Heidi Flammang
Top Dog, Camp Bow Wow
www.campbowwow.com
When one of the country’s first doggy day cares opened next door to her dad’s business, Heidi Flammang and her husband, Bion, would sneak over to hang out with the dogs. They fell in love with the concept—and the dogs—and were soon making trades of services with the owner to have their own dogs stay there. When the owner of that business wasn’t interested in franchising, Heidi and her husband started brainstorming and the business plan for Camp Bow Wow was born.
They were searching for their first location when Bion was killed in a plane crash, in 1994. Heidi received a $1 million insurance settlement after his death, and in the following years attempted a number of ventures, including a financial consulting business to help others handle sudden wealth. But Camp Bow Wow was never far from her mind. In 2000, with the help and encouragement of her brother, she dusted off that old business plan and set out to bring her and Bion’s dream to life. Within weeks she had found her first location, and from that point on she never looked back. Camp Bow Wow has now sold more than 205 franchises, 125 of which will be open by the end of the year. It is the premier upscale doggy day care and boarding company, and is expected to generate $18 million in systemwide sales in 2008.
What we learned from Heidi: To persevere and never lose sight of your dreams. Heidi was a young widow who tried financial consulting, pharmaceutical sales, and launching a high-end baby-bedding catalog before coming full circle to find success with the idea that she’d loved all along.
Not Just Fun and Games
“A lot of people come into this business thinking how fun it’s going to be to hang out with dogs all day. But we are taking care of people’s furry children, all day and night, 365 days a year! It is an all-consuming business and you have to know so much more than people think—everything from dog behavior to disease management, in addition to the nuts and bolts of running a business. We get franchisees from so many different backgrounds and they all have a love of dogs in common, but we have to teach them to be businesspeople and to market the business and not just focus on the dogs. It’s a challenge to find people who want to make it a real moneymaker and not just a labor of love.”
Getting the Word Out
“We receive a lot of leads on possible new franchisees through word of mouth from our existing franchisees and open Camps. Also, we’ve been featured on AOL’s main page, Donny Deutsch’s The Big Idea, in Pink magazine, and in some other great media outlets, and we advertise in the airline magazines and do quite a bit on the Internet, utilizing our Web site as a marketing tool. All of these have been great resources.”
What Worked
“What has worked for us is to stay focused on our brand and what it’s about: offering a place where a dog can be a dog. We don’t let ourselves get distracted by other business opportunities that come in our direction, and we don’t try to be everything to every dog owner. I am a perfectionist and have been very specific about what the rules are and what the brand is, and that really led the way for franchising opportunities. But we are constantly evolving based on the learning experiences and opinions of our franchisees, and I think that helps us stay ahead of the competition.”
And What Didn’t
“Be wary of getting family and friends involved and assuming that because they have good hearts and are interested in your business that they’ll have the skills to do it. It’s important to be surrounded by knowledgeable people who have great skills, not just people who love you.”
Networking Is Not Just For the Dogs
“People in the dog-boarding business are very protective, so it’s not as easy to network and meet people with like businesses as it might be in other industries. I found great mentors at the International Franchise Association, other people who had been there and done that in terms of franchising. I’m very involved with that group and work to champion other women entrepreneurs. I’m also part of a CEO support group called Vistage. There are 12 of us in the group who meet for a day once a month and it’s extremely valuable, but I am the only woman in the group. So I also have an informal group of women who I meet with in Denver to share professional successes and disasters. Women are just so much more open to that type of dialogue.”
Like Mother, Like Daughter
“I’m writing a book about starting and running a successful woman-owned business called Tales From the Bark Side. My tween-aged daughter is writing her own book that will be released at the same time called Tori’s Tales, about growing up with a mom who’s an entrepreneur. My pet project is working with young girls to help them set goals and develop self-confidence and pride in their accomplishments.”
Man’s Best Friend
“Last year we started Bow Wow Buddies, a foundation dedicated to improving the lives and health of dogs around the world. We foster dogs, we sponsor a PhD fellow in canine cancer research at CSU veterinary school, and we fund organizations such as RAVS and VIDAS that go into poor areas in the U.S. and elsewhere to spay and neuter stray dogs. We undertook a rescue mission abroad after our in-house counsel vacationed in Greece, a country with no humane society, and saw how poorly strays were treated there. We brought 17 dogs back with us and fostered them until finding them homes.”
Favorite Quote
“‘Worry is a debt you may never have to pay.’ I really strive to live in the now, focus on solutions that are in the moment, and not worry too much about things that may never happen.”
Recommended Reading
“My favorite dog book is Marley & Me. But I have two business books that I find invaluable: The E Myth Revisited (a fantastic book to help you figure out whether you have the right personality and skill mix to be an entrepreneur) and The Question Behind the Question (a great management book about instilling personal accountability in your people).”
Parting Thoughts …
-”I will retire when … every dog has a home.”
-”My greatest strength in business is … my flexibility.”
-”My dream is … to give back as much as I get from my life. I have been so blessed with so many things and I want to respect the universe and give back.”
This featured lady was profiled by Noelle Pechar Hale, a freelance writer living in Los Angeles.
