Today we’d like to introduce you to Malcolm Aga.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Malcolm. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
After a successful career in sales and management with companies such as Hewlett-Packard and Eclipsys, as well as business development experience in health care information technology start-ups, Malcolm decided it was time to stop being a road warrior and spend more time with his family. He worked with his sister to open Atlanta Dog Trainer Pet Resort a few years back and saw an opportunity to do the same in the Dunwoody area. He has always had a love of animals, especially dogs, having had at least one most of his life. His family is the proud owner of a wild and crazy Morki rescue, a spoiled rotten Coton, a skittish Havanese rescue, and a couple of adopted frogs left with us to care for when our oldest daughter went off to college.
Today, The Pet Resorts has 3 locations that span Dunwoody and Cumming in the North Atlanta area with a focus on fun, monitored playtime for dogs and cats in a cage free environment.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Seasonality! This is a business that will have you pulling your hair out if you do not understand the relationship of holiday seasons and revenue. You must also be able to manage stress in having the confidence and patience to know that it will all work out over the long run as long as you prepare for the lean periods. Bringing in Doggie Daycare, Grooming, and Training helps to smooth out the dips associated with boarding animals while owners go on vacation and or business trips.
You can also never underestimate the importance of labor, both in costs and in making sure you hire happy, hardworking, and caring people. These pets are part of our family and understanding that allows you to do the right thing the first time as it relates to their care and well-being. A pet services business is only as good as the people that run it.
The business is not all fun and games and just playing with pets. Actually far from it as you have to be ready to clean up messes of all kinds, be able to read dog signals and intuitively manage quickly changing environments with animals that act on instinct at a speed and agility that far exceeds what humans are capable of doing. So paying attention to both your surroundings and the individual personalities of pets is critical to everyone’s well-being.
The Pet Resorts – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
The Pet Resorts does 3 key things that sets us apart from others in this business.
1) Our Guests are not stuck in a cage all day with short walks or 10 minute “playtimes”:
Much of the day is spent in playtime with other guests in fully monitored play rooms, plenty of exercise for your pet’s enjoyment and health. When you pick up your pet, it is ready to relax with you, not jump all over you and chew and tear up your furniture
2) The Pet Resort-Dunwoody is run by an experienced and knowledgeable, non-seasonal staff so we understand your dog.
We can read your dog’s signals, understanding if they are agitated, stressed, tired, lonely, or bored and react to these signals while they stay with us.
We are rescue dog owners and have a genuine love for caring for your pet. We go out of our way to make sure puppies, nervous dogs, and senior dogs get plenty of attention and socialization. All staff are trained in Pet First Aid techniques
3) All-Inclusive Pricing: We charge the same rate for any and all of the following so you are not surprised when you come in and the bill is 20-30% more than you were quoted.
Special care for puppies
Special care for senior dogs
No extra charge for Potty breaks, Playtime, Walks, Meds administration, or serving your own dog food
We have also been elected by Kudzu.com reviewers as “Best of Atlanta” in our business category for multiple years in a row as well as attaining the 2016 “Business of the Year Finalist” award from the Cumming Forsyth Chamber of Commerce.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success to me is defined by the happiness of our customers’ faces when they come in from a long business trip or vacation and see how happy their furry family member is after spending time with us. Then when they put great reviews on line, send us customers, and come back to see us over and over, we know we are doing the right thing.
I also measure how well we run out business by our very low employee turnover rate in a business known for high turnover. Our staff loves to come to work, they love to engage with and spend time with our furry guests, and there caring attitude shines through for all to see. Most of our employees have been with us for years with some going on 8-9 years.
Contact Info:
- Address: The Pet Resorts
4343 Dunwoody Park
Dunwoody GA 30338The Pet Resorts
5660 Howard Road
Cumming GA 30040 - Website: www.thepetresorts.com
- Phone: 404 596-4333 (Dunwoody location), 678 455-9199 (Cumming location)
- Email: info@thepetresorts.com {Dunwoody location}, TPRnorth@thepetresorts.com {Cumming location}
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thepetresorts (Dunwoody location), https://www.facebook.com/ThePetResortsCumming/ (Cumming location)
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-pet-resorts-dunwoody (Dunwoody location), https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-pet-resorts-cumming-cumming-2 (Cumming location)
- Other: http://www.kudzu.com/m/The-Pet-Resorts-21775002
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