea came to realise how passionate most of them were about animals. But in many cases she finds that whilst they know dogs and what they do extremely well, they often find the business and marketing aspect of being self-employed a massive struggle.

She said: “Through Finding Furver Homes I have met and worked with some great people who have some real skills when it comes to dogs but I often find however good they are at what they do they are still struggling to make money, to keep going or to expand – they are constantly chasing their tails.

“They know and love dogs and so it makes sense for them to run a dog business, but often they have limited business or marketing knowledge and that is where I come in. I can help as a mentor or on a one-off basis and I can help them with the commercial stuff they maybe don’t understand or struggle with.”

For more information about The Canine Business Coach visit www.caninebusinesscoach.co.uk