For Pet’s Sake Pet Supplies is a small pet store located in Pacita Avenue, Barangay San Vicente, San Pedro, Philippines. They offer top-of-the-line pet products and offer grooming services for your cats and dogs. If you are in the area and are looking for superb pet-friendly services, don’t be shy and drop by their store! They will be more than happy to provide the services that you need for your precious fur buddies. 

Can you briefly describe the business that you have?

We started as a small pet retail. We sell pet supplies for cats and dogs, and then we added a grooming section a few years ago. We try to have almost everything that we were allowed to carry, from pet food to vitamins. The other part of our services is our grooming services. You get to leave your pets to us and we will get them cleaned. That’s about it, we’re a pet grooming service. We’ll keep your pets clean and have stuff you might need.

When did you start your business?

Let me just start counting, I think we started about way back in 2016 and are still running here in 2022, so that would be 6 years ago. Oh my god, the years are so fast.

What was your motivation for starting your own business?

I guess you could say that it started out as not a need because back then we weren’t planning on a business. We were just your regular-old pet owners. But in our area, it was so hard to get anything good. You had to take a 1-2 hour long car ride just to get to a place with decent stuff. We had a problem with how annoying it was to get supplies as we had 6 dogs. So the idea was “Hey, let’s do it ourselves!” because I think nobody was trying to do it right, so we might do it as well. Also, my sister was getting burnt out on corporate life, so this was her brainchild. She got me into it after I graduated from college. The real need boiled down to the lack of access to anything good. So we decided, “hey, that’s something we can work with, let’s do it.”

Do you have any philosophy that you follow in your business?

I can’t really say anything off top of my head. All I can say is that it’s pets first. There was a need, a very annoying need because no one was providing it. We just wanted to bring actual quality supplies that pet owner’s needed and change something about the culture. We didn’t like how you go into a store and there’s just the clerk scowling at you, angry for no reason. You go in but you just don’t feel at all welcome. That is some of the things that we just didn’t want. You could say that they were just missing the heart. We just wanted a place where you can bring your dog or cat that’s pet friendly and where you can just help each other. 

What do you think makes your business stand out from other businesses?

The people. We don’t want anything to feel corporate as much as possible. We want to be your friends from next door where you could just ask  “Hey, my pet is feeling sick, do you have any advice? What kind of dog food should I give him?” We want to be your best friends when it comes to taking care of cats or dogs. That kind of thing.

Do you have any goals for the next five years?

We do have plans on expanding. We don’t know when but we have plans. We don’t want to be stuck here. It’s just that the whole situation with Covid was putting a damper on things. We do have plans, we just don’t know when yet.

Also, part of our plan is to expand our services to other more exotic pets, like birds/lizards. But at the moment, we’re focusing on our base (cats and dogs). Once we’re strong enough and we have enough funding we’ll definitely be branching out, you can count on that.

How did you first learn about Loyverse and what feature did you find most useful?

We found out about Loyverse after we’ve used something (POS) like Loyverse. But it didn’t click and it was awkward, so we had to move. I think my sister saw Loyverse in an advertisement. So we’ve decided to try it and it turns out we are still using it now. Let’s just say that things have been smoother since we started using Loyverse.

The one thing I like about it is what we’re using right now, the expanded database for the inventory (The Advanced Inventory Management). That feature really helped in tracking stock and managing inventory. The last one we used kind of did it but going back, it was really awkward.

For retail, it’s better than the rest of the other systems that are more catered to the bigger stores. Automatically, it’s expensive. I’m not saying that it’s not worth it, but for a small store like ours, the prices that they are asking for are a little too big. I think Loyverse falls into that category just right.

What would you like to see with Loyverse in the future? 

Using the inventory system while accounting, when you have an item with a long name, it shortens it to a few dots. I would like to be able to have that window adjusted. If you can have a longer panel to see the full name of the actual item that you’re accounting for.

Do you have any messages for future entrepreneurs?

You put me in a spot here. I guess just a few warnings; get a cup of coffee and be ready for long sleepless nights. The pros are you can work whenever you want, but that’s also a downside. When you’re an entrepreneur, work is with you and you’ll never escape it, I am saying that now. I’m having trouble dealing with it myself, but you just have to live with it. It’s your life now and it’s just a part of it. Just do it and take that jump. That’s just my advice.

What message would you like to give to the Loyverse Team?

Thanks for the support, guys. The app is working great and I don’t think I have any serious complaints about it. Using it is like a dream. I think the only thing I need to do is start submitting more suggestions.

(Would you recommend it to friends or other entrepreneurs?)

Yes! Hell yes. Five out of five, I’ll recommend Loyverse. I think I already did. I mean, you’ve got a good product! I’d love to see it grow.