Heidi Ganahl, Camp Bow Wow
Heidi Ganahl, Camp Bow Wow
This Thursday:
With all the talk about list-building it’s shocking how many business owners ignore this strategy. Discover How to Explode Your Profits With Your Own List of Hugely Responsive Loyal Fans Ready to Buy Your Products or Services. Get the details.
========================================================================
Meet Heidi Ganahl in Person at the Ladies Who Launch Leading Lady Awards Ceremony, Denver, CO
Founder & CEO – Camp Bow Wow
In 2000, Camp Bow Wow founder and CEO Heidi Ganahl realized a dream she and her first husband Bion created before his sudden death five years earlier. Together, they developed a business plan for a doggy day care that was a fresh alternative to the traditional kennel setting. Lacking the funds to start the venture, the young couple put their concept aside for the future. Then 25 year-old Bion died in a small plane crash. Despite receiving a million dollar settlement, Heidi lost most of it as a result of unwise decisions, and was left with just $83,000. Encouraged by her brother, Heidi finally launched the first Camp Bow Wow location in Denver with the remaining settlement money. She began franchising in 2003 and there are now over 200 franchises in 38 states and Canada. In 2009, Camp Bow Wow will earn between four to five million dollars in revenue just from selling franchises. This year’s total annual sales are estimated at $35 million.
Now one of the largest women-owned franchise and pet industry businesses, Camp Bow Wow was a novel concept and in many areas of the country remains so even today. Heidi explains, “The philosophy is simple, Camp Bow Wow is a place where a dog can be a dog.”
Heidi admits that she didn’t aspire to be an entrepreneur, in fact her dream job was to become an advertising account executive, but knew she wanted to do something big. She found it in Camp Bow Wow.
After the success of several locations in Denver, Heidi wanted to grow the brand, but didn’t have the cash to open hundreds of locations, so she decided to franchise. Doing so allowed her to expand faster and bring the concept of Camp Bow Wow to communities across the United States and Canada.
From its climate-controlled environment and comfy beds to the individual, spacious cabins for overnight canine campers and the Camp Web Cam monitoring, Camp Bow Wow earns its reputation as the premier doggy day and overnight camp. It was recently named one of Inc. 500’s Fastest-Growing Privately Owned Companies of 2009, debuting at #447.
With her for-profit business successful and established, in 2007 Heidi formed The Bow Wow Buddies Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives and health of dogs everywhere, through supporting foster and re-homing programs, spay and neuter efforts, disaster assistance, canine cancer research, animal welfare education and shelter improvements. Camp Bow Wow urges their franchisees and employees to get involved with the foundation.
Since first being profiled as a Featured Lady in February 2008, Heidi has not only grown the number of Camp Bow Wow franchises and increased awareness about her foundation, but also launched Home Buddies In-Home Pet Care, remarried and given her fourteen year-old daughter a baby sister.
Heidi introduced Home Buddies In-Home Pet Care in January 2009 and already has 30 territories sold. Expanding the Camp Bow Wow brand to include other household animals, including cats, birds, small mammals and reptiles, this service provides in-home pet sitting, grooming, daily or overnight care for special needs pets, dog walking and offers a “Bark and Ride” shuttle to the vet’s office and Camp Bow Wow.
At the end of this year, Heidi’s first book, Tales from the Bark Side, will be available. It will chronicle how she launched Camp Bow Wow, as well as her life as an entrepreneur and single mom. Heidi is also excited about her joint business and foundation venture with Cesar Milan, best known as The Dog Whisperer.
In addition to Camp Bow Wow being named to the 2009 Inc. 500 list, Heidi was featured in the July/August 2008 issue of More, made Entrepreneur.com’s list of the Top 50 Leading Ladies in Business and appeared on “The Big Idea” with Donnie Deutsch. This year, Camp Bow Wow was #88 on Entrepreneur Magazine’s 105 Fastest Growing Franchises in North America and in 2008 was #26 on the list of the 50 Fastest-Growing Women-Owned/Led Businesses in North America by Entrepreneur Magazine and the Women Presidents’ Organization.
What we learned from Heidi: “Franchising is great because you tap into someone else’s time and money to grow the concept and expand the brand. Going that route worked out fine for Camp Bow Wow but it’s a crazy business model. The Franchisees are entrepreneurs but have chosen to follow someone else’s successful business model.”
Start With a Short Leash
“My biggest challenge has been finding good people to work for me. They have to preserve the reputation of the brand and franchises. I’ve learned from trial and error. The key is to start people on a short leash (pun intended) and make them earn the work. That way, there are only little disasters to fix.”
That Doggone Money
“One of the most difficult aspects of launching a business is determining how much capital you’re going to need to get it off the ground. It’s important to have a realistic idea of how much money you’ll need, then multiply that by three because there’s never enough. I tell my franchisees to have at least $100,000 cash available so they have working capital over the first three years.”
No Bones About It
“Once you’ve decided on your passion, you must be 100% committed to it. If not, flush out your idea until you are certain that is what you want to do. Then surround yourself with mentors who can guide you and will share their thoughts and experiences.”
This Featured Lady was profiled by Megan L. Reese, WORDrobe™ Stylist for Her Write Image in West Grove, PA.
* Learn more about the Ladies Who Launch STRATA program and become a Member Success
* Learn more about PR Opportunities and PR Leads from Ladies Who Launch
* Reach your Launch Potential by taking advantage of these SPECIAL OPPORTUNITIES and online resources from Ladies Who Launch
[...] Featured lady Heidi Ganahl, founder and CEO Camp Bow Wow http://www.ladieswholaunch.com/magazine/heidi-ganahl-camp-bow-wow – view page – cached Heidi Ganahl launched Camp Bow Wow as an alternative to kennels. Learn how she became the top dog in the pet industry. — From the page [...]
