3. The breeder needs top quality buyers but where to find them?
HIGH QUALITY PUPPIES BUT NOT HIGH QUALITY BUYERS
What should a top breeder do?
"I hear that you have increased your selling prices of puppies," I asked Mr Kurt Smith as I was vaccinating his puppies on a fine Sunday evening at his kennels. I was in a hurry as I had a dinner appointment with my son, a 19-year-old tall and lean National Service man who disliked his hair being cropped like a durian fruit. He had to return to the camp by 8 p.m today.
"Who told you?" Mr Smith wanted to know all the gossips in the dog industry. "I paid over $10,000 to buy the best quality males," he explained to me as if I was the complainant.
He picked up 1 six-week-old Chihuahua puppy with his righ hand and pointed to the apple-domed head structure, "Mr Armijo (a top pet shop operator) offered me $650 for this puppy." He shook his head, "The male Chihuahua stud cost me $15,000. I am selling this pup for $800."
I could not reveal my sources. My source was another pet shop operator as Mr Armijo does not discuss about his buying prices with me nor do I ask him whenever I vaccinate his puppies at his pet shop.
All pet shop operators want cheap and good puppies and they would always press down the prices if they were bigger operators. They have a "take it or leave it" attitude as they usually have various suppliers especially the home breeders.
Mr Smith starts work before the sun rises. One day, I paid a surprise visit and in the darkness of 5 a.m, he was already at his kennels. He works 7 days a week, 12 hours a day with no time for holidays. He makes sure his breeding stock is healthy, well cared for and free from contagious disease.
So, my sympathies are always with Mr Smith, the breeder with no downstream pet shop to sell his his puppies. He does not need to justify his price hikes with me. I was teasing him but he was indignant that pet shop operators always try to force down his prices.
"When there is a demand, you should increase your price. I remember the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) period last year and you had to reduce prices considerably as no pet shops wanted to buy puppies."
Mr Smith is from the baby-boomer generation. Hard work, thrift and honesty are the hallmarks common in this generation. They have commitment to their profession, not job hopping for a few dollars more or for greener pastures. He excels in dog breeding and nothing else.
"How about internet marketing of your puppies?" I advised Mr Smith. He rolled his eyes and shook his head. I might as well speak Greek to him. He was not a University graduate nor highly educated in the English language. That does not mean he should shut out the marketing powers of the internet.
In fact, if I were him, I would use the Internet to market the steady stream of puppies available. There are prospective buyers who want high quality puppies. No doubt, a lot of trouble entertaining such people but referrals from satsified private buyers will have saved him a lot of underpricing offers from the pet shop operators.
The internet marketing does not suit the small dog breeder as there is no steady source of puppies. It is very appropriate for Mr Smith.
"Well, the 3 Chihuahuas you delivered by Caesarean are already sold to the pet shop operators," Mr Smith informed me. "No point taking pictures to sell them on the internet."
Pet shop operators are not the high quality customers he should aim for. Now that he is top of his profession, he should go for the private individuals who don't haggle and hustle him. One way to brand himself and to reach a global audience is the internet. It is hard to change his mindset. It costs money to maintain a website and he is not keen on such new fanciful technologies. Expenses for the internet reduce profitability.
After all, he does have buyers for his puppies. But he could recoup his investment in expensive male stud dogs if he could sell to private individuals at a much higher price than to the pet shop operators.
How about his children? They are teenagers but none of the 3 children were business-minded or internet savvy. So, he retains the status quo and makes sure that he produces top quality puppies and pet shop operators will come to him.
High quality production of puppies ensure the survival of the dog breeding business. It is paramount to upgrade and produce high quality puppies. However, Mr Smith neeeds to attract the private buyers who pay top prices for his puppies, by-passing the pet shop operators who are agents and this is what he cannot do.
It is easier said than done as maintaining a website is like maintaining a love relationship or winning a scholarship. It is lots of hard work, more hard work building the content or mugging hard and very few people want to do it.
Because few people want to do it, those who devote the time and energy to doing it excel and become top in their profession or become scholars.
Even scholars have to market themselves when they go for scholarship interviews in Singapore as there are so many other competitors. The edge lies in knowing how to market your business or your self.
