Giving dogs and their owners a better life together

Nick, can you tell us about your journey as an Entrepreneur and how you started out on your business journey?

A lot people in my family own businesses and I’ve been working since I was 12 or 13 years old. I left school at 15! I actually got kicked out of quite a few schools. I was a bit of a bad kid to be honest. I joined the Dutch army at 16 and-a-half years old and picked up a lot of dog training there. When I was 19, I moved to Ireland and applied to some jobs on LinkedIn. I somehow managed to get a job at Mcafee, the biggest Anti-Virus software company in the UK. I was really into mind over matter and manifesting my dreams at that time and I bought suits and ties and went walking with my dogs with a full suit on, just believing that I could be in a position to wear that suit and be a big business man and a few months later I got that big first job! If you believe, you achieve.

What happened after you got that first job?

I won every award going at Mcafee and afterwards, got a Senior Account Executive role at Indeed.com in Dublin. I then started a side business in e- commerce and dropshipping, which I turned into a 2 million euro business. I was on something of a roll at that point. I then went to set up 

Hubnexa- a technology platform for the relocation industry- Hubnexa is an online marketing, customer retention and on-demand business services web and mobile app, which I eventually sold to focus on Bark & Birch. Before Bark & Birch though I was also doing my own individual consultancy business and I was hired by numerous companies to advice on sales strategies - I was only 24 at this point and I was hired to advise on expansion and flown all over the world.

So, tell us about Bark & Birch Global Dog Services and how it all started?

Bark & Birch just exploded from the very beginning. It solves a problem; no one does what we do and that’s the truth of the matter. Our competition is local businesses and small family owned day-care businesses. People will never stop spending money on dogs and kids. But the thing I wanted to do that isn’t out there, is I wanted to provide an all-encompassing dog services company to include, doggy daycare, training, boarding and grooming as a one stop shop so that owners don’t have to drop their precious pups at various different places and for Bark & Birch to be the full trusted provider of dog services globally! We want to be with dogs from the time they are puppies to the end and provide every single service they may need, holding their paws throughout for their every need. We want to be the full trusted provider.

Can you tell us about what services you provide for dogs?

Bark & Birch currently trains almost 1000 dogs a month. We have a fantastic team of highly experienced dog behaviourists and ex-police/army dog handlers. Our team are some of the best and most talented dog trainers in the world. We rehabilitate and teach basic and advanced obedience, either as part of a residential ‘Board and Train’ Program or through a series of private one to one sessions. During the Bark & Birch Board and Train Programs, dogs will be boarded at the homes of their trainers, enjoying home comforts for the duration of their program alongside their training. We also provide daily video and photo updates, as well as progress reports for owners so they can keep on top of the training too. We know all dogs are different, so we really do strive to build customised programs around each dog .What we can guarantee is that Bark & Birch Trainers are comprised of the highest quality of dog behaviourists, ex-police/army dog handlers and highly trained canine experts!

What else can Bark & Birch assist with?

You name it and we can do it! Puppy training, basic & advanced obedience, separation anxiety, human and or dog aggression, destructive behaviour, specific behaviour and obedience related issues, guard dog training, breed consultations, emotional support dog courses, doggy day care, holiday boarding. The whole works!

Tell us about the growth of Bark & Birch…

Bark & Birch just grew and grew from the start. I started the company in 2019 in the UK with only two members of staff. Bark & Birch now has over 100 staff members globally and trains over 1000 dogs a month. The ethos of the company is to give both dogs and their owners a better life together and that is what we really strive to do. Maybe the dogs have been hugely reactive or problematic and their owners are at their wits end and feel like nothing more can be done; that’s when we step in to help and give these souls a second chance and it is worth it every single time

We help thousands of dogs a month and we want to help even more every month so that they can become the best. We have trained lots of dogs in the Dutch Army. It started with me training my friend’s badly behaved dogs and I realised that there aren’t many trainers who can deal with reactive dogs and it became apparent that I could build a company with something I am passionate about and have the satisfaction of helping people and their dogs. 

It has always meant so much to me when we have someone calling us, crying tears of happiness, and saying we have helped their dogs and changed their lives and given their dogs a second chance and a chance to have a better life.”

What you have managed in two years is huge. You have turned over $8 million in your second year of business and are estimated to be worth $100 million dollars in 2022, after a further investment round. How does that feel?

What we have managed to achieve in two years is massive. We managed to get this business from nothing to a Global fragmented business providing physical, in person services across multiple countries and cultures whilst going through a global pandemic!

So, you started Bark & Birch in the UK & Ireland and then expanded into the USA?

