On the whole I've had a positive response to starting this pet healthstore business up and I can't tell you how fantastic friends and family have been, turning out at 3.30 AM! to drive for two hours then work all day for instance.  That brilliant.

There are though, in the pet industry mainly, a couple of people I've met who, you can see by their expression and tone of voice, think they know everything there is to know about the industry and that you'll be lucky to make it to Christmas in one piece.  You can almost see them taking bets.  And they're just so patronising it can really bring you down somedays, especially if you have to deal with them on a financial level.  I keep thinking 'why am I giving you my business, you don't deserve it.'  They feign interest then proceed to tell you just how very sucessful THEY are.  I'm surprised they don't have one very long arm for patting themselves on the back at regular intervals.

Then I think, who cares?  There will always be people like that and if you care to read the pet press every month you'll see the writing on the wall.  Natural pet care is a growing, if niche, business, but to ignore it is to turn your back on what is already worth £15m a year in the UK.  And for every crusty old geezer out there, puffing away on a cigarette and pontificating on why you'll be looking for a 'proper' job shortly there are a dozen others, ordering from my natural pet store and posting reviews on products they think are top notch which they can't get from their local pet shop.  Who's laughing now!

Ok, it's been over 2 months since my last blog and I'm very sorry to have been away so long.  But this is what happens when your to-do list gets so long it falls off the edge of the table.  So be warned.  Actually it's just been very busy and quite overwhelming, there's been so much going on.  But it stops right here!  From now on I shall be a good little blogger.  Honest!

Since I last posted I've been to Las Vegas to seek out new natural pet products (someone has to), see how far ahead the Americans are in the natural pet product field, and to put all my cash on 38 black on the roulette table.  Only snag, when I got to the table I realised the numbers don't go that far up so I settled for a very well put together gin & tonic and watched everyone else.  Which is just as well because those tables swallow money like an empty 4x4 in a petrol station.

As it turns out we are not doing badly on the holistic pet front in the UK.  I came across a couple of products I liked the look of that I hope will be avaiable here shortly but other than that I think we do well here with the range of food and treats made at home.  Certainly an advantage when considering food miles.

Business wise, something I've had to look at the last couple of months is who am I selling to and what am I selling?  Take our Bio Balls for instance, a perfect example.  They biodegrade in the environment in 100 days.  Gone.  So if you lose it in the woods or you throw it in the sea and your dog looks at you with those 'sod that, I'm not going in there' eyes it won't choke the birds, which is great.  Equally, if you dog eats a bit it shouldn't cause and obstruction, just pass through the dog, thereby negating the need for costly surgery.  What a bargain.

But whereas I thought it would appeal to the same customer, what I've just described is two entirely different customers, which is actually quite a surprise for me.  Most people I meet are more concerned with the dog's health, not the seagull's, who steals their burger with menace on Brighton seafront of a Sunday.  Many of you would say 'quite right too' but that's when you realise you have to work hard to make the distinction of who your customer is compared to what you what you want them to be or what you thought they were, which will just end up costing you money.

Every day new products come on the market and every day a wholesaler tries to relieve you of your cash, swearing blind their product is flying off the shelves.  But it's not until you can answer the question above that you can make your choice.  You just have to keep your hand on your wallet while you work it out.  Reading this back though makes me realise I'm not half as green as I was 6 months ago.  Which is good!