HOLLYWOOF Organic Pet Store & Daycare

Steven Haney, Richard Sherer, Stephanie Cervantes & Samantha Cardenas

Business Proposal to Professor Craig Rich

THE ORGANIZATION

HOLLYWOOF Organic Pet Store & Daycare is a natural alternative to conventional pet-care. Based in Los Angeles,

CA, HOLLYWOOF was founded by Steven Haney, Richard Sherer, Stephanie Cervantes and Samantha Cardenas in

2015. It was first envisioned as a pet daycare center and soon diversified to offer a number of services and

products. Pets and their owners will be able to enjoy daycare services, including frequent walks, a play area, toys,

and grooming services such as haircuts and baths. In addition, the company has created its own line of all

natural pet soaps and shampoos, organic foods and treats, and environmentally friendly grooming kits, toys and

accessories.

MISSION STATEMENT

HOLLYWOOF Organic Pet Store & Daycare understands that the lives and well-being of your furry family

members are important. That is why we seek to promote and provide a healthy, environmentally conscious and

natural alternative to pet care that ensures the highest quality of life and longevity for your pets. By providing

pets with the best sustainable services and products, we ensure pet and owner satisfaction. We not only foster a

lifelong partnership between you and your pets, but a lifelong relationship between us and our clients.

MARKET ANALYSIS

This continued spending has increased over the past three years speaking to the popularity of pet day care

services with their furry loved ones becoming recognized as integral members of the family. (American Pets

Products Association, USA Today 2012). Pet owners, busy with work and other priorities, are often unable to look

after their pets during the day. With their pets at home alone daily without proper supervision for extended

periods of time, pet owner’s risk leaving their dogs unattended potentially resulting in damages to personal

property. Even more concerning are the negative psychological impacts on ‘home alone pets’ such as

depression, separation anxiety and feelings of abandonment. These issues not only damage the dogs

emotionally but also physically. HOLLYWOOF Organic Pet Store and Daycare will help to serve the Los Angeles

Market by providing optimum dog care services and products catering to the needs of our customers’ beloved

pets. With such a demand for pet care services, like-minded organizations are recognized as competition to the

business. Competing organizations include Pooch Hotel, Wagville and Go Dog LA.

The Pooch Hotel brand has a number of locations in Southern California as well as across the country, offering a

range of services such as dog daycare, overnight boarding kennels, spa and grooming services, along with

options for professional dog training sessions. At the Pooch Hotel locations, the quality of facilities have been

reputed by both staff members and customers alike with lush, modern amenities for dogs financed by Petco.

However, Pooch Hotel may not be as exceptional as it seems to be on the surface. According to Yelp.com, a

number of customers at both the San Diego and West Los Angeles locations have taken issue with the customer

service and employee interaction as well as the treatment of their dogs. A number of customers have cited the

Pooch Hotel staff as displaying an inability to properly supervise their pets with issues including reported

sickness, stress and even death while staying at Pooch Hotel. Additionally, Pooch Hotel does not sell their own

original pet supplies like treats and toys.

Another competitor, Wagville, located in Glendale, is one of the premier duel dog daycare and pet store in the

Los Angeles area. Wagville operates its own store selling organic supplies, including low-chemical shampoos,

all-natural dog food brands and environmentally friendly leashes and toys. These store services will be

somewhat similar to the plans of our organization through serving healthy, organic, and all-natural products

with the wellness of our customers’ dogs in mind. One set back for Wagville is the facilities they utilize, primarily

their headquarters and kenneling building which reconstructed in an old warehouse with limited space. For

Wagville’s overnight services, the dogs are placed in a general sleeping area without separate sleeping rooms or

areas, which may be problematic in a number of ways. With a large amount of dogs confined in one place, the

issue of neglect may come into play with an overwhelming responsibility to look after each dog. Similar to

Pooch Hotel, a concerning number of customers expressed their displeasure after finding minor injuries and

health issues when their dogs return home. Yelp reviewer, ‘Sean L.’ wrote his concerns about Wagville’s ability to

supervise the large amount of dogs that they board stating,“They are overcrowded and neglectful. We left a

member of our family in their care and they failed to watch over him. I strongly recommend people look

elsewhere!” This customer continued to express his frustration with Wagville’s services by providing pictures of

his dog’s injuries on each leg claiming that Wagville is culpable for lack of action to prevent these injuries in the

first place. Additionally, customer ‘Ms.L’ complained about her dog’s stay at Wagville supporting the notion that

Wagville has an issue with providing adequate monitoring of the dogs under their watch, “there should be an

appropriate amount of humans watching the dogs as the dog population increases or there should be a cap on

the number of dogs accepted.” HOLLYWOOF has acknowledged that many competitors such as Wagville may

lack in customer satisfaction regarding the supervision of dogs leading us to ensure that all dogs under our

watch are properly accounted for.

