CLAY — Justin’s Canine Campus opened in 2014 as the self-funded project of owners Justin Bonn and Carrie Lindley. While the pet industry has been experiencing explosive growth, Justin and Carrie are specializing their services to meet all their clients’ needs. Ten businesses in their marketing area may offer similar services, but they are one of only two that provide daycare, training, and grooming services.

Justin and Carrie knew they had what it would take to start and operate a successful business in the pet industry because they had extensive firsthand experience and knowledge. Bonn spent 23 years working with dogs in various environments. He has managed dog-daycare centers across the country, specialized in behavior evaluations for animal shelters and rescue groups, and has provided animal advocacy and rescue for animal control. Lindley is a practicing medical social worker at St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center in Syracuse, where she has worked for the last 21 years. She has a background in business management and her canine experience includes obedience training, canine fostering, and breeding.

With all their combined skills, it was no surprise that in the first six months of their business the pair averaged servicing a whopping 25 dogs per day. By the end of their first year, they were up to an average of 40 dogs a day, with continued monthly growth after that. During their second year of operation, Bonn and Lindley expanded their services by hiring a full-time, experienced groomer. Their business was debt free after just one and a half years of operation. After only three years, they had reached maximum capacity and had to start a wait list for new clients. 

Justin’s Canine Campus, located at 8075 Oswego Road in the town of Clay, has won multiple local awards including an SBA 2020 Small Business Excellence Award, 2018 Syracuse New Times Best of Syracuse award (for “best pet daycare” and “best animal whisperer”), and the 2018 Best of Liverpool Award in the category of “pet sitting & exercising services.” After so much achievement and growth in the past six years, the business owners knew that it was the time to expand. 

Expansion

Justin and Carrie were referred to me at the Onondaga Small Business Development Center (SBDC), located at Onondaga Community College (OCC), by their real-estate broker.

Lindley had this to say about her experience working with the SBDC: “Keyona was incredible to work with and helped us with everything. She helped us develop our business plan, understand the numbers, and prepare for our presentation to board members for the loan.”

Everything was going well — Bonn and Lindley were approved for their loan and waiting on the town for zoning changes when COVID-19 hit suddenly in March. So, like so many other business owners, they had to put their plans for expansion on hold and pivot to meet the changes in their industry. Carrie explained, “We began training a new employee now — rather than waiting until we expanded — as a second groomer, which has increased our grooming appointments and profit. We implemented a new option for training clients that allows them to book phone-consultation appointments for a set fee. We have implemented several safety measures to protect our team and clients. Masks are required for all in the building, we limited the number of clients allowed in the lobby, provided hand sanitizer throughout the building, put a thermometer on site for employee use, and posted COVID safety guidelines for employees and clients.”

Justin and Carrie are now in the process of moving forward with their expansion and they are planning to stay within the Liverpool area to remain available for their current customer base. The target date for opening in their new location is the fall of 2021.

“By expanding, we will be able to eliminate the wait list for daycare, reduce the wait time for grooming appointments (we are currently booked six to eight weeks out and would like to reduce this to less than four weeks), increase our group obedience class size to accommodate more people, offer daytime private lesson appointments (which will reduce the wait times for these appointments, as well), and offer a new individualized training program during daycare,” Lindley explains. “The expansion will create job growth as we anticipate needing another groomer — we are currently training an employee to fill this role — and the need for 2-3 more daycare employees.”

Bonn and Lindley created a great small business with a loyal customer base by exemplifying one of the cardinal rules of building a successful business: know your industry. As challenges created by COVID-19 drag on, the owners of Justin’s Canine Campus will remain dedicated to their customers, their staff, and excellence in their industry.

Advisor’s tip: When contemplating expansion, make sure it is sustainable based on long-term financial indicators of growth and not just an industry influx or busy season that will fade quickly.                     

Keyona Kelly is a certified business advisor at the SBDC, located at OCC. Contact her at k.r.kelly@sunyocc.edu