Need input

So, being cooped up and bored has really gotten my mind running around in circles lately.

I had a light bulb idea last night and I thought I'd run it by everyone and see what you think...

Some of you probably know I love making treats and stuff for my dogs (I've posted pics before and Renee chided me about my freakishly clean kitchen ). Well, I am contemplating starting an online treat business with a twist.

I'd offer things that I already make for my gang ) but I'd also accept custom orders. Meaning, if you have a recipe you want to try for your dogs, but cooking just isn't your thing, I could make them for you. Or, if you had a dog that was allergic to certain things, we could customize an order to omit those things.

Now, as the night went on, and my sleep deprivation kicked in more, I got into more deep thought.

I thought I could do gift bags as well, for doggie birthdays and such with treats and a toy or two.

It's all just an idea that came from too little sleep and a whole lot of boredom. I just thought I'd toss it out and see what you guys think and if you have any ideas that would make it a more feasible venture or if I should go back to the drawing board.

With the economy the way it is these days, I'm not sure if I'd even have a customer base...but at least it wouldn't cost much to try.

It'd be something similar to the 3 Dog Bakery, except not as fancy. And it'd be done in my home.

I dunno, it's probably just a silly idea. I just wanted to hear some thoughts on it.

Sounds good , but wonder if it would take off during these hard times .

If you could come up with some high quality/value treats that were itty bitty and Izzy could stomach, you'd have a constant customer in me. Though I don't know how well it would work to try and make something very, very tiny.

Sounds like the kind of thing where other than the initial web design cost/time, it would be very low maintenance. If it works and you get orders, great! You can spend a couple hours a week working on orders and packages. If not, it's not going to take tons of time to keep a site running, and you can come back to marketing ideas when you have more time.

I'd be scared to quit my job and try to start a retail business full time right now, but as a side project/hobby I think it would be fun

I was going to experiment on something like that this weekend, actually. I figured a good bite sized training treat would be a good thing to have on the "menu". I'll let you know how it works out.

That's basically the lines I'm thinking along. I certainly wouldn't intend for it to be my main source of income, but I'd like to see just how much I could do with the idea. It would be something I could do with minimal start up costs (got most of the equipment I'd need already) and labor, and I'd only need to put more $$ and labor into it if I were actually getting lots of orders.

Thanks for the input so far. (where's the smiley face smiley? )

I think it's a great idea. I know we'd use you- we are always trying to come up with new things for Buddy.

Oooh, you should totally make and sell a cookbook/recipe book type thing of doggy treats. (In addition to making and shipping homemade treats, of course) I would totally buy a recipe book!

I love baking the treats myself (therapeutic), but I never have the desire to go through websites and find tried and true recipes.

I think its a great idea!!! I love the idea of gift bags/baskets. And as has been pointed out.. it low overhead.

Need any help with web design... or do you do it yourself?

Well you know if you needed any kind of help, Im just around the corner

Cool, maybe Buddy can be one of my guinea pigs. If you know a few ingredients he can tolerate, we'll try to customize his very own Buddy Bone.

Hmmmm, another good idea. Maybe I could sell a little DIY kit complete with a recipe card, a bag of biscuit mix, and a cookie cutter. *scratches head*

I can throw together a free website for now, but if it gets to the point where I actually need something that looks good, I'll definitely ask you for your help. I don't want to go gung ho yet and only have one customer, lol.

Thanks. Maybe Chloe can be a taste-tester.

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I'm going to whip up a few small batches of things this weekend so I can take pictures and stuff. I may need some taste testers eventually. I'd be happy to send out some samplers if anyone is interested. (Unfortunately I won't be able to cover the shipping for everyone since I'm not working right now.) But if anyone is interested, shoot me a PM. Anyone who is a taste tester for me will have a treat named after them.

I'm really excited now!

I think it's a great idea!!

Yea, in this economy it might be difficult to sell, but everything I've read says that things like high quality treats for dogs is still doing OK. People are spending money on their dogs. Good luck!!

It's worth a try. If you have a small pet store in your area, maybe they would try selling them for you.

I think it sounds like a great idea! You are already home, you don't have to spend a dime unless you have an order, what could be easier to give a go?

You go girl! And good luck to you!!

I think it's an awesome idea!!!

If you could cook up something fishy and grain-free, hell, I'd be your customer!!!
The key is, it cannot be whole pieces of fish. I don't want to see scales or know that I'm touching fish (other than the smell).

Ella would lurve you.

Sounds like a marvelous idea, Keri!

You could probably start with a page on Etsy - where there's already traffic.

Even in a recession there are still people who have excess money to spend. So my thinking is that you either want to make something quite high-end (I'm sure the product would be high quality regardless - just market it high end) OR package it in such a way that people can buy what they can afford. Like, purposely make it low-cost (packaged in small amounts, I guess?).

I don't know much about business or marketing, but my feeling is that people who have excess money to blow would be attracted to something that looked really high end (ie. suitable to them) and people who don't have money to spend but are really excited about the product will be more likely to buy if there's a product in their pricerange (ie. cheap).

I hope any of that made sense. I'm still half-asleep.

I *hate* fish and the smell of fish, but I'm going to experiment with a recipe today to see how it works. Only because I wantz Ella to lurves me.

Besides, it's a nice day out. I can open the windows.

I hate the smell of fish, too!
But I've gotten used to it because 98% of anything Ella eats is fish based. So ALL of her food smells like fish!:lol-sign:

Thank you!!! Let me know how it turns out.

Are you feeling any better?

Yup. I'm just super sore now. I still can't bend over or stretch and I have to be careful about certain moves I make, and no lifting, but other than that, I'm feeling tons better. My energy is slowly coming back to me too.

I'll let you know how the stinky treats come out.

I think Buddy would love that!