The final competitor, Go Dog LA, offers daycare, overnight boarding, bath services and even some health care

options such as flea and tick treatments. Go Dog LA has also been lauded for their reasonable pricing for their

services, particularly in boarding and grooming services in comparison to both Wagville and Pooch Hotel.

Though the lower prices are a perk for Go Dog LA, the dated facilities are a bit of a drawback in the company’s

appeal. Go Dog LA does not offer individualized rooms similar to Wagville which, for many customers boarding

their dogs, is a concern of health issues and overall happiness for these dogs.

Setting itself aside from the competition, HOLLYWOOF Organic Pet Store and Daycare will offer high quality

daycare and grooming services for dogs and happiness for dog owners in the Los Angeles area. We plan on

selecting a location that is easily accessible to our customers where the dogs will have plenty of space to take full

advantage of our facilities for both play and relaxation with the supervision of our professionally trained dog

sitters. Our facilities will include a specialized grooming station suitable for dogs of all sizes. At HOLLYWOOF

only health conscious grooming products, such as shampoos with all natural ingredients, will be used for the

well being of the dogs we care for. In addition, HOLLYWOOF will also feature a pet store with all organic treats

and food products, and environmentally friendly grooming products, which will provide a great source of

revenue and additional means by which we can further serve our customers.

We at HOLLYWOOF recognize that there is an emphasis on healthy living which has lead people to shift their

diets to more wholesome, organic and natural options, a phenomenon particularly happening in our Los

Angeles community. This focus on healthy food choices has also been applied to dogs with many owners who

see their pet as a beloved member of their family are taking the same conscious choices in buying organic and

all natural foods for their pets. Organic dog food has proven to provide health benefits that improve digestion,

blood circulation and muscle health. Unlike some big name pet food brands such as Pedigree have had to recall

a number of its products and alter ingredients due to its use of poultry and meat by-product containing

(dogreference.com). Before any pet food can be classified as organic, the ingredients, process of production and

must be approved by the USDA based on their set regulations limiting or in some cases preventing

questionable additives like meat and poultry by-products. (The Association of American Feed Control Officials)

People are willing to pay more money when they know the product is trustworthy and will ultimately improve

the quality of life as well as the longevity of life for their pets. Organic and natural products ensure that your pets

are taken care of.

HOLLYWOOF, as an up and coming business, may not yet have the same popular reputation as more established

pet service providers, but we make sure to do our best to provide quality service to whoever comes through our

doors. We emphasize building a great rapport with both owners and pets so that we ensure happiness and

satisfaction for all parties. Additionally from a business prospective, pet owners and consumers are also opting

for smaller companies when it comes to pet services so they know their pets are in the best care and they are

able to build a personal relationship with the establishment.

HOLLYWOOF Organic Pet Store and Daycare wants nothing more than to provide the Los Angeles area with the

best services possible, focusing on the health and enjoyment of every dog under our supervision with you and

your furry friend’s happiness in mind.

ORGANIZATIONAL METHOD Organizational Form

HOLLYWOOF will utilize Model 3: The Bureaucracy with Project Teams and Task Forces.

CEO

Organizational Communication Approach

For our organization, we will use the organizational form of a bureaucracy with project teams, operating with

Human Resources characteristics. The clear cut order and organization of employees through a hierarchy will

help the business to operate most efficiently. In the organization, it is vital that it gets the most out of each

employee, and that it helps them to reach their maximum potential. The division of labor will include a finance

division, a sales and marketing department, and a team of in-house employees comprised of groomers, daycare

workers and store operators.

The finance division will focus on the numbers, meaning they will be in charge of HOLLYWOOF’s finances. Their

responsibilities include managing the budget and allocating the company’s funds where they see fit, regular

forecasts to calculate cash needs, accounting, tracking all transactions and cashflow, ensuring the payment of

suppliers, advising and sourcing long term financing. The sales and marketing department will house smaller

Finance Sales & Marketing

In-House Workers

Groomers Daycare workersStore operators

teams, including PR, and Advertising. This department’s responsibilities consist of demographic research, new

business development, promotional strategies, pricing, distribution, customer service, and communications. In

it’s simplest form, sales portion will advise the marketing team based on its feedback with customers and will

focus on customer contact to drive sales. The marketing portion will tells the sales staff what to emphasize and

what sales tools is to use.

HOLLYWOOF will also have a mandatory training program for all new employees who will be working at the

daycare with the animals directly. A strict training regiment will allow new low-level employees to learn how to

properly work with the animals in a safe and efficient way. Training must be completed in order for employees to

start full time. This will help our organization, because with properly trained employees, HOLLYWOOF will be

able to lower the chances of any issues with mishandling of pets, which could ultimately lead to customer

dissatisfaction and a loss of business.

