Don't Wait for a Job; Make One #2 -- Gerald Hanlon, a dogs best friend

I’m proud to present another enterprising self-reliant individual in this, the second of my series about finding your own solutions in today’s difficult job market.

I don’t intend to present great successes of the rags to riches sort, those that instead of inspiring us, leave us feeling inadequate. Most of us don’t have the vision, or the resources to soar into the covers of Business Weekly (and those that do are not likely to agree to an interview with lmmartin.). No, these are stories of successful survival.

Because most of us aim for that, just that. We want to put a roof over our heads, food on our tables, pay our bills and ensure our loved ones are provided with the necessities they need. Then and only then can we think of putting that little bit aside for the future.

This week I’m highlighting just such a person, and you may be surprised, and I hope inspired to learn of this young man’s story.

Meet Gerald Hanlon pictured to the right with Daisy, a two year old female pit bull cross, his companion both on and off the job.

Originally from Boston, and living in Florida from the age of twelve, this twenty-six year old man graduated four years ago with a diploma in computer sciences from the Manatee campus of the University of Southern Florida here in North Port, only to find any of the rare jobs in the field had several hundred applicants. He worked for Computech selling computers for a year, but when that store closed their doors, the last remaining major computer store in the area had a full complement of staff and hundreds of applications on file. He made the rounds of the dozens of tiny computer repair shops, but soon discarded that as a solution to his employment problems.

And his problems were pressing, very pressing.

Gerald’s father, John (Jack) a construction worker – dry wall and finishing – in the housing industry had injured his back, requiring surgery and an eleven month recuperation. When his Workmen’s Compensation benefits ran out, he returned to work only to be laid off, and his employer went into receivership. Ineligible for unemployment, Jack Hanlon was without an income for seven long months before finding a position as a maintenance worker at an assisted living center, working twenty-two hours a week and earning just over $1,000 monthly.

Mrs. Hanlon, Theresa, worked at a Checkers drive through to help fill the gap, on top of caring for her mother, age 79, who lived with them.

With their savings depleted, the mortgage in arrears, though their bank worked with the family and restructured their loan to forestall foreclosure, times in the Hanlon household were hard.

Gerry took on any odd jobs he could find, and one of them, looking after the dogs for neighbors who traveled between their northern and Florida homes several times a year, led him to start his business, A Dog’s Best Friend, three years ago.

Today, not only does he pay his own way in life, but his girlfriend, Kristin, is a partner; his mother works in the business full time from her home; his father part time, and he maintains a list of trained and bonded people who supplement their income providing in-home dog boarding, walking and transportation service through his business. He has recently entered into a partnership in a mobile dog-grooming venture.

His newest problem? This year he isn't happy about the taxes he must pay.

Let Gerry tell you the rest of this story of successful survival.

What led you to the business of dog services?

“I’ve always had a dog, since I was a little kid. My dad used to drive me to Sarasota once a week, to the dog training center where my dog and I did advanced obedience classes – we used to compete – and I loved teaching them, working with them. Daisy here is the latest love of my life, and she’s been with me since she was a weaned pup. She’s very well trained; see how nicely behaved she is with your dogs? After a while, you learn how to reach them, to communicate on their level. You could say I have an affinity for them, and they take to me.”

No joke! My mastiff bitch, Didi, normally reserved with new people, sits leaning against his chair, staring at him with glowing adoration, and at Daisy on the other side of him with ill-concealed jealousy. Daisy curls a lip, but Gerry gives her a quiet ‘behave’ and she resigns herself to the presence of this 180 pound rival.

“So how did this business start? My first clients were friends of my folks, had known me since I was in middle school, always saw me out with my dog, got to know me and I started looking after their dogs for them whenever they were away. Then, friends of theirs asked me, and friends of theirs. It got so the whole time I was in college I spent most of my time at someone else’s house, dog sitting.”

So you had a small clientele prior to starting A Dog’s Best Friend?

“Yeah. Looking after dogs, and training dogs paid for my bike as a kid, my first car, my books and my fun all through high school and college.”

