Small Business
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Giving Dogs More than a Bone... dog, Izzy, and I personally loved everything dogrelated. The pet trade at the time was worth about £4 billion annually and rising, so with the market trend and my passion for doggy items, the choice to do something related to dogs was obvious. We didn't want to groom dogs or walk other people's because our income would always be limited by the amount of hours we could work. We needed a product or brand to sell but where would we sell from? “Business rates for brick and mortar shops were (and still are) too eye watering for fledgling businesses. With unrealistic lease costs and the stats showing around 20 'sensible' thing and left shops were closing a day, my job to focus on a business plan. Just about this bricks and mortar idea everyone thought I was was sunk before leaving the docks (sorry we live on the nuts, including close members of my family! ” coast!). It occurred to me At this point Zak began to that I used a Chuckit! Ball wonder what exactly he was Launcher and a Chuckit! Whistler Ball every single going to do in terms of day with Izzy and it was so business. The answer robust, colourful and wasn't far off. “We had a close by so we did it, we upped sticks and moved from Surrey to Devon. “Lucy had to resign her post and I continued to work from home in Devon for the same London firm. Not long after this we just looked at each other and asked ourselves, 'is this what we want life to look like in 1 0 years time?' We had an epiphany, the answer was a big 'no'!” Zak began thinking of his next move, and despite their financial uncertainty went for it. “Lucy found some temp work and I began to think about starting a business in something. In the midst of financial uncertainty I did that
By Ronnie Ajoku
Z
ak Taylor is the Founder of Active Hound, a fastgrowing business that sells dog-related products online. Like many successful entrepreneurs Zak decided to take his destiny into his own hands and follow his passion, a far cry from his former job as a trader for a top sports betting company. “My wife, Lucy, was an admin support manager for London Underground while I was as a trader for a top sports spread betting company. Lucy had a door to door commute of 1 .5 hours and whilst I worked from home, my hours were irregular and rather a lot - about 60 hours per week. An opportunity opened up to move to Devon to be right on the doorstep of my family with Lucy's
Volume 3 Issue 1 , 201 6
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