Lesson #4: Know Your Why
If You Don't Want to Do It for Yourself, You Probably Won't Want to Do It for Other People
Time moves quickly and here we are at Groundhog Day in the U.S. So before I move into the February adventure, I want to put a bow on January and what has so far been my favorite (albeit only đ) initiative to date:Â dog treats.Â
No joke, this was just the best.
Itâs immensely gratifying and fulfilling to care for someone you love, and even more so when they also love you unconditionally. Itâs incomprehensible how deeply and completely dogs love us. When I realize that Iâm not alone in this perspective, Iâm overwhelmed and inspired.Â
Have I used enough superlatives yet?
I also didnât expect to give this idea any serious consideration. But here I am, now on a first-name basis with my stateâs Department of Agriculture guy. Who knew?
Historically, when I had ideas of something non-traditional Iâd like to do, Iâd tell myself, âYeah, thatâs cute but itâs not realistic at all. How could you possibly pull this off? You donât have the knowledge or the resources. Stick with what you know.â
Plus Iâd listen to the people around me who were more than happy to confirm my worst fears:Â This is dumb and impractical. Just stop.
And now to both I have to say, âRespectfully, no.â
And if youâre telling yourself those same things about what you want to do â itâs unrealistic, itâs dumb, itâs impractical, you donât have the knowledge or resources â I ask that you reconsider your position. I encourage you to tell your inner critic, the naysayer in your head, âRespectfully, no.â
Iâve said before I donât endorse taking uncalculated risks. Thereâs a line, fine or not, between being adventurous and being careless and I still believe thatâs true.Â
So I think pursuing something you love is worthwhile and worth taking seriously.
I also used to think having a plan was boring â even though Iâm one of those people who gets completely sucked into making lists and planning out steps and milestones for almost everything.Â
Itâs interesting how your perspective shifts.
Now Iâve decided to embrace this planning part of my nature and combine it with some of the business skills developed over many years of working for other companies. I drew up whatâs called a lean business plan for a dog treat business.
This is the type of plan I think everyone can and should do, just to get an overall view of what youâre doing, where youâre going, and what you want.
Itâs very different from the Traditional Business Plan, or what I call the âAlmighty-Business-Planâ. Thatâs the one you hear about most often, the one business people will convince you you absolutely MUST have in order to have a successful business. Itâs big and intimidating and has numbers and graphs and sounds very complicated, so of course you have to have one, right?
Respectfully, fuck off.
Unless you have an existing business youâre trying to expand and/or trying to secure outside capital for, you do not need this expansive document that feels like a trial by fire all by itself.
No, you need something that will give you a bit of clarity so you donât get lost in all the who, what, where, when, why, and how of starting up. This plan isnât for anyone else. Itâs strictly for you.
The purpose here is to allow you to proceed with a clearer view of what youâre doing so you can let the vines that entangle you and hold you back fall away, and you can confidently step forward into your new endeavor.
Cool, right?
So if youâre wondering what something like this looks like, I put together a sample of what I might use as a lean business plan for a dog treat business. Hereâs an outline below:
BEST IN SHOW DOG TREATS
Identity: Treat Me Right Dog Treats sells preservative-free dog treats with all-natural, organic, locally sourced, limited ingredients chosen by the customer.
Problem: Dog owners want treats they know will only contain ingredients safe for their dog.
Our Solution: We offer delicious preservative-free treats made with locally sourced, organic, natural ingredients that are hand-picked by the customer.
Target Market: The target audience is dog owners, primarily those with dogs who have food allergies or food sensitivities.
The Competition: Large treat manufacturers that keep inventory and sell nationally to retail chains. Smaller custom dog treats manufacturers.
Revenue Streams: We will sell directly to consumers online through direct orders and subscriptions, and take orders in person at farmersâ markets and craft fairs.
Marketing Activities: Email newsletter and blog posts educating dog owners on ingredients and dog health, social media posts, local dog event sponsorships
Expenses: Ingredients, cooking equipment, commercial kitchen rental, e-commerce platform, packaging, shipping, website maintenance, licensing, product registration
Team and Key Roles: Currently there are only two team members â the owner and the chief taster.
Thatâs usually enough to start. Youâll have an outline of who you are, why youâre doing it, who youâre doing it for, who else is doing it, how youâre going to let people know about it, what expenses youâll need to consider, how youâre going to pay those expenses, and whoâs part of the team.
Yes, thereâs work involved.
I learned (am learning?) that everything, even something â or someone â you love, has a âpain in the assâ aspect to it. Everything requires effort and work. I wish I could say that just because I loved doing it meant it was easy-peasy, and didnât require any effort at all. For sure, Iâd be lying.
If you want to pursue something, choose something you would do for yourself, because you love it, and do it for other people because you want to share your love for it with other people.
If you donât love it, or have a greater reason for why youâre doing it, enthusiasm will only take you so far.
Itâs going to take a lot of work to make it work. You may as well work at something you love. đ đ đ
Can I just say I LOVE your brand name?? I'm envisioning my dog putting her paw down, demanding I treat her right with your treats đđ
I'm so happy you're still pursuing this even through all the red tape you didn't know would exist when you started out.
You know, I thought of you the other day as I stood in the dog treat aisle at my pet store.
âRespectfully, fuck off.â
YES!! I 100% agree with you here. You do not need a full, Harvard MBA worthy business plan to get started.
I would also add - start with an MVP, minimal viable product. Meaning, just get out there with something and learn from it. You donât need to wait for perfection or a BIG LAUNCH moment. Just get out there and refine as you go.