Didi nudges at his hands, looking for a pet and he tells her ‘Enough,’ and ‘Settle’ and to my surprise, she lays down and gives a deep sigh. I’m embarrassed a little; she doesn’t listen to me like that.

“So when things got tough and I realized I wasn’t going to get a job in computers, I started thinking why not work on the dog angle. I didn’t want to leave the area and my folks, not when they were having such a rough time. With the number of people who asked me to watch their dogs without any advertising or effort on my part, what if I went out and promoted myself – what would happen?”

What services did you offer in the beginning?

“At first I concentrated on two things: walking dogs for those that can’t do it themselves – there’s a lot of elderly people live here -- and breaks for dogs left alone all day while their people work. I didn’t want to be dog-sitting so much, because my family needed me at home nights and weekends.”

How did promote your services?

“I introduced myself to every veterinarian in the area, put up posters in their clinics, went round all the pet stores – well not the big ones like Petco and Petsmart; they wouldn’t let me – and put up my posters. That brought in a lot of business, so much so my girlfriend starting working with me – she used to teach puppy classes at Petco, so she brought in new clients as well. Pretty soon, we had as much work as we could handle. We spent all day going from one client to another and still we got calls – and then we had to make a decision: with the demand, do we grow? Or do we just keep the clients we could handle ourselves? We were doing okay, but not making the money we needed going about things this way.”

Clearly, you decided to grow. How did you go about it?

“First, we talked to some of our existing clients and convinced them their dogs would benefit more from group play. Next, we went looking for locations where we could take groups of dogs – not easy. We found three: the athletic park we could have twice a week; a warehouse standing empty we could rent cheap, at first just for a couple of afternoons but now we rent it full time – Kirstin is starting a dog training center there, plus a doggy day care and an indoor exercise area; and a fenced storage field that used to be a lumber yard – they went out of business and the owner was happy to get a few bucks for us to use it. This started the “pick up your dog and take him to play” program. Did you see my van?”

We walk out to my driveway, to the well-used Ford Econoline van he’d parked there, Daisy and Didi on each side of him, eyeing each other and competing for his attention. “This was my dad’s when he worked drywalling.” He swings open the door. The inside has been converted into kennel crates, two high, handmade by Jack Hanlan and capable of transporting ten dogs. “This way we take eight to ten dogs out to run and play for two hours, instead of giving each individual dog thirty minute on a leash. We organized our groups so that all the dogs are of a similar size.”

He points to my living room window where Riley, the Chihuahua appears, barking furiously and disappears, only to appear again as he leaps up to peek out the window, trying to keep an eye on what was going on without him. “Little dogs don’t need to go out for much exercise.” Gerry laughs.

“Changing to group play quadrupled our clientele – and then we started making enough money to pay for the added expenses and still go forward with some of the ideas we had. My mom took over the scheduling and taking calls, the books and the bills. So, then it was Mom, me and my girlfriend.” He thought for a second and added. "And my dad -- who's working on getting that warehouse ready. We hope to open the day-care and training center October 1st, when the seasonals come back and business picks up. Summer is our slow time."

"We'll be the only canine center south of Bradenton, including Sarasota and north of Fort Meyers -- a big area. Our landlord's been great, and we got our first three months free for the work we're doing on the building. One of my dad's friends repaired the air conditioning for us; my dad's done all the building inside, including the kennels, so all we have to pay is materials. The building's officially for sale -- but, like that's going to happen anytime soon! So we get it for $400 a month, and at least the place is kept up."

"Win -- win, all around."

If the market picks up and the property does sell ...

"We've agreed to the right of first offer -- but come on; look at all the empty buildings round here and most of them new. I think we're safe, at least for the next few years. And if the business flies like we think it will, then we'll look at purchase -- though that would certainly change our outlook. So far we've succeed by keeping our costs down and our rates low and affordable, and organizing for groups of dogs at any one time."

Didn’t you worry about dog fights?

“We know our dogs and who can play with who. When we get a new dog, we spend the first two weeks evaluating him, and introducing him into a group – but most dogs are sociable by nature. I won’t say we’ve never had a fight; we have but never anything serious. And some dogs do need to be kept alone – the second part of our growth.”

