Working Together

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Pet Age’s Alexandra Wepner spoke with Bill Rebozo, co-founder of three new apps called Babelbark, BizBark and BabelVet, designed for pet owners, businesses and veterinarians, respectively. Unveiled at SuperZoo in August 2016, the apps integrate and optimize pet services to the benefit of consumers, retailers and vets.

Q: How was the idea behind BizBark, BabelBark and BabelVet born?
A: When we adopted our dog, Doog, the shelter provided coupons from a pet super store for food, vaccinations, training and other goodies. Doog’s veterinarian, groomer, products and trainer were all available under the same roof. It was super convenient; however, over time, we discovered independent pet businesses provided us with higher levels of service that we needed for Doog, but they lacked conveniences like integrated medical records, mobile apps and advertised promotions. That’s when we came up with the idea to connect independent pet businesses, pet stores, groomers, trainers, veterinarians and more in a collaborative ecosystem while providing the same conveniences found at pet super stores. The rest just came organically.

Q: What are the central features of BizBark?
A: BizBark is an online portal that runs on any device, 24/7. At first blush, it looks like any other standard software package for a pet business, with features to manage customers, schedule appointments, automate notifications and offer promotions. The real magic, however, is how BizBark integrates with BabelBark and BabelVet.

Q: How do the three programs work together?
A: BabelBark is a mobile app that helps pet parents manage their dog’s records, medications, diet, activity and more. BabelVet integrates with veterinarian practice management software to provide near real time access to medical records. BizBark helps pet businesses manage and market their products and services, and keep top of mind with their customers. All of these products operate on the same platform and intelligently share data to optimize the life of each dog and each business connected to the system. When authorized by a pet parent, businesses gain instant access to medical records, activity history, diet preferences, dosage frequencies, weight changes and more to help their business.

Q: The programs’ live versions were unveiled at SuperZoo 2016. How has the industry responded to the programs during the trade show season?
A: Pet parents love the ability to monitor and manage their dog’s life in a simple app. All types of pet businesses are excited about connecting with their customers in unprecedented ways and veterinarians are thrilled about monitoring patients beyond the four walls of their clinic. Everybody has something to gain and now the community is doing most of our recruiting, growing the user base exponentially. It’s been incredible to watch.

Q: Why should retailers, groomers, boarders and other industry folks use BizBark?
A: If you perform any online review, you’ll quickly discover the highest rankings go to independent pet businesses. These days, dog loving pet parents prefer a personal touch and quality of service that, many times, you can’t find in pet super stores. Independents possess a huge advantage, and now with BizBark, they can leverage technology to seize this growing opportunity. But the best part is that BizBark is free. Most of our revenue comes from pet parents and veterinarians in the form of purchased add-ons.

Q: How do you envision the future of technology in the pet industry?
A: People are using technology everywhere. There are all kinds of “smart” stuff on our houses, cars, wallets, bodies and in the Cloud. We prefer online banking, online shopping and have an app for everything. People now are looking for and expect the same types of products and services they use to manage their lives to improve the lives of their pets.

Q: How can users get set up with BizBark?
A: Just go to BizBark.com and register!