Expertly Designed Approach to Franchising in the Pet Sector

Franchise Times – February 26, 2018

Tom Kaiser, the assistant editor of Franchise Times, interviews Zoom Room Dog Training CEO, Mark Van Wye, about this fresh approach to pet franchises. The article appears in the March print edition of the magazine, and focuses on some of the key differentiators in the Zoom Room business model. Several of the pitfalls of traditional pet businesses are discussed — with the Zoom Room having been engineered specifically to address and cure these potential trouble areas. The article explores the real fun factor of the Zoom Room franchise for franchisees and customers alike.

Leading gently away from the pitfalls of kennels, groomers, spas and hotels, Zoom Room is designed to give dog owners something fun to do with their dogs, while mingling with like-minded dog owners and teaching their best friends to master obstacle courses—agility for serious competitors—in a sport that’s grown increasingly popular and has even been featured in ESPN’s Great Outdoor Games.

“We use the word socialization,” Van Wye said of the human element. “It’s a technical word in animal behavior, but we have doggy disco nights and fair trade coffee parties and movie nights—it’s really people having fun with each other in the company of their dogs.”

“Agility is not something your dog does, it’s something you do with your dog,” he said. “The dog learns it quickly, but you the handler have to learn to communicate with your dog more subtly through gestures, and people go home and say I took an agility class for fun, but it’s like the best obedience class I’ve ever had.”

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