ROB O’NEILL

A company that has broken fresh ground in the pet-care market, using the internet to match pet owners with temporary carers, is expanding nationally.

Pet Angels, which was launched in 2006, offers owners access to animal-loving pet carers, who will visit the owner’s home to look after their animals while they are away. Each carer is, er, vetted to ensure they have no criminal convictions or other concerning history.

The pet-care company employs almost 200 “Angels” across three businesses in Auckland central, North Shore and Wellington. Services offered by the Angels include dog walking, pet feeding, house sitting, home boarding, dog day care, lead etiquette, pet cleaning and vet visits.

Founder Laura Humphreys says demand for skilled and vetted carers is soaring. In response, Pet Angels is implementing a new licensing model which allows operators to use its systems to create a Pet Angels-branded business in their region, she says.

Although a range of pet-caring providers already exists, Pet Angels is effectively transforming that from a cottage industry into a scalable, repeatable business. And the market is large.

An April survey from the New Zealand Animal Council shows the country’s current pet population is around five million. We own 1.4 million cats, 700,000 dogs, 88,000 rabbits and 527,000 birds. New Zealanders are thought to be the world’s biggest cat owners, with 28% of households owning a cat.

According to the survey, we spend $766 million on pet food, $358m on vet bills and $166m on healthcare products.

Humphreys’ business partner, Lisa Casagranda, says the new licence model allows someone wanting to start their own pet-care business to do so without the time, investment and risk in setting up the business themselves.

The company’s online system links owners with an Angel to care for their pet while they are away.

Each Angel is hand-picked for their love of animals, vetted through the Ministry of Justice criminal conviction screening process, reference checked and put through rigorous training, the company said.

The Angel visits the pet in their own home to care for them, minimising risks, upheaval and stress for owner and pet alike.

For licensees’ access to the brand and systems, which manage much of the administration of their business, an upfront fee is payable of between $7500 and $25,000 per region depending on population. An ongoing fee is also payable and this is negotiated with the licensee. Humphreys said the Wellington region, the prototype for the business, is cashflow positive and doing well.

After the New Zealand expansion, Pet Angels’ eyes are definitely gazing overseas, with Australia and Canada likely initial targets, she said.

One current licensee is PR consultant and businessman John McCauley, who is in partnership with his daughter Jo McCauley in Auckland Central.

Former corporate finance and banking expert Lena da Fonseca is the Pet Angels licensee for Auckland’s North Shore.

“The Pet Angels business and online booking concept was so well set up, it was a very attractive business proposition from the outset, especially for someone like me who was leaving the corporate world to become a small business owner for the first time,” said de Fonseca.

In her former life, Casagranda was a business management consultant and Humphreys ran her own advertising agency, which she sold to international group Singleton Ogilvy & Mather in 2005.

Humphreys attended Rich Dad Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki’s Business School for Entrepreneurs in Hawaii in 1991 and Casagranda was the driving force behind AMP’s online financial venture Liquid.co.nz.

– Sunday Star Times