TIME FOR PAWS

Two friends pursue a shared love for pets after a successful career in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF).

There is a season and a time for everything - so the saying goes. For Ms Doris Ong, last year was one of new beginnings - starting her pet-grooming business Pet Cove - and also endings: leaving the SAF and her marriage.

She started the business with Ms Alvina Lee with no experience in pet grooming, apart from taking care of family pets. The two women first met in 2010 while working at Headquarters Training and Doctrine (HQ TRADOC) in the SAF.

They hit it off right away. "Having common topics - we were both paracounsellors - and discussing our cases helped us to cement the friendship." So when Ms Ong left the SAF in July last year, the two thought of turning their passion for pets into a business.

Big adjustment

It was also a time of personal upheaval for Ms Ong who was going through a divorce. "I went through a huge change, from being in uniform and married, to being a civilian and single." Ms Ong spent 22 years in the SAF, holding many appointments, and had risen to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

In a way, setting up the business was a cathartic release for Ms Ong. When asked what it was like to start a business from scratch, both women let out a collective groan.

"We were working through the night," said Ms Ong.

It was decided that the business would include her 12-year-old daughter Mei Qi, who aspires to be a vet, from the get-go. The eventual plan is for Mei Qi to have her own veterinary clinic at Pet Cove to make the business a truly one-stop shop.

To better things

Said close friend and business partner Ms Lee: "During the period of setting up Pet Cove, Doris made it a point to spend time with Mei Qi - she would wake up at 5am to take her daughter to school so that they could talk on the way. Both of us probably slept about three hours daily."

"That is why Pet Cove is something special - integrating her (Doris') second career and family," she added. "The business marks the time that she has moved on in life, together with Mei Qi."

The grand plan

Very early on, the duo had decided their business would not be a run-of-the-mill pet shop. So they spent three months attending a professional pet-grooming course to learn how to groom pets even for competitions.

They even attended courses for pet-sitting - which is peripheral to their core business of grooming - to learn how to take care of different kinds of pets. That took another three months, and included written examinations.

There was a lot to learn and prepare before they could open the shop, but as Ms Lee explained, they had a clear goal in mind: "We wanted to provide professional services."

Getting the word out

Their next focus was on publicity. That meant creating a presence on social media and distributing flyers. When the duo did roadshows, Mei Qi helped out by manning the Pet Cove booth.

They had their fair share of ups and downs and learnt the hard way that starting a business was no easy task. "Google was our best friend!" laughed the two women. At night, Ms Lee would trawl the Web to see how people promoted their businesses.

Both women were acutely aware of the risks. "We'd seen how a single bad comment could lead to near ruin for a pet-grooming business," said Ms Lee. "Once a business gets a bad reputation and you don t know how to contain it, that will impact the shop."

To spread out the risks, they looked into diversifying their business by carrying pet-grooming products. Currently, they are the official distributors for two brands. It was something that Ms Ong learnt in the military.

"Business requires us to be nimble in our actions and thoughts. Long-term goals are important but there is a need to tweak and change our strategy from time to time.

"So we had to make sure that our contingency plans were fast (and nimble) enough to be deployed. That's another thing I learnt in the SAF - adaptability."

Today, Pet Cove is doing well. The shop has been fully booked daily since December last year and they have hired more staff to deal with the increased demand for their grooming services and to man their retail operations.

Sure seems like another season is upon them - boom season.

"One important thing when starting a business is to keep your eye on the big picture. But you also have to mind the small details...and adopt a 'the buck stops here' mentality."
- Ms Ong on being her own boss

Show this story at Pet Cove and get a 25% discount off their Spa Groom service. Offer is valid till end-2014. Visit petcovesg.com. Like the Pet Cove Facebook page to stay tuned to upcoming National Day Promotions!