At last I have time to set pen to paper, or at least fingers to keyboard. It has been a mad year that has surpassed all my expectations and I can only apologise for the lack of updates but now seems like a good time for a quick overview of our year here at The Dog and I HQ.
The year started as a fledgling business, selling mainly other brands products but which appealed to our business ethos of being excellent quality and beneficial to your dog.
By Easter we had launched the first of our own brand products starting with our nose, skin and paw balm and quickly leading onto our Conditioning Shampoo and Tame Those Tangles. The balm in particular quickly became a best seller, flying off the shelves.
The summer saw us creating our own Coconut Oil 'soap for dogs' What a revelation that was, the deep cleaning lather is just incredible and we have had such lovely feedback. It also fits our ethos of simple, effective and natural so well with the added bonus of being eco - friendly. We do not use palm oil from any source and no plastic bottles - Eureka moment.
The summer also saw us getting involved in a number of local canine related events where we were able to showcase our products and get involved with the local pet community. The Weldmar Dog Show in Dorchester is one of these, the atmosphere is always lovely. The dogs are amazing and it supports a truly worthy cause.
By Autumn we found our products stocked in The Hive Beach Cafe at Burton Bradstock on our amazing Jurassic Coast. An incredibly dog friendly cafe restaurant, the views are some of the best in Dorset in our opinion. We ALWAYS hand deliver our orders to them, not one to miss an opportunity to take in some natural beauty and fresh air. I cannot recommend this place enough if you are in the area, there is a National Trust Car Park with plenty of space. They sell a variety of fantastic items of all kinds, many local to Dorset. You can see the stunning coastline in the image below, with Willow modelling of course!
Autumn also saw us receiving a one off order which has yet to be distributed by our customer but lets just say it forced us to rethink our production line efficiency and involved over 1000 bars of soap in a short space of time. This really was a blessing in disguise for us as we are now able to manage much larger orders. It also meant the house smelt incredible for a while whilst we were wading through the soap mountains!
By December we had gained a number of other stockists both in Dorset and beyond which needless to say has kept us very busy but also able to think forward to new products and ideas for 2018. We will be actively seeking new stockists in the New Year so if you have a retail outlet and think you may like to work with us please do get in touch. We would love to chat
December also saw the introduction of a new product, our Herbal Soothing Salve which I am really excited about, its a little different to the nose, skin and paw balm in that it harnesses the properties of 5 different herbs known to be fantastic for skin health and repair. You can find out more about that here.. https://www.thedogandi.co.uk/products/soothing-skin-salve
December also saw me crowned as Queen of Dog Soaps over on Twitter. Our very first award. Here's hoping this is the first of many in the future.
All that remains to be said is Happy New Year and here's to a healthy and prosperous 2018. I want to say a massive thank you to all of my customers, my family and other businesses. As a business we have received so much support from you all. It really has been amazing and I feel blessed to have been so fortunate.
2018 promises to be a good one!