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Founder@ Interview
With Claire Harris
“Be careful who you trust. Trust your own gut instinct. Get everything in writing no matter how insignificant it may seem, if its there in writing there is a paper trail. Manage your expectations on how long it takes to be successful…” – Claire Harris
Today we feature Claire Harris, the founder at Pets 2 Places Ltd. We hear their story in their own words, their successes, their challenges and their insights.
Let’s start by getting to know you. Can you please tell us a little bit about you and what you do?
I’m Claire, a 44-year-old widowed mother of three grown-up children. I was a teen mum, and I’m proud to say my daughter is now an adult nurse. Initially, I was a stay-at-home mum while my partner worked. After leaving school with no qualifications, I enjoyed being at home but soon realised I needed something for myself. In 2012, I joined a franchise, thinking the support would help me start my business journey. Unfortunately, I faced immense challenges, including the loss of my partner just three months in, along with a lack of support from the franchisors. After some time to regroup, a friend working as a vet receptionist mentioned that many pet owners needed transport to the vet but didn’t drive. Inspired, I learned how to run a pet taxi service. I’m now the founder of the world’s first pet taxi franchise and the UK’s leading authority on pet transport.
A great introduction and start to this interview. Can you please tell us, how did you start, from what age, and what made you decide to change direction and start?
I had no intention, of course, of starting a franchise in 2014 when I started. I was 36 at the time, still coming to terms with how at such a young age I was a widow. Going through a lot of mental health problems with being widowed, raising children on my own with no help and support.
Two of my children are on the spectrum, so their additional needs meant I had a lot to deal with. When I first started the pet taxi, it was just something to do while the kids were at school. It was hard because I was in such a dark place mentally that even getting out of bed each day was a struggle. When I started, I didn’t have much: a handful of leaflets someone I know had printed for me, a mobile phone I bought for £10 with a top-up card, and a couple of seat belts I bought off Amazon.
The feedback I got from the customers, though, was amazing. They were genuinely so happy and grateful for my help. I would hear “you’re a godsend” and “what would I do without you” on a regular basis. This can’t be bad; I’m getting paid to spend all day with animals, their lovely owners who are so nice to me. It’s not even like a job.
As my mental health improved, I started learning more and more about transporting pets. There’s not a huge amount of information out there, but I learned everything I could, and also how to run a business. Running the pet taxi was really easy because I didn’t actually have to do anything; the customer found me. Originally, I called the business Pets2vets, but this confused customers who wanted to go to other places.
In 2017, after customers had been saying to me that their friend/family who lived elsewhere had nothing like this service there, I thought, “Well, there should be.” That’s when I decided to franchise. A name change to Pets 2 Places to avoid confusion; we can, after all, take pets and their owners anywhere they need to go. I still had a lot of lessons to learn, though.
Thank you for that insight. So can you tell us…What does your business do and where is your company based?
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Pets 2 Places does what it says on the tin: we take pets wherever they need to go. On a daily basis, this is mostly places like the vets, groomers, kennels, or maybe on social visits with their owners. We also offer holiday transport for those looking to holiday with their pooch; our service is a really convenient door-to-door service.
So if owners want to take their dogs and luggage and anything else, we have plenty of space to accommodate. Our services can be anywhere pets are going, though, so moving house is one we do a lot, people going to the pub and taking the dog, even separated couples who want to share custody of the dog. If a pet has places to go, we can help. Currently, we are based in Milton Keynes, Solihull, and have a franchisee starting this year in Hackney, East London.
It’s taken longer than expected to get the franchise off the ground. Too many unscrupulous types out there have taken me for a ride, but I’ve learnt a lot along the way and made sure my franchise offering is both ethical and fair to both franchisor and franchisee. I may have had a really bad experience as a franchisee myself, but I don’t want anyone else having to go through that, so a lot of my model has been built using my own experience.
Covid also put us behind, but then I think the lockdown gave everyone the chance to see how awesome animals are and a chance to review their lives, so I’ll take the win. It’s done wonders for Pets 2 Places. As an essential service provider, we never stopped in lockdown; we carried on going as normal, more or less.
What’s the story behind your success? What led to your aha moment? how did you get to where you are now?
I have my customers to thank for so much of my success. They are the ones who gave me the idea to change the name by requesting more services than just going to the vets. They are the ones who gave me the idea to franchise by telling me there’s nothing like my service out there. They are the ones who recommended me to their friends. They are the ones who’ve used my service time and time again to keep me in business. Even when a friend of mine ripped off my entire business model, including my content, my photos, my pricing, everything, they stuck by me.
I have a VA (virtual assistant) and an accountant who I’ve met along the way. They have been so amazingly supportive, helping me with the admin and accounts which I am terrible at. I really couldn’t have gotten this far without them.
