3 Tips When Starting Your Own Small Business

Starting a fashion brand or a business may sound cool and exciting, yet, beneath the glitz and glamour, comes uncertainty and stress. It’s even more challenging starting a pet brand, due to an extremely niche market. 

When we (Zee and G) first decided to venture into the dog clothing industry, we did not have the capital, resources nor moral support from our parents. We had a rough start, laid with a lot of discouragements (even until today), many hard lessons and lastly, a really tight budget.

As much as we wished (don’t we all?), we weren’t born with silver spoons in our mouths - both our families are not well off and we had to rely on ourselves entirely. Honestly, there were countless times we came close to giving up, especially when we were constantly reminded of the low balance in our bank accounts, and the numerous massive arguments with each other. (That will be a story for another time.) 

But really, guys, just bite the bullet and face the challenges head on.

It will pay off. We’ve been there and done that. And by sharing this, we hope to motivate you, especially if you are on the verge of giving up.

| Bacon, Customer Service Officer 

#01 Learn the how, “Rome wasn’t built in a day”.

For new start-up brands or any brand owners, your brand may start slow but it does not mean it won’t take off. It takes time to settle into the industry, especially so for if you are new. Be patient and use the time to learn how to reach out to people who will love your products just as much as you do.

We started off with just the two of us… even till today. 

What we want to point out is that you do not need a huge team to be successful. There are a lot of brands that started out small. Ohpopdog is lucky because we complimented each out well - both of us have different skill sets to ensure that various areas of business receive the right attention. In areas where we lacked the required expertise, we will constantly push each other to learn to be a step ahead. Most importantly, we do our very best to work together towards the same vision and goals we have for the business. 

#02 Love your own creations, that will make life easier.

We believe that if you love what you do or create, people will see the excitement, pride and passion (especially when we are presenting our products) you have for your business. This will gain their interest, and therefore, allow us to share the same connection and excitement. Always remember that anyone can create a product, but believing and standing firmly behind your creations will make a difference. When you are passionate about what you do, you will never feel stuck as you will continuously seek new ideas to grow your brand according to your vision.

| Snug-In Basics Collection

#03 Feedback is important because…

Feedback motivates us to create better products for your dogs and cats. So, do drop us a message if you have any feedback. We really appreciate when our customers are open with us and this really helps us improve and grow. We do not take feedback negatively, instead, we take it as a continued learning process to improve our products to meet expectations. In fact, many of the feedback given can be seen in our next few collections. So, yes, take feedback in stride and keep improving!