Amy Nichols left the pet care space when she sold Dogtopia in 2015, but the passion for the industry never left her.
It’s what led her to work for the Humane Society of the United States, and more recently, become CEO of GoDog, which just launched its franchise system. An emerging company in the pet hospitality space, GoDog offers dog daycare, boarding, grooming and training.
GoDog Founder Ben Eberdt
GoDog has three locations open today, with one in Durham, North Carolina, as well as two in Nashville and Chattanooga, Tennessee. Ben Eberdt, the founder and chief marketing officer at GoDog, said the process to open more locations didn’t initially include franchising, but that changed when investment firm Level 5 Capital Partners came in as a partner.
“They showed us an immense potential to be at a level that we hadn’t really considered,” Eberdt said. “Together with them, we put in motion the launch of our franchise system, but we could not have done it without the encouragement of Level 5.”
Level 5, also an investor in Big Blue Swim School, Restore Hyper Wellness and KidStrong, among others, announced its $20 million investment in the pet brand last year. Additionally, the firm committed to becoming a GoDog franchisee, with plans to open 15 locations.
“One of our core jobs in an investment firm is to source best-in-class customer service businesses,” said Duane Levine, a principal at Level 5. “We knew we wanted to be in the pet service space and stumbled across GoDog. The brand we saw them building, the overall tailwinds supporting the growth and the demand for the premium provider, that’s what excited us about the business.”
Level 5 Capital Partners Principal Duane Levine
Working in the franchising space is familiar for Nichols, who also developed Dogtopia. She said having the previous experience is making the process at GoDog much smoother.
“Franchising makes all the sense in the world in terms of what we’re doing, but it’s not easy to go in and do it well,” Nichols said. “Having been through it before, it’s so much more fun for me because I know what to expect. Putting together the new franchise agreement and FDD, it’s not nearly as taxing as I remember it being the first time around.”
Nichols said franchising is the right approach for GoDog not only because of the ability to expand quickly, but also the ability to find good owners with ties to where they’re developing.
“I loved franchising then, and I love it now, because it is community-centric,” Nichols said. “We want the franchisees to be members of their community and it’s a passion thing. This is for people who really, truly love pets, and I think it helps to have that local pride of ownership.”
GoDog CEO Amy Nichols
Because of the importance of franchising to GoDog’s future, Nichols said the leadership team is prioritizing making the model one that can be replicated consistently.
The initial investment range for a GoDog is from just under $2 million to about $4 million. The average size of the units is between 12,000 and 14,000 square feet, and locations operate with 15 to 20 employees.
Nichols acknowledged that it’s a larger investment than a typical pet business, and said it’s because the brand is going after a broader base of clientele.
“GoDog is different in terms of the animals we care for,” Nichols said. “We can care for any type of dog, and our facilities are much larger, so we can provide more services on a larger spectrum. We have a wellness piece to GoDog offering better care for animals. The larger picture is that GoDog can be a hub, providing everything your pet needs, from standard of care to standard of life.”
Because of the size of the units and the associated investments when franchising, Nichols said she expects franchisees to come from a pool of existing business owners.
“Maybe they’re franchisees with other brands and are looking to diversify their portfolio or just own other businesses, but they’ll have a passion for pets,” Nichols said.