How to do it, that's the 64 million dollar question.
What should a top breeder do?
"I hear that you have increased your selling prices of puppies," I asked Mr Kurt Smith as I was vaccinating his puppies on a fine Sunday evening at his kennels. I was in a hurry as I had a dinner appointment with my son, a 19-year-old tall and lean National Service man who disliked his hair being cropped like a durian fruit. He had to return to the camp by 8 p.m today.
"Who told you?" Mr Smith wanted to know all the gossips in the dog industry. "I paid over $10,000 to buy the best quality males," he explained to me as if I was the complainant.
He picked up 1 six-week-old Chihuahua puppy with his righ hand and pointed to the apple-domed head structure, "Mr Armijo (a top pet shop operator) offered me $650 for this puppy." He shook his head, "The male Chihuahua stud cost me $15,000. I am selling this pup for $800."
I could not reveal my sources. My source was another pet shop operator as Mr Armijo does not discuss about his buying prices with me nor do I ask him whenever I vaccinate his puppies at his pet shop.
All pet shop operators want cheap and good puppies and they would always press down the prices if they were bigger operators. They have a "take it or leave it" attitude as they usually have various suppliers especially the home breeders.
Mr Smith starts work before the sun rises. One day, I paid a surprise visit and in the darkness of 5 a.m, he was already at his kennels. He works 7 days a week, 12 hours a day with no time for holidays. He makes sure his breeding stock is healthy, well cared for and free from contagious disease.
So, my sympathies are always with Mr Smith, the breeder with no downstream pet shop to sell his his puppies. He does not need to justify his price hikes with me. I was teasing him but he was indignant that pet shop operators always try to force down his prices.
"When there is a demand, you should increase your price. I remember the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) period last year and you had to reduce prices considerably as no pet shops wanted to buy puppies."
Mr Smith is from the baby-boomer generation. Hard work, thrift and honesty are the hallmarks common in this generation. They have commitment to their profession, not job hopping for a few dollars more or for greener pastures. He excels in dog breeding and nothing else.
"How about internet marketing of your puppies?" I advised Mr Smith. He rolled his eyes and shook his head. I might as well speak Greek to him. He was not a University graduate nor highly educated in the English language. That does not mean he should shut out the marketing powers of the internet.
In fact, if I were him, I would use the Internet to market the steady stream of puppies available. There are prospective buyers who want high quality puppies. No doubt, a lot of trouble entertaining such people but referrals from satsified private buyers will have saved him a lot of underpricing offers from the pet shop operators.
The internet marketing does not suit the small dog breeder as there is no steady source of puppies. It is very appropriate for Mr Smith.
"Well, the 3 Chihuahuas you delivered by Caesarean are already sold to the pet shop operators," Mr Smith informed me. "No point taking pictures to sell them on the internet."
Pet shop operators are not the high quality customers he should aim for. Now that he is top of his profession, he should go for the private individuals who don't haggle and hustle him. One way to brand himself and to reach a global audience is the internet. It is hard to change his mindset. It costs money to maintain a website and he is not keen on such new fanciful technologies. Expenses for the internet reduce profitability.
After all, he does have buyers for his puppies. But he could recoup his investment in expensive male stud dogs if he could sell to private individuals at a much higher price than to the pet shop operators.
How about his children? They are teenagers but none of the 3 children were business-minded or internet savvy. So, he retains the status quo and makes sure that he produces top quality puppies and pet shop operators will come to him.
High quality production of puppies ensure the survival of the dog breeding business. It is paramount to upgrade and produce high quality puppies. However, Mr Smith neeeds to attract the private buyers who pay top prices for his puppies, by-passing the pet shop operators who are agents and this is what he cannot do.
It is easier said than done as maintaining a website is like maintaining a love relationship or winning a scholarship. It is lots of hard work, more hard work building the content or mugging hard and very few people want to do it.
Because few people want to do it, those who devote the time and energy to doing it excel and become top in their profession or become scholars.
Even scholars have to market themselves when they go for scholarship interviews in Singapore as there are so many other competitors. The edge lies in knowing how to market your business or your self.
How to do it, that's the 64 million dollar question.
posted by Photography by Sing Kong Yuen | 6:01 AM
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