12A – Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

For my interviews, I have decided to look into families who own pets. These people would be the prototypical customers for my business. The first person I interviewed was one of my local neighbors who owns three dogs. He is an older gentleman who usually asks me to walk his dogs. The next person I interviewed was a close family friend, who travels for work. He is a pilot and has three dogs and two cats in his household. The last person I talked to was my Grandma. She has two cats in her house and likes to visit her husband at the clinic often. I think these people would all contribute valuable information and opinions about my business as they are the type of people I would try to direct business towards.

In my first interview with my neighbor I asked him a few questions regarding how many pets he has, how many hours he works, and if he vacations frequently (if he is comfortable with providing this information). He explained to me that he has three lovely dogs, as I knew since I have previously cared for them. He says that he works full time and occasionally gets time off from work to vacation. He explained how his pet fare always so excited to see him at the end of the day when he comes home from work. I asked him where he takes his pets to stay on these vacations. He says that the vets is the first option, and if they are full then he asks a friend. This is the type of customer I was looking for. I questioned him if he had ever heard of a Pet Hotel. He said “No, but thats sounds intriguing.” I explained to him my business idea and he thought that it would be a great solution when he goes away. 

In my second interview, I spoke to a Pilot. He has a wife, two kids, three dogs and two cats. Since he is a close family friend, I know that they travel often and that he is away frequently because of his job. I asked him what he did with his beloved pets when he and his family travels. He explained to me that he boards the dogs at the veterinary office and leaves the cats food and water at home. This is a perfect example of how animals can be stressed when their family vacations. I questioned him, “Do you think your pets are lonely and miss their families?” He ensured me that they do as they are extremely lovey when they return from their trip. I asked him how he would feel about leaving his pets at a Pet Spa and Hotel, where there are a multitude of amenities for your pets. He explained to me that sounds great, and would look into sending his pets if a place like this existed. 

In my last interview, I spoke to my Grandma who is an owner of two cats. I asked her how much she goes out and leaves the house, if she travels and for how long. She tells me that she is not much of a traveler anymore, but how she goes a few days a week to visit her husband at the clinic or retirement home. I asked her what she does with her two cats while she is gone all day. She told me that they are pretty much used to being alone and taking care of themselves when she is gone, and that is is hard to take care of them at her age. I asked her if she looked up pet care providers and she said she has but they don’t offer services that she needs. I then thought that she would be a good client to introduce my business idea to. She of course thought my idea was great as she was my Grandma, but said that she would love to take her cats to the Pet Hotel on her way to the retirement home, so they aren’t lonely and get good treatment. 

From my interviews, I found that many pet owners take their pets to the vets office, or just leave them at home when they go away. Most prevalent needs for pet boarding is work and vacations. The Vets office is usually the most convenient, but during high demand vacation times, these places can become overbooked. This is exactly why I want to open up my Pet Spa and Hotel business so that pet owners have a luxury place to put their pets as they vacation. I feel like the need is quite prevalent for really any pet owner. Other than taking the option of the boarding at veterinary offices, they go to family and friends to ask for help as there are no other services that provide pet boarding. Opening up this business will not only allow pet owners to feel safe about leaving their pets in a comfortable environment they know they will be treated better than the over populated vets office.