Today we’d like to introduce you to Tami Nantz.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I have been in the high tech industry for over 25 years focused on sales and marketing for server and storage companies throughout my career since graduating from UNT in 1988. I was able to work my way through various roles from tech support, to marketing and sales to gain a variety of experience. As I was looking toward the future in 2017, I started to explore ways to diversify my income and investments… I wanted to own a business but still continue working in high tech.
I conducted research for a span of 4 months talking to people such as franchise consultants, independent business owners and eCommerce website builders. Well, the Franchises would all require me to quit my full-time job which I was not ready to do. The eCommerce company I spoke to had the idea of drop shipping Pet goods and supplies since people at the time were spending over $65 billion dollars a year on their pets. Well, this was the most interesting since I love pets, dogs, horses, cats, birds and animals of all kinds! I thought this sounds fantastic but how do you compete with Petsmart, Petco and Chewy.com? I needed something different but focused on pets. Then it came to me. I couldn’t find a single website devoted to handmade, custom products for pets. That’s when I decided that this could be rewarding, fun and maybe even profitable. I set out to build an Etsy for Pets! The website company said, “we can’t build a peer to peer marketplace with a buyer and seller like Etsy because it’s too complex.”
That’s when I set out to build a business plan and crunch numbers and figure out if my idea was worth pursuing. After much research, I came up with an idea to offer Art of the Pet Marketplace with the core focus being on handmade pet products for the pet and the pet owner. Then, from a roadmap perspective, I could add other potential services such as Art of the Pet Local where pet owners could locate a pet service provider to walk their dog, pet sit, photograph their animals, etc. Stage 3 is the Art of the Pet Club which would be a membership model where people can get benefits such as discounts on pet insurance, pet services and more for a monthly membership fee.
So far, we just launched the Art of the Pet product marketplace which has about 30 artists and craftsmen on board. We are actively searching for more artists to join us to have a richer catalog to offer pet-loving customers. Plans for the other phases will come after we get a more robust catalog in our product marketplace.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been a challenging road for sure. I had no idea building a peer to peer website was so difficult. There are only a few website developers that do this and it’s quite expensive. The original budget I had was over 125% of the plan. The Developer way underestimated the cost and I have been spending my own savings to keep the site going to drive to the results mapped out in my business plan. The bar has been set high by platforms like eBay, Etsy and Amazon so the user experience has been expensive to try to replicate and we still have work to do.
The other challenges include recruiting artists and craftsmen. It’s very hard getting people to take a leap of faith on a new platform. I have been trying to recruit people myself and have someone on my team assisting part-time. This is time-consuming and we need to figure out how to bring more quality artisans on board so we can get more customers and shoppers. Pet owners have all different tastes as you know so we need a robust catalog.
Lastly, figuring out digital marketing has been hard too. I have a digital marketer on my team part-time but the big websites such as Amazon, eBay and Etsy all have deeper pockets and endless dollars to spend on advertising dollars. As a startup, I don’t have that luxury. We run Google and Facebook ads but have had trouble getting good visibility as my advertising budget is not rich like the big .com companies. I am working with the SBA Score mentor program to help me with the digital SEO and SMM part of this challenge and it’s a great way to help small businesses who don’t have deep pockets of money to spend on consultants.
Please tell us about Art of the Pet – what should we know?
Art of the Pet Marketplace is the only website of it’s kind to focus on handmade pet products. We want to appeal to all kinds of pet owners! People who may want to dress their dogs in a wedding gown (yes- Bubba Bow Wow does this!), have a cool handcrafted collar for your dog made in Greece (Vac for Pets) or if you have a lizard, maybe you want to outfit it in a snazzy new bandana by Ritzy’s Rebels. Who would have thought you could dress a lizard in a bandana? Of course, we also sell some great handmade luxe bandanas by Mechelle’s Mutts and even have cat toys made of Luffa by Deb at Nature’s Circle. Pet Portraits? Yep! We have Pet Portrait artists like Carol Stoecker an award-winning artist in Denton. Need to bath and wash your dog? Of course, you do! Check out Mr. Wigglebottom’s and 4 Paws All Natural Pet Soaps who are makers of toxin-free pet shampoos and soaps. We have dog toys made of reclaimed firehose that are tough and durable by Tiller Tugs. Yes, we have great artisans but we need more!
Etsy sells handmade and mass-produced products for pets but our differentiator is we are all handmade and want to be your one-stop-shop for pet products. Why have your dog, cat, horse, or lizard be ordinary when they can be EXTRAORDINARY.
We are a small team but work hard to have white glove service for our Artisans that join us as well as our customers. Every month we give away handmade pet products to our email subscribers and Facebook followers which helps us grow our customer base and makes it fun to be an Art of the Pet fan 🙂
I’m most proud of the fact that working with Virgel Conner at the Small Business Administration of North Central Texas nominated me for The Mayor and City Council Annual Business Awards in 2018. I actually won the best upcoming business and was presented an award by the Mayor and State of Texas Congressman Michael Burgess. Was such a great honor. Virgel was instrumental in helping me network with various people in Denton County such as the Denton Economic Development team and also with Chase Bank to help me get some funding for my startup.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Tenacity and perseverance are top of mind. I have been told by so many friends, and colleagues I never quit. One time in my full-time job, it took me three and a half years to make a sale to a customer that I had been trying to crack into and it finally happened. I was recognized by our VP of Sales and many others for never ever quitting. I also think you have to be patient. Patience isn’t my strong suit and I say prayers to assist with this as it’s over my head. LOL!
Pricing:
- Handmade pet products start as low as $2.00 for a kitty luffa toy
- Handmade dog collars and leashes for as low as $20 upwards to $90
- Custom pet portraits for $150 and up
Contact Info:
- Website: www.artofthepet.net
- Phone: 469-546-6662
- Email: tami@artofthepet.net
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artofthepet/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artofthepetmarketplace/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArtOfThePet
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