SuperWAHM Interview – Joy Randel of Dazzle Dog Delight

This week’s interviewee is Joy Randel, from Dazzle Dog Delight.  I had no idea all these things were available for dogs until I saw her site (I’m a cat person) and it was almost enough to make me want a dog.  Joy has a great heart for helping homeless dogs, and she donates a large percentage of her profits to the SPCA.

1. Tell us a little about yourself and your family?

My wonderful husband and I have an eight year old daughter. We also have a Labrador retriever greyhound mixed dog. We live in the San Francisco Bay Area and enjoy the temperate weather. We live in a city but we are only about ten minutes away from a wooded redwood regional park that is hundreds of acres. We spend time each weekend taking long family walks either through the regional park or along the San Francisco Bay.

2. Tell us about your business – what you do, how long you’ve been running, who your customers are?

I am the CEO of Dazzle Dog Delight. Dazzle Dog Delight is dedicated to passionate dog owners by providing gifts for the dog who has everything. Every purchase you make helps a homeless dog because we donate 5% of our profits to the SPCA. Our customers pamper their dogs with designer collars, leashes, bed, toys, clothes, etc. We have over 800 items in our store.

3. How did you get into that particular business?

Dazzle Dog Delight was born out of love and necessity. Prior to Dazzle Dog Delight I worked as an IT manager for numerous companies managing large web development projects.

At home, the family dog always had a starring role. First it was my black Labrador Kincaid and now a Greyhound-Labrador mix, Rocket.

I found time with my family and dog more rewarding than my job and when the economy turned sour and layoffs were abundant, I thought “hmmm, maybe getting laid-off wouldn’t be so bad.” I found that out for real when the cost-cutting arrived in a memo.

I combined my passion for dogs with my IT knowledge and created Dazzle Dog Delight. The hours are long and there’s not nearly as much support staff, but the employees and customers always wag their tails – a reward rarely found in my old jobs.

4. What’s the worst challenge that you’ve experienced in your business, and how did you overcome it?

The worst challenge I experienced in my business was not having enough time in the day to do everything that needs to get done. I overcame it by setting up a system where I do specific tasks at certain times of the day.

I plan my week out ahead of time and decide how each day is going to be segmented for that specific week. Each week I re-evaluate and make changes. I also set up a goal board so everything I do has to meet one of my goals or I don’t start doing it.

5. Tell us three things that no-one knows about you.

1) Travelled and walked across Macau.

2) I drove across America twice.

3) Once was a dog in a former life.

6. What has been your biggest success that you’ve had in your business? What was it that made that happen?

My biggest success has been being able to contribute my profits to the SPCA. I am determined to make sales because it benefits a non-profit organization that I believe in.

7. If you didn’t have this business, what do you think you’d do and why?

If I did not have this business I would be doing fund raising for animal shelters. There are more and more homeless animals as people lose their jobs in this bad economy. The shelters need all the help they can get.

8. What’s the biggest mistake that you see newbie business owners making?

The biggest mistake that I see newbie business owners make is that they do not plan. They do not have a business plan and they do not have a marketing plan.

9. Coffee or Tea?

Coffee

10. How many hours a week do you put into your business?

I am putting 40 hours a week into my business.

11. How do you fit those hours in? Eg: school hours, early mornings, late nights, kids in daycare, around my other (paid) job?

I work many late nights and early mornings before my daughter awakes and after she is asleep.

12. If you were a Superhero, what would your super powers be?

If I were a Superhero my super powers would give me the vision to tell the future.

13. What’s the weirdest/funniest thing that’s ever happened to you? (business or otherwise)

The weirdest thing that happened to me is that the dog walker I hired turned out to live in a home that I had lived in two years earlier.