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Dog Pool Case Study

BS 600552 Case Study – Dog Pool

Introduc)on

This document introduces the case study for the Business Strategies module 20/21. During the module you will work as a consultant to complete a strategy project for your client Natalia Duron. The situaAon facing Natalia is described below. Other informaAon will also be released to enable you to complete the project. You will also have access to videos with Natalia and Chris.

Case Study

Your client is Natalia Duron, the founder and Managing Director of Dog Pool (DP). DP is a popular ‘dog sharing’ service that is experiencing rapid growth. Through the DP service, Natalia has commercialised the innovaAve idea of ‘dog sharing’. Dog sharing allows people without dogs to enjoy some of the benefits of owning a dog; at the same Ame, the service allows busy dog owners to share the upkeep and care of their dogs. Both sets of customers get a lot of value from the service and the dogs love it too!

Using DP, a dog owner (DO) can connect with a non-dog owner (NDO) in their locality. The NDO may walk the dog, look aTer the dog for an agreed period of Ame, or even use the dog as a therapy dog for an elderly or ill relaAve. It means those without dogs can enjoy dogs, and those with dogs can share their dogs and the costs of ownership. It all works through online posAngs on Facebook.

Welcome to Dog Pool!

Dog Pool grew from Natalia’s love of dogs and passion for animal welfare. She hates to think of dogs sat at home bored. She previously worked for an animal charity in Mexico City, where she grew up, to help stray dogs in the city. Her passion has created some controversy though; once she chained herself (and her two black Labradors) to a metal fence in a zoo in protest at the condiAons there – the police had to remove the whole fence in order to resolve the incident!

With dog ownership on the rise in the UK (it is thought that around 10 million people own dogs), Dog Pool has quickly established a user base of around 5,000 people aTer its establishment in 2015. ‘Dog poolers’ create income for the company, and now pet food brands and other companies are approaching Natalia for sponsorship and brand deals. She

Dog Pool Case Study

would rather just help the dogs than deal with the business side of things, but she wants to see the business grow. She feels it’s making a contribuAon to the lives of people and dogs. Rapid growth has created some problems for DP. The IT pla`orm, over which the company has only limited control, is one of the major issues.

DP is run via a private Facebook group. Once in the DP group, users can post

informaAon to find local people and dogs to pair up with. Natalia personally checks the users to establish their credenAals before they are permiaed entry to the group. This is a Ame- consuming process – it now takes up several hours each day! She is interested in automaAng part of this process, but is not sure how to do it. ‘Dog poolers’ pay a regular fee to use the service; this has created a consistent income stream for the company.

The current IT setup poses a potenAal threat to the business. It is possible Facebook could change the service arrangements, close down the group or charge some kind of a fee. Natalia is considering moving Dog Pool to a new IT pla`orm and also innovate the business model. DP is thinking of engaging with a mobile app development company to discuss a mobile-based IT pla`orm.

Natalia has not done much research into compeAtors, but she knows there are some established businesses that are similar to DP. She would like to know more about their business models – should DP operate in the same way, or go in a different direcAon? You will be provided with more informaAon about compeAtors.

Natalia is advised by Chris, who is a local consultant and data scienAst. He has experience in tech start-ups and is parAcularly interested in business analyAcs. He advocates a rigorous and technical approach to running the business, and originally came up with the idea of moving to a mobile-based IT pla`orm.

Chris and Natalia have been collaboraAng successfully for over two years now, but they do argue about the direcAon of the business from Ame-to-Ame. Natalia’s intuiAve and passionate approach someAmes frustrates Chris who is more profit-driven.

Dog Pool Case Study

Ini)al SWOT analysis

Chris has created a draT SWOT analysis to facilitate some clear thinking about the business. Though the analysis is not thought to be complete, or even accurate, we can share it with you as a star7ng point for a more thorough evaluaAon of the company’s strategy.

STRENGTHS

Established, engaged and growing user base who believe in Natalia

Passionate and credible owner

First-mover advantage to some extent

Limited compeAtors at present

Current IT pla`orm – Facebook

WEAKNESSES

Current IT pla`orm – no control over Facebook

MoneAsaAon model needs developing

Business model needs developing

No control over dog sharing acAviAes

Inefficient process regarding joining

OPPORTUNITIES

Long-term trend towards dog ownership – capitalise on this

Beaer moneAsaAon using a mobile app / subscripAon model, or similar

Deals with dog food brands and other companies

AddiAonal services possible

THREATS

A compeAtor moves into the market with a website or mobile app

Facebook removes the group or changes arrangements

Free local services become available for dog sharing

CommuniAes develop their own groups