Key Lessons Learned from 3 Pet Business Horror Stories

Halloween month is here! So what better time to share some spine-tingling tales from Candace’s pet business days? 🎃

These stories aren’t about your average day-to-day challenges as a pet business owner. They’re a tad more nightmare-ish, but hey– the reality is that some crazy things can happen when you own a pet business, and everything has an underlying lesson. 

So yes, maybe these stories will send a shiver down your spine, but you’ll still walk away with a valuable lesson in handling unexpected situations, leading with integrity, and protecting your pet business from the unknown! 

1- The Christmas Cookie Horror 🧟

Imagine a customer of your pet business waking up on Christmas morning eager to share some festive doggy cookies with their furry bestie. But their pet takes a bite, and they hear an unsettling *crunch*. When they go to inspect, they find a razor blade lurking inside! 😱

Yup, this twist of fate happened to one of Candace’s customers back when she owned a pet business, and you can imagine her moment of Christmas morning panic! 

How could this happen?

Is their dog okay? 

How do I make this okay?! 

Well, their dog was (thankfully!) okay, and the customer was grateful that Candace jumped into action to investigate this situation. The dog cookies were not baked on-site, so Candace had to contact the baker, who had to do some investigating on their end. 

This situation feels like a one in a MILLION chance, but it did happen, and it just goes to show that anything can happen in your own pet business. Take this as a lesson to think– how would you handle a crisis scenario like this one? What would your process be? 

Takeaways for your pet business: 

1-  Empathize with the customer first!  Repeat what has happened, repeat how horrible the situation is, and repeat what you hear that they want you to do.

2- Work with your suppliers to ensure this will never happen again. This particular cookie supplier was VERY receptive to figuring out where things went awry. 

3- Be prepared for anything. As we said– the chances of this happening are slim, but you must always be prepared as a pet business owner! 

2- The Ghost Ride 👻

Running a doggy daycare or a pet business with transportation services can sometimes be a logistical challenge, so if you do, maybe you’ll understand the horrors in this next story! 

Imagine your employee parks somewhere they shouldn’t while transporting dogs for your pet business, and while the other pets are inside the air-conditioned running vehicle… it gets towed. 😱

Yup, this is another one straight from Candace’s story vault of pet business ownership! Her employee, who was driving the van filled with dogs, was making a stop at a Chicago high-rise. The transport van (which was still running, thank goodness!) was towed away with not only the employee’s things inside but ALL of the remaining daycare dogs! 

The employee, completely distraught, got in touch with Candace from the high-rise lobby, and then it became action mode! Candace had to remain calm, collect all the facts, and MOVE QUICKLY.  They were able to quickly locate the van, collect and divide all the dogs who needed to be driven home, and evaluate how they could avoid an incident like this in the future. 

Takeaways for your pet business: 

1- Stay calm! You can’t take the next rational step until you are of sound mind. 

2- Move quickly. Once you have the next right step, make it FAST. 

3- Evaluate after the fact. What can be done differently to help in an emergency like this? In this case, having all the customer contact information, having a camera in the transport vehicle, or having predetermined parking arrangements. 

3- Employee Witchcraft 🧙‍♀️

Sometimes the scariest stories are the ones that unfold right inside your own pet business! This chilling tale will have you running to catch up and stay on top of your financial books. 

Candace once had an employee who worked in her pet business for years as a trusted manager– but it turned out she was embezzling tens of thousands of dollars, leaving Candace with a huge financial mess to clean up once she discovered it! 

This employee was swiping her debit card as a refund in the reservation software, and that refund would get deposited right into her checking account. Then, she would throw away the (then paper) statements as they were being mailed to the business. 

Once Candace decided to have a bookkeeper get caught up on her books, they realized the statements were missing. Even then, this employee was retrieving the statements, altering them, and giving them to Candace. She really pulled out all the stops to not get caught! 

In the end, Candace worked directly with the credit card processing company to uncover what was happening– and this employee had stolen almost $40,000 from her. 😱

Takeaways for your pet business: 

1- Stay on top of your books. ALWAYS! 

2- Involve the police when necessary. This is your livelihood, and you deserve justice. 

3- Have adequate business insurance to cover your needs. 

These stories are spooky, but as a pet business owner, you can learn from these misfortunes! Want to hear the FULL stories from Candace herself? Check out this throwback episode of the Boss Your Business podcast and find out what happened next in the Christmas Cookie Horror, the Ghost Ride, and the Employee Witchcraft! 

Learn more with us!

• Need 1:1 support to make massive action now? Book a discovery call with us to see if working 1:1 with Candace is the right fit for you.
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