Starscapes home-based business opportunity

PROFITS ARE ONLY NATURAL

Americans spend $58 billion on pets every year. This biz makes $100,000, naturally.

Byline: By Marie Sherlock
PHOTOS BY MARIE SHERLOCK
Marie Sherlock is a contributing editor based in Portland, Oregon.

Jocelyn Watt is a smart business woman. She's cashed in on not one but two hot trends. One is the increase in interest in natural foods by health conscious Americans. The other is the willingness of those Americans to spend beaucoup bucks--some $58 billion annually--on their pets.

Watt's entrepreneurial response to these two trends is a natural food store for pets, appropriately named Naturally the Best for Pets. Watt carries a variety of "all natural foods" and snacks for pets of all sorts, although her emphasis is on high quality food for dogs and cats.

The store also stocks leashes, collars, nontoxic flea control products and other pet-related products. And rather than a shop cat, the business boasts a menagerie--dogs, cats, rabbits, parrots and other critters that Watt has rescued and adopts out.

A Natural Choice

Owning a natural pet foods store is, well, a natural career choice for Watt. "I grew up oriented to doing things naturally and I'd always loved animals," she explains.

But Watt didn't start out in the industry with an eye to becoming a business owner. She was actually the manager of the pet store she currently owns from 1991 until 1994 when the owner ended up going through a personal bankruptcy.

Watt figured that, since she'd managed the business for so long, she might as well be the owner. She paid only $6,500 for the business, including $1,500 for the inventory, which Watt describes as limited, "pretty much just the stuff that hadn't sold" as the business proceeded through bankruptcy.

Building up her inventory was, in fact, Watt's biggest start-up cost. She figures that over the first year after taking over, she put another $50,000 into products. Luckily for Watt, her store was one of only two natural pet food locations in the area when she bought in in April of 1994. And, despite the very reasonable price she paid for the business, the business had a number of loyal customers which helped sustain the business.

Unique Inventory

Watt carries a variety of natural pet foods, the majority of them for cats and dogs. The biggest seller is Hund-n-Flocken, a dry kibble made from New Zealand lamb which have been fed organic grains.

Watt tries to carry many foods in bulk, saying "packaging has just gotten out of hand," referring to the environmentally unfriendly practice of overpackaging products. Other big sellers are her bulk dog biscuits and bulk bird seed.

Watt sells leashes and collars, made locally, as well as dog and cat toys--big sellers the last week of December, when holiday shoppers, finished with purchases for the people on their lists, think of their pets. Natural flea products and herbal shampoos are also offered.

Another facet of Watt's business are the homeopathics and vitamin and mineral supplements which she carries. The homeopathics involve tinctures used to treat ailments for dogs and cats, similar to the tinctures that naturopaths prescribe for humans. Watt says pet owners with sick animals often come to her as a last resort.

"They'll take their pets to a vet and then get frustrated with allopathic methods when they don't work," she explains, referring to traditional medicine approaches. Watt advises them on homeopathic remedies for things like allergies and diarrhea. "I handle basic problems," she adds, leaving the complicated ailments to naturopathic veterinarians.

Watt also counsels customers on the relationship between what the pet is eating and various physical and behavioral problems. "A lot of problems with pets are food-related," explains Watt. She points to the currently frequently prescribed disorder of "feline irritable bowel syndrome" as one example of a problem which could be resolved by a natural foods approach. "One of the things I do is educate people."

Another topic which Watt educates customers about is the poor quality of most pet foods on the market. The pet food Watt sells on the other hand "are fit for human consumption," she says proudly. "I tell my customers that if they get hungry, they can always eat their pet's food," she jokes.

Getting the Word Out

Watt advertises in neighborhood and specialty publications but doesn't rely too much on this method of making others aware of her business. She says that word of mouth is a great source of business as well as write ups she's received in several publications.

It's not surprising that Naturally the Best for Pets should be the source of several feature stories. Watt's menagerie, along with her heart-felt caring and advocacy for animals, make vignettes about her business good copy.

Her animal empire numbers over 40 stray and abandoned critters, thirty cats, six dogs, several birds, guinea pigs and rats and one iguana, all of them spending their days at the shop. She finds homes for them but just as quickly she'll learn of other animals needing shelter.

Watt laments that all of her "rescuing" of animals "doesn't really help; the problem is much bigger." One thing she'd like to do is host a radio talk show devoted to the subject of natural foods and remedies for pets and other issues such as taking care of animals by having them spayed or neutered. That hosting a talk show would be good for her business is a remote benefit to Watt; she truly wants to educate folks about the problems facing animals.

An Internet site is another possibility in Watt's future. You can bet she'll include plenty of free advice on keeping pets healthy and happy, along with details on the animals she has that are available for adoption.

Over the past five years Watt has built her business up to over $100,000 in gross sales, although for 1999, sales s

lipped below that six figure mark.

One reason is competition. When Watt began her business she was almost the only natural pet food enterprise in town. Now many others are catching on to the trend. But Watt also had a personal setback in January of 1999 when she broke one ankle and sprained the other, making it difficult for her to run her store particularly in light of the fact that she has no employees--only volunteers who help with the animals. Watt got by with help from friends and volunteers but had to limit her hours and that cut in to business.

Watt is back to working a six day week now and expects sales to once again top $100,000 for the year 2000. But while she's glad she's making a living, Watt is also fervent about her mission to reach and educate pet owners about the need to care well for their animals.

"Animals are no different than you and I," she philosophizes. "They have feelings as much as we do." Watt is doing her part to make sure this message gets out.

For more information, contact Jocelyn Watt at 503-222-5228.
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