(PRESS RELEASE) LIVONIA, MI — Take a strong foundation and add heaping amounts of potential and you have a winning recipe for success in today’s booming pet industry, especially for existing pet-industry business owners looking to diversify and expand their service offerings. Pet Butler, which provides pet-waste removal and other pet-related services to residential and commercial clients, is offering a Stimulus Plan that waives the initial fee for pet-industry business owners interested in joining Pet Butler. The adjusted upfront cost could be as low as $10,000 to open a Pet Butler franchise. Qualified applicants are also eligible for a forgivable microloan to help offset start-up costs. That offering was enough to gain the attention of business partners and first cousins Steve Shamou and Johny Kashat, who have ties to one of the Detroit area’s most popular pet-store chains.
Both 40 years old, Shamou and Kashat launched their Pet Butler franchise in February, offering basic pet waste removal and yard deodorizer services in the Detroit suburbs of Livonia, Canton, Westland, Plymouth and surrounding areas.
Business has been so brisk that the franchise already has 165 clients and added a third truck. “One of the most important things for consumers today is convenience,” Kashat said. “We have evolved to be online shoppers. We don’t even grocery shop for ourselves anymore! So as more and more people get pets, there will be more and more people looking to ‘conveniently’ do away with responsibilities like scooping poop.”
But the golden ticket that Shamou, Kashat and other current pet-industry business owners already hold in their hands is an existing customer base. Many businesses such as doggie daycares, mobile groomers and pet retailers already offer Pet Butler’s services and leverage Pet Butler’s marketing and support systems to help grow both of their brands. Pet Butler’s recurring revenue model also provides a critical component to building a transferable asset when it is time to exit a business.
Shamou, who has been involved in the pet industry for more than 15 years, is co-owner of two locations of Premier Pet Supply, which has nine stores throughout metropolitan Detroit and has been consistently named “Best Pet Supply Store” in the area. Kashat has been an independent business owner and most recently worked in the mortgage industry. While working from home during the pandemic he got his first dog – a Shih Tzu named Easton – and while walking him, Kashat noticed how many homeowners could benefit from poop scooping services. Already familiar with Pet Butler, Shamou encouraged Kashat to research the franchisor, leading to Kashat leaving the mortgage industry and joining Pet Butler full time. Shamou, who remains with Premier Pet Supply, saw Pet Butler as the perfect opportunity to expand an existing client base while also adding a complementary business opportunity.
“Our long-term objective would be to expand our territories around every Premier Pet Supply location in metro Detroit,” Shamou said. “Premier Pet Supply has been in business for more than 28 years and has a flawless reputation in the metro Detroit community. This can significantly impact how successful we are because we have direct access to the clientele that would directly need Pet Butler’s services.”
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In addition, Shamou and Premier Pet Supply are actively involved in shelters and rescues that are near their store locations. They work directly with Michigan Humane, Leader Dogs for the Blind and numerous other local outreach programs. “We will be using those relationships that have already been created to help grow Pet Butler,” Shamou said.
Prospective Pet Butler franchisees find a franchise brand with a modernized business model that offers large, protected territories that foster scalable growth and strong recurring revenue, which has helped make Pet Butler No. 1 in the “No. 2” business for thousands of clients across North America. Roughly 85 million U.S. families, or 67 percent of households, own a pet, according to the 2019-2020 National Pet Owners Survey conducted by the American Pet Products Association (APPA). In the U.S., pets include 90 million dogs and 94 million cats. In 2018, pet services accounted for $72.56 billion spent and was estimated to grow to $75.38 billion in 2019.
Kashat said he and Shamou are both ardent animal lovers. He calls Shamou the “Crazy Cat Man,” owing to him having three cats at home and two each at his two Premier Pet Supply locations. And Kashat couldn’t envision life without Easton, his beloved Shih Tzu. “He is a ham!” Kashat said.
For more information visit www.petbutler.com or call 734-470-3105.