Due to the divisions within our organization, HOLLYWOOF will want to ensure that the company has constant

communication between the groups of employees, such as animal handlers and their managers, and between

departments. Our use of the Human Resources approach encourages multidirectional communication and

cooperation between managers and employees. There are different components of animal handling, such as

daycare and pet grooming, meaning the managers of these two teams will need to be in sync with one another

through clear communication. The third team, the store workers, will also need to be in close communicative

contact with the animal handling divisions so that store workers can receive feedback from the animal handlers

on which HOLLYWOOF products they think will sell best based on the size, interests and behaviors of the

animals. The store workers can encourage pet owners to buy products based off the feedback they receive.

It is also important that there be regular communication between departments. The finance department should

work closely with the marketing department to prepare the organization’s budgets and forecasts, and to report

the progress against these throughout the year. The data and information collected will be useful in

determining any needed changes such as changes in staffing levels, company expansions and cash needs.

Communication across these two departments will also help with the research of market trends, which will

determine how much money HOLLYWOOF can expect to earn form current and future projects. This will help

HOLLYWOOF in making key decisions as to which markets and projects to pursue. As a result, multidirectional

communication will be an essential part in HOLLYWOOF’s success.

In order for HOLLYWOOF to thrive, we will employ various approaches to efficiently and properly function as an

organization. We are borrowing from 3 approaches: Human Resources, Human Relations and Systems

Approach.

While drawing from Human Resources, we understand that each of our employees is an investment, and a key

resource to us being successful. Human resources see workers as a resource so we aim to empower our

employees to participate in decision making, we will encourage our employees to let us know which products

and services they think work best for our pets and our organization. We also like to encourage multi directional

communication. We will use the transactional process because we will need a lot of multidirectional

communication to see what is working, and what is not working at the shop. Day-to-day obstacles will require

communication from superiors and lower-level employees, meaning that feedback on what has been effective

or ineffective must flow up to down, down to up as well as across departments which will be made possible

through our organizational model and he the Human Resources approach. The flatter hierarchy will allow for

easier and direct communication and cooperation between employees, managers and the CEO.

Even though we view each employee as a resource and an investment, we also understand that they are

complex beings with emotional and social needs. We believe that a happy worker is a productive worker, so we

strive to nurture our employees’ social and emotional needs in order for them to be their best selves when

interacting with the pets. We will also aim to employ people who truly care for animals because we want our

employees to love their work and feel comfortable in the environment. Our workers will be talented, smart and

creative and we believe that allowing them a certain amount of freedom when working with the animals will

help them grow as well as helps us grow as an organization. Even though we will encourage innovation and

freedom when it comes to how employees care and interact with the pets, it is important that they do so while

keeping in line with policies and rules that we provide with our employee training, this reflects the

communication concept of Creativity and Constraint. Human Relations also allows us to maintain our hierarchal

order, but allows us to make it more informal. We don’t want a strict bureaucratic structure, but we do want to

maintain our hierarchy in order to keep order within our organization.

Finally, we will also utilize Systems Approach, and its processes of Negative Entropy and Equifinality. The use of

Systems theory will let us craft an approach that suits our organization. Our organization will use negative

entropy because it will allow us to change with our environment and develop as a company. Our business

should be able to adapt in order to see maximum success, we will need to be change what we sell in our store

and what services we decide to provide, meaning we must be able to maintain flexibility at all levels of the

business.

We want to make sure we are always catering towards the customer and Systems Approach allows us to do so.

Like Human Resources, Systems encourages interdependence and communication between departments.

Equifinality will be used because we have multiple subsystems with our different teams. These teams working

together as one is essential to us succeeding, if one part fails, the whole company could fail.

As mentioned earlier, this flow of communication between departments will be essential to our entire

organization remaining on the same page and will allow us to keep moving forward as an organization.

CONCLUSION

People consider pets as family members, and as family members they deserve the best care. That care includes

grooming, daycare, and a healthy diet. People are wanting more unique products and want more transparency

when it comes to pet care.

Our clear understanding and knowledge of our organizational model and company goals, ensures that our

business will operate effectively and efficiently. As a small company with an interest for growth, our choice to use

a Hybrid organizational model allows us some flexibility in the choice of our communication approaches and

concepts. Combining theories such as Human Resources and Systems Theory will foster multi directional

communication, and employee cooperation and empowerment to further both individual and organizational

success. Concepts like Communication as a Transactional Process encourages a feedback loop to aid efficient

change and problem solving, and the Systems process of Negative Entropy asks for high adaptability within the

organization so that we can sustain a stable company within an ever changing market.

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