Six Reasons to Start Your Own Pet Treat Company

Ever wonder what would possess a perfectly reasonable person to start a pet treat company?

We do, too.

In my case, there were six pretty compelling reasons. Some are thoughtful. Some are strategic.  Some are based on my own stupidity.  But anyways, here we go!

1. Your family has been in the pet food business for over 80 years.

When your family has been making pet food for eight decades, even if you don’t join the family business, you end up learning a lot about how food and treats for dogs are made.  I made the choice to join the family business, and I learned even more, had a ton of fun and met loads of great folks.  But eventually, it made sense to go try and go out on my own (with the full support of the family)

Eighty years of experience seemed like a pretty good head start. Or at least enough experience to be dangerous.

2. You're not very good at any other type of business.

I've always believed in playing to your strengths.  Unfortunately, I haven't identified very many of those.  I'm not a great accountant. I'm not particularly good at finance. And nobody wants me anywhere near a biotech startup.  I tried craft beer but I drank too much for it to make sense financially.  Hauling kayaks around is heavy and dirty business.

But pet treats? I know dogs. I know food. And I know how to make something people actually want to give their pets.

So here we are.

3. Dogs and cats are awesome.

Honestly, this one barely needs an explanation.

Dogs are loyal, hilarious, weird, enthusiastic little maniacs who will happily eat something they found underneath the couch.

Cats are... cats. They somehow manage to be both adorable and deeply judgmental at the same time.

We spend enough time making stuff for humans. Why not make something awesome for the animals who actually make our lives better?

4. The pet treat aisle had a problem.

We noticed something strange.  You could find fun treats with junky ingredients. Or you could find healthy treats that looked like they were designed by a committee of nutritionists who had never met a dog. We figured there had to be a middle ground.

Treats can be made with good ingredients and have some personality. They can be healthy-ish, high quality, meat-forward and still look like something your dog would sell his soul for. Basically, a perfect combo, like peanut butter and jelly, or peanut butter and chocolate.  Wait is peanut butter perfect with everything?

Thus, Gnarly Bites was born.

5. You like working with awesome people.

Starting a business is hard. Starting a pet treat company is hard. Starting a pet treat company with such a limited skill set… nearly impossible.

I can truly say that the best part has been getting to work with genuinely awesome people who like pets, care about making great products, building a cool brand and, most importantly, having some fun along the way.

Because if you're going to work your ass off, you might as well do it with people you actually like.

6. I'm pretty sure AI can never replace dogs and cats.

AI can write emails. It can make pictures. It can probably explain quantum physics better than I ever could (see reason #2). But AI will never wag its tail when you walk through the door. It won't knock over your garbage can at 2:17 AM. It won't stare at you while you're eating dinner like you're personally responsible for world hunger. And it definitely won't somehow know that the treat bag is being opened from three rooms away.

So yeah, maybe AI will replace a few jobs. But dogs and cats aren't going anywhere. And as long as they're here, we're going to keep making treats for them. Because somebody has to. And apparently, that somebody is me.

Welcome to Gnarly Bites.