I knew I’d created a goldmine along the way, and no matter how hard it’s been or how many times it’s been so hard I felt like giving up, my customers and their amazing feedback and support showed me that what I was doing was worth doing. I’m so glad I’ve persevered; a pet taxi is the future, and soon there will be one in every town possible in the UK.
Thank you for sharing that. What’s been your life’s biggest lesson so far?
I have learned a lot of lessons along the way. I was very naïve, I think, when I started, thinking everyone was my friend with good intentions. I’ve had to learn the hard way and the expensive way that not everyone is good people. Some will tell you what you want to hear and rip you off. I’ve been ripped off a lot; at the time, it made me feel stupid, but now I rise above it.
“Get everything in writing” has been my biggest takeaway. If you do business with anyone, always find out what your return on investment is. I had invested in so many things that people were willing to sell me even though it didn’t help me, and I lost a lot of money. One of those was a PR person who was charging me £800 a month. I carried on for over 6 months, never gaining anything in return. If I had been a bit savvier, I would have given her 2 months, set expectations, and kept regular contact to see results. I never got any and wasted thousands.
Now I never invest in anything unless I’m 100% sure I will get a return on it. And I always get it all in writing. I’m no pushover now, and whilst it’s been hard lessons, I’m glad I’ve learnt them because it’s also made me make sure I am a fairer person. I would never rip anyone off, so with any potential franchisees, I am always really honest and upfront with them, and I always follow up any conversations we have with the details in an email. That way, we both have a copy and can refer back to it.
I wish I had implemented online banking a bit quicker. I have a lot of customers who pay by card, which incurs a fee; albeit a small one, it adds up over the customers throughout the year. With this in mind, I’ll be encouraging the franchisees to start out as they mean to go on.
If you were to go back in time, what piece of advice would you give to your younger self?
I was raised by typical working-class, closed-mindset parents who, whilst they have taught me to be a good, kind, caring person (actually exactly what I look for above all else in a franchisee), they were very much “go buy a house, get married, have kids, get any job that will pay you and be happy.” The generation I grew up as a working-class woman, there was no encouragement or nurturing towards entrepreneurship.
I wish I could go back in time and pursue further education and learn, learn, learn, whether it’s formal studying or reading books. There is so much knowledge out there, and that’s what’s going to get you somewhere in life.
Although I started my business on a whim, I’ve always had an open-minded mindset. I’ve always believed anyone can do anything they put their mind to, no matter where they’ve come from. It’s been a very hard journey; I have had to sacrifice a lot of my time and money, but I know it will all be worth it in the end.
I’m still pretty close to the beginning of my journey, but where I am in a few years’ time will really be something to shout about and be proud of.
We’re nearly halfway through our interview so it’s a great time to ask how does your business run. What three tools make your business run better?
Pets 2 Places is a really easy, simple service to use and a really easy, simple service to run. We don’t use a lot of fancy technology. Right now, we are fairly small, so I dare say this will change over the years to keep everyone connected, but for now, everything we do can be done via phone, email, and online banking.
In the future, we will have an app to make it easier for our younger customers to book us, and of course, keeping up with the times, I’m sure we will invest in some software too that will make it easier for us. But right now, we are only small and happily running as easily and smoothly as possible.
What do you know now that you wished you had known before?
I wish I had implemented online banking a bit quicker. I have a lot of customers who pay by card, which incurs a fee; albeit a small one, it adds up over the customers throughout the year. With this in mind, I’ll be encouraging the franchisees to start out as they mean to go on.
I think knowing who to trust as well; I am far too trusting of everyone. Not everyone is your friend, and in business, it doesn’t matter how friendly and nice someone is. Keep it professional and, as I said before, get everything in writing.
What has been your greatest or proudest achievement or moment?
What future life goals do you want to achieve and why?
To finish our inspire questions…”We believe that sharing inspiring words can inspire others.” If there was one positive thing you would say to someone to inspire and empower them what would it be and why?
Be careful who you trust. Trust your own gut instinct. Get everything in writing no matter how insignificant it may seem, if it’s there in writing there is a paper trail. Manage your expectations on how long it takes to be successful. I’ve been at it 8 years and I’m still really at the beginning of my journey. Read, read, read. Every book on business, mindset, everything. You can learn so much from books. It may be just one key significant take away but that one take away from that one book could be the catalyst that pushes you forward or helps you. Surround yourself with positive proactive people. Ditch the negative ninny’s, a positive mind is a positive life.
“Thank you it has been great learning more about your founder story and Pets 2 Places Ltd.”
To learn more about Pets 2 Places Ltd Visit https://pets2places.co.uk/
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