Dogspot.in: Puppy love turned into money-making idea

Started by 32 year Rana and Vizal Atheya, dogspot.in is an online market place for all kinds of pet products. It is also a guide on bringing up a healthy happy pet. It started as a blog for dog lovers in 2007. Today it is a one stop destination for everything that one could want for four-legged companion. It has raised a seed funding in 2011, served over 5,000 customers and delivered 15,000 orders.

Rana Atheya's love for dogs goes back to his childhood, his first pet was a Doberman. His father was a professor and a veterinary scientist. It was only in 2007 that he actively decided to share his love for his four-legged companion with the world through a blog about dog-keeping. With time Rana and his wife Vizal added an interactive Q&A segment to the blog. This attracted a lot of attention from fellow dog lovers. They were encouraged by the response and couple decided to trade in their corporate careers in 2011 to quite literally a dog's life. Today dogspot.in has over 1,500 products under 85 brands listed on the website. Rana Atheya believes that every dog lover educates themselves while they are keeping the dog or any other pet. They learned that how to keep it better and the best place could be a website. Atheya says, “online, people can share their experiences, a lot of stuff which is non-theoretical in nature. It may vary from place to place and breed to breed. She gives an example that somebody keeping a dog in Bombay would have different experiences than having it in Delhi. So, she wanted to build something wherein one can organize the information and restructure it and that was the reason to start dogspot.in. Despite new players entering the place, the team believes that what makes them stand out is their emphasis on customer care. That includes advising clients on choosing the right products and giving them all kinds of pet related information. This personalised approach has been a big draw for dogspot.in and has helped to build customer loyalty. Atheya informs that they are also doing lot of products which are not available on other websites. They are private labeled products. He gives an example of unique beds and products for paralyzed dogs, which they have. They have also got a product called a car seatbelt connector. This is to tie the dog in the car when one is traveling with it and be sure that the dog is safe. The website has has delivered 15,000 orders in more than 950 cities across India, with prices ranging from Rs 25-27,000. Rana is on a mission to educate young Indians about pet keeping with the help of Deep Kalra, founder of makemytrip.com. Atheya feels in metros also there are no organized chains and there are only small pet shops in different areas. “So, everybody is having a small revenue size, but the fundamental difference which we are bringing on the table is that we work as a brand versus a shop next door”, He adds. The biggest pet shop in Delhi National Capital Region (NCR) would be having only one shop in a market. So, their reach is limited to that locality, however dogspot's reach is, all India, Atheya believes. The duo is all set to dogspot's own private label and address new categories. On the cards are websites like fishspot, catspot and birdspot by the end of the year. The duo also plans to go international and cater to consumers in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan within the next three years.