Human/Animal relationship can be traced back to the early days of civilisation, dogs, cats, horses and camels would travel around with human groups and became Man’s trusted furry companion and also a source of well-being for the Humans. Fast forward to modern times and they still continue to be our Best Pals.
India has been recognised as the top five fastest growing dog population countries in the world. With dog ownership in India rising, Euromonitor International has projected India to be the fastest growing global pet market, and the rising pet ownership rates are driving demand for pet food, health products, and pet accessories (IIPFT Report).
A PETty Thought
A random conversation over a tea session with the founder of an e-tailor company led three entrepreneurs to stumbleupon an idea; keeping in view the paucity of time (which is a catalyst in new and emerging buying patterns) and having faced challenges themselves in buying pet services online turned out to be a eureka moment. Next three days saw rigorous research on the internet looking up people offering similar services; we left no stone unturned in looking up merchants overseas. The research gave birth to a one-stop pet solution, Home4Pet.
Pet Lovers
Rajeev Talwar is the brain behind this who brought together the pet lovers. Rajeev is a seasoned professional with a profound knowledge of finances apart from being an avid animal lover.
Avtar Singh Virk, a thoroughbred risk, and fraud management degree holder from the US who looks after the logistics, operations, market tie-ups and other areas to ensure a seamless delivery experience.
Vinod Agarwal is a science graduate having a deep sense of connecting with the furry companions as a trainer and handler himself. His thorough understanding of the cause helped bring the Vets on board.
The core team consists of old buddies that have stayed connected in various phases of their corporate life and share a common love towards animals, who were itching to carve a niche outside of our corporate worlds.
The selection of the initial team members was a very challenging and a time-consuming exercise. The concept being in a niche and very specific to an audience that is extremely discerning, meant that all who came onboard had to be sensitive, perceptive and compassionate towards animals and genuinely understood the woes of the pet parents.
Rajeev discussed this idea with the other core members, and was voted for a go ahead, then on began filling the blank canvas with colours. Our persistent confidence in our vision ensured that we weren’t knotted up in our stomach .
Pet Care Provided
Home4pet aims at providing the pet parent with products and services that range from Pet Food, Pet Toys, Pet Designer Clothing and Bedding. And to top it all Pet Insurance to keep them secure from all medical contingencies at wallet-friendly prices.
Bow-Wow Moments
Sketching the blueprint, searching through data on the net as to how to bring together this concept from paper to portal, endless sessions of tea in hotel lounges and brainstorming, finally brought the founders to a list of services that could be started with from phase one.
“The most arduous task was to find the right people who offer these services with the same relentlessly undying passion and have operations in India. We travelled the length and breadth of the city to speak to these people and educate them about our concept. Three months and we were able to convince the first set of providers that would be on board, they were hesitant but we reminded them to have faith in us and our concept,” say the founders.
Purrfect Journey
Home4Pet kicked off operations in end of May 2016. The website went live in August mid and orders have started to “wow” us.
“We have embarked on this journey that begins with a home for a pet and to further enhance it to other categories coming very soon given the kind of awe that we are being expressed at “wow this is possible” kind of comments make us go further on this journey.”
The startup aims to have a PAN India presence and a brand which people associate with, in terms of a one-stop solution to all pet parent needs.
The next phase of expansion would be to tap into four other Metros. Additionally, work is underway for a pet fitness application on Android.
