MAYBVM

102 103 sees, to make sure they’re a good fit for the brand? Hoots: “First and foremost is a passion for pets. Now, that, in and of itself, isn’t enough to be able to successfully build a pet food business, so on top of that passion for pets, you have to have a desire and ability to sell products, because we’re a sales organization, at heart. Third is the ability to manage people –both employees and relation- ships with customers. Then there’s the financial acumen–being able to run the day-to-day finan- cial side of the business, as well.” BVM: What kind of training do you offer new franchisees? Hoots: “Once awarded a franchise, they go through an onboarding process. That onboard- ing is designed to get the business components started.We haven’t dug into pet food operations or pet food nutrition - we haven’t dug into any of that, yet.We’re just helping them get a corporate entity set up; helping them get a bank account set up; their DBA; all of that. “Then we bring them into our corporate offices here in Cincinnati, and they go through a very hands-on training regimen that includes sales skills, how to run a Pet Wants business from an PETWANTS operational standpoint, how to go out into the community and build the brand, how to plan and manage the business from a financial standpoint, and how to manage the inventory on a monthly basis. Those are a few of the concepts that we teach them in the hands-on training program. “We have two models. The first is a mobile-on- ly business. That business focuses on building a business through grassroots development activities and delivering fresh and nutritious pet food to people’s doors, using a vehicle. The second concept is a retail store. In that case, they are going to not only deliver food via the mobile component with all of the grassroots, commu- nity-based business development that a mobile store does, but they’re also going to open a store- front and operate a retail revenue stream, as well. “Once they have gone through the training process, if they’re looking to open a retail store, they will be directed toward our real estate ven- dor, who will help them find the right space that meets our criteria in the market in which they are launching. If they’re a mobile-based fran- chise, they’re assigned a franchise business coach who helps them finish the process of getting the business launched, and then continues to help them manage and build the business. So, we really have a soup to nuts support system when it comes to our new franchise owners.” BVM: After a franchise is up and running, what products does it sell? Hoots: “Our core product is our Pet Wants dog and cat food. That product represents a signifi- cant portion of our annual revenue and they are required to buy that product from our single-ap-