Kickstarting Ideas

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I am always coming up with new ideas. Ask any of my close friends about this and they will likely roll their eyes, and make a face. I can’t tell you the number of times they have gotten an email from me that starts out with, “I have this idea.”

Actually, you could just ask my boss the next time you see him. Almost every time Craig sees me, I have this new idea or project we should do for the magazine.

Some of them are good ideas, others are pretty bad, but they all come down to one problem – money. Or, more specifically the lack of it.

Pet product entrepreneurs are solving that problem by turning to crowd funding sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, which is why we decided to talk about it as this month’s cover story. You might be wondering why this would matter to you, an independent retail store. Well, the answer is opportunity.

It is the chance to offer your customers something completely different that they can’t get anywhere else. You can even create marketing campaigns around it. The words, “limited-edition” or “be the first to have” always create good buzz.

On a

different note, September means that summer is over and the holidays are approaching. If you haven’t already, now is a perfect time to start ordering holiday pet items.

When you do this, don’t forget to order pet items for people, too, such as pet-inspired wine charms, note cards, mugs and more. Need some more suggestions? Stacy Mantle talks about stocking products for cat lovers in her trends and products story in this issue.

Then, in your holidays ads remind people they can not only pick up their regular items like food and treats, but they can also stop into your store to do all their holiday shopping for their favorite pet lover.