Yes, we launched in America, in LA, Houston, New York and Georgia and we continue to grow rapidly across the USA. We are in so many states now including New Jersey, Texas, Philadelphia, Georgia, Washington, Maryland, Ohio, Dallas, Illinois, Arizona, Georgia and many more states. We hired highly experienced Head Trainers across numerous states and so many of our head trainers have military or army backgrounds. We work closely with recruiting ex-service men and women and this is hugely important for us. They may have worked with bomb disposal dogs or drug detection dogs or been on active tours of duty as dog handlers. This is something we really have an emphasis on when it comes to recruitment.

Will you expand further in the States?

Yes, the company plans to rapidly develop across all of the remaining US states this year, with the recruitment of an additional 75 plus dog trainers plus 25 support staff.

And you’ve just moved to Sao Paulo, Brazil to launch Bark & Birch over there?

I have indeed. The decision to launch our services across the USA and now Brazil came quite naturally and was a logical step on our business growth strategy. We are very excited about this new market as we have already seen great success In the UK, Ireland, USA and next stop, Brazil. We’ve already welcomed many Board and Train dogs with fantastic results from our high quality trainers. We will continue to establish closer ties in the Brazilian market while creating many jobs as part of our recruitment drive and will then expand into more countries globally. We already run residential training and daycare in the UK, Ireland and USA and we really are on a mission to become the largest provider of dog services globally, also developing new technology and digital methods to really grow Bark & Birch. Our goal hasn’t changed since we first started; help dogs and their owners lead happier lives together! I plan to have 4 daycare centres open in Sao Paulo and really make our mark in Brazil!

We are already building and launching the doggy daycares across the city and bringing the Bark & Birch residential training model to Brazil, which is hugely exciting and we can’t wait to be fully operational in Brazil and Latin America.

How many staff members do you see globally by the end of this year?

We are looking for another 50 or 60 people by the end of this year globally. I want to launch 4 daycares in Brazil and so another 20 thee by the end of this year. One thing that is so important to me running this business is treating my staff equally- it doesn’t matter where you are in the company. I have always been involved in every single interview, from entry level to senior roles. I have always believed you treat your cleaning lady the same way you treat your Senior Executives. 

Where next for Bark & Birch after Brazil?

Well, our goal is to be the biggest global dog services provider in the world and next it will be insurance and vet clinics and products and we want to manufacture our own products and help as many people and their dogs a month as we can- We train around 800 dogs a month now and eventually I want that number to be 20 or 30 thousand helped through our different services! Next year, I want us to be in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa and more of South America as we are having a Brazil office in Sao Paulo. Then, we will look to expand more in Europe, the Netherlands where I’m from originally then Belgium and Switzerland and Germany and France.

By the end of next year, we should be in 15 more countries!

What challenges did you encounter in the early days?

It’s always a challenge to build and grow any business but when its physical services and you’re doing it globally it’s hard. There are so many moving parts. Every single remote dog trainer, daycare driver, and office staff - it can be tricky to keep the business in line. We aren’t under the same roof and that can be a challenge and feel difficult at times. All of our people are remote and our trainers are going out in different cultures with different languages etc but that excites me and we are getting there. I’m blessed that even during a global pandemic we can hire people rather than fire people. I am responsible for 100’s of my staff and their income and I feel a passion for my staff and them getting by. This is why I am so driven as I am so responsible for everyone. You need to be resilient too as a CEO, as in a start-up there are more bad days than there are good days and you have to be resilient and stay focused on what you’re trying to achieve. We have come through some hiccups and hard patches as we grew so fast. We have bought in lots of senior people to push the business forward.

What’s your advice to someone starting out their own business?

I implement something and reimplement it and don’t test it for months so I would say that you need everything in place when u try to grow a business and you need to be operationally ready to deliver the service. Plus, don’t take your mind away from what you are trying to achieve. Don’t always focus on the revenue and focus on what you are trying to do and why you are doing it. The service is so important and the customer experience and then the revenue will follow. I had always spent years in technology and that’s where my knowledge was even though I have trained many dogs in my life. 

When I was helping friends' highly reactive dogs I realised not many people can do this well, word of mouth spread and soon I was getting lots of recommendations and people were asking for daycare etc. If you do a good job with people’s dogs and their needs then they will keep going back. So, just remember why you are doing what you are doing and the rest will always follow.

How does it feel when you see some of the dogs that you knew as puppies when Bark & Birch first launched?

It’s so exciting! I saw a dog recently called Buster that I have known since he was 12 weeks old and it’s been great seeing him still with us and his owners coming back and referring us to other people and it reminds me why I’m doing what I’m doing and the dogs are my main customers! We are very fortunate that we have some amazing dog trainers and loyal staff and a great team of dog lovers, passionate about what we are trying to achieve. I can build something I’m passionate about and it is always so satisfying and satisfying for all of our staff. Bark & Birch is unique and we can make a real difference. That is what it is all about.