BARK BUSTER!

Turning dogs into model pets.

Dogs with a bark worse than their bite, or vice versa, can be transformed into model

pets with the Bark Busters system.

SYLVIA’S STORY

“I was managing an animal shelter and I saw so many dogs surrendered for behavioural problems. My husband and I would work with these dogs after hours, free of charge.”

The experience persuaded Sylvia to train dogs professionally, and before long her builder husband Danny was in the mix too.

It all took off when Derryn Hinch aired a story about the couple fixing the problem of a barking dog. About 300 people enquired about training the next day.

Since then the brand has regularly popped up in the media as people share their dog tales.

“We do have a unique way of training dogs – we’re not trick trainers, we use canine communication. We communicate with dogs in a way they understand. We have a system that taps into the way dogs communicate with each other.”

Sylvia says the technique ensures behaviour is under control in a short period of time.

“We were always in the media with our business. That’s why it grew so fast.

“Originally it was never meant to be a franchise; it was just Danny and me. We did it for five years but dog owners kept wanting us to share this and that fostered an idea. We franchised 30 years ago to protect the system.”

Bark Busters headed to New Zealand when a couple who had gone through the program bought a master franchise; they then took the business to the US in 2000.

“We’re the first dog training company in the world to do what we do, the largest of its kind in the US.

“It grew from within. A Melbourne couple went to the UK and set up, and another couple moved the system to

Japan, and a Canadian couple also fell in love with the concept and took it to Canada after five years.”

Today, the focus is on technology and social media as lead sourcing tools.

“We understand dogs are a basic creature, but technology is how you find your clients. We often use Skype to see what dogs are doing. Social media is where the new marketing opportunities are now.

“We really want to consolidate what we’ve got and look after today’s business model, and ensure our people are up to date, upgrade the system.”

Sylvia, Danny and their daughter Donna are the brains behind the training, marketing and entrepreneurship – Donna heads up all operations.

“Having a positive attitude counts for a lot. Just being an animal lover isn’t enough. You have to love people as well, as you have to deal with them, and you have to have business acumen.”

VICKI AND SIMONE’S STORY

Vicki Crawley-Prout is a seasoned franchisor. So when she and partner Simone were looking for a business it made sense to utilise her franchising talents.

The couple spotted a master licence opportunity and spent eight months conducting due diligence before signing up to lead the Australia and New Zealand operations for the 30-year-old Bark Busters chain.

“It had a great history and great credentials, but we could see it was in need of an upgrade. We could see huge potential,” says Vicki.

The starting point was introducing IT platforms, then undertaking a brand refresh.

“We’ve made some changes already, engaged a brand expert and presented to the founders.”

It was on the second day of operating as master licensees that Vicki and Simone rang all the franchisees and guaranteed a visit within the first quarter. With this done and dusted, the pair are confident the franchisees can see a strong future in their hands.

“A lot of franchisees have been in for 20 years, and some were wanting to sell. Now they’ve seen our ideas and initiatives they can see the value in their businesses increasing so they are holding off selling.

“We thought change would be a challenge,” admits Vicki. “Franchisees were sending in returns by post every fortnight. We’ve changed this now and told franchisees they need to scan and email their returns.”

Vicki is fully aware that older franchisees won’t want to embrace some systems so it has been crucial to let franchisees know they will be helped and trained in new processes.

A social media expert has been hired to help them with the technical side of Facebook posts: franchisees simply take the pictures and share how they achieved a win, then all the other steps to posting a good news story are done for them.

A period of consolidation is getting the franchise in good shape. Simone’s 20 years in banking provide a strong foundation for the business to build its financial systems, and these will be established and fully operational by the end of June 2020.

So in the new financial year, Bark Busters will be focused on telling the story about a newly refreshed brand and extending the franchise network.

“We’re aggressive in growth. There will be a big push for the brand, for our great franchisees, presenting the strength of our trainers. That will then drive both dog training and franchise sales,” says Vicki.

“Talking to existing franchisees we discovered they have a passion for dogs of course, but they also have been involved in pet rescue or animal welfare; they are caring people who want to make changes.”

There’s a lot at stake for dog lovers, with dogs that suffer behavioural issues at risk of being put down.

“We train the owners first, then the dogs second.”