Tell us about the second stage of your growth

“There’s still a lot of demand for single dog walks -- unsociable dogs – though normally it’s the owners who are nervous about their dog being in a group, not the dogs – so we started looking for people we could trust and train to work with the everyday dogs that needed to be taken out on their own. They use their own cars and we do the marketing, the scheduling and carry the insurance – our biggest single cost: insurance -- all our walkers are bonded.

And no one is an employee” – he makes a theatrical shudder – “but a contracted, self-employed individual. We act like an agency, bringing customer and provider together. And our contract prohibits anyone taking one of our clients on their own – but that problem has never come up.

Same with our in-home care providers -- boarding and dog sitting is a big market. We’ve tossed around the idea of using the center for boarding, but the logistics – staffing, fire laws and zoning, insurance got to be too much, so we’re offering ‘in-home’ boarding. We’ve developed a list of people willing to care for dogs in their own homes – everyone’s looking for a way to make a few extra bucks these days – and we check them out thoroughly, made sure they’ll do things our way – and we carry the insurance.

Mom handles that end of the business, the appointments and the payments. She’s taking a business administration course through Manatee at night – and loving it. She’s our office manager.”

How do you make your money on that end of the business?

“We take twenty-five percent of the fee to cover our advertising, insurance and administration. The rest goes to the care provider.”

How do you advertise?

“Through local business – the veterinary practices, pet stores, and the community papers; we use yellow pages and have a listing on all the community websites. I’d say the vets are our biggest source of new customers. Lately, we’ve left brochures at all the motels and resorts – visitors are an important source of customers. That’s why we started the day-care and we’ll be pushing that to the tourists.”

Tell us about your newest venture – the mobile dog grooming business.

“One of Kirsten’s friends, Cathy is a groomer, and wanted to set up at the canine center, but again, the logistics – the necessary plumbing, wiring and all -- made it unattractive, and there’s no shortage of doggy grooming shops – a lot of competition. We came up with a twist.”

We picked up a truck and camper, cheap – had one of dad’s friends fix up the mechanics of the truck, and dad is stripping out the interior of the camper and fitting it with a tub, grooming table, dryers and tool rack. So picture this --”

His speech becomes faster, as it has whenever he expands on his plans, and I’m blown away by this young man’s energy, vision and business sense.

“Your dog needs grooming. Cathy pulls up in her camper, attaches her hose to your outdoor tap and her electrical system to yours by her extension cord. She bathes, brushes, cuts the hair, clips nails, cleans the ears, dries your dog, collects the payment, runs to the nearest RV dumping facility – and let’s face it; they’re everywhere around here, or dumps into your septic tank if you have one, and she’s off to the next customer. What do you think?”

What do I think?

I think Gerry and Kirsten, Jack and Theresa are all destined to make it, propelled by Gerry’s initiative and ambition. I’m humbled by such drive and business savvy in someone so young.

What about your personal plans – are you successful enough to fulfill your life goals?

“Right now we’re all putting everything back into the business, and we’ve stripped our lives down to bare minimum.” He laughs and chews his lip. “Kirsten and I are getting married in a few months, and she and I are living with Mom, Dad and Gran – not the most romantic of beginnings, but the only way to do all the things we want to do. And it still takes all of us to pay the expenses of one house.

Hopefully, we’ll make it work and the future will offer more opportunities. No matter what happens, I know two things:

One – I’m having such a good time.

Two – I will never put myself under someone else’s business sense – like my dad did, and end up unemployed and losing everything late in life. I will always work for myself.”

What do you believe is the key ingredient of success for those contemplating going out of their own?

“A positive attitude – that’s number one. Self-doubt kills. And don’t be afraid to follow new ideas – but do your homework first. Know your market; know your area; know your customers and what they want – and build up connections at every possible opportunity.”

"It has worked for me -- look at me paying taxes -- wow."

Are you willing to talk to others who may be interested in starting a similar business in their own area?

“You can give them my email address. Sure, I’d be happy to do so.”

Thank you, Gerry, for sharing this amazing story of A Dog’s Best Friend. We all wish you every success for the future. (Though I for one have no doubts he will always ‘make it.’)