Standing Out in the Market
It’s important that your business stands out in its market, and Timberdog’s done just that thanks to its unique product – the RuffRest, a multifunctional pet bed ideal for travel and adventure. Timberdog has done a great job of standing out on the market with its RuffRest multifunctional pet bed, ideal for travel or adventure.
We spoke with Timberdog owner, Leena Chitnis, about starting a business from scratch, developing a new product, and why she’s looking to move website builders. Leena Chitnis is the owner of Timberdog. We talked to her about how she started a business, developed a new product and why she wants to move away from website builders.
Timberdog’s website is full of high-quality product images to show off the RuffRest. Timberdog’s site is filled with high-quality images of the RuffRest.
Behind the Business
“I started Timberdog in 2017 after adopting my rescue puppy, Kashi.”
“I started Timberdog after adopting my rescue dog, Kashi. She had terrible trauma, including separation anxiety, and I knew it would take a long time to train her.”
She was suffering from separation anxiety and a lot of trauma. I knew that it would be a long process to train her. In the meantime, I wanted her close to me everywhere we went, and so I invented the multifunctional pet bed – RuffRest(r) – that could travel with us, whether we were camping, staying in a hotel, going to the office, road-tripping, or flying to a destination.
I wanted to keep her close to me wherever we went. So I created the RuffRest (r) multifunctional pet bed that we could take with us on a road trip, camping trip, hotel stay, office visit, or flight.
A Green Commitment
“The environment is the most important thing to me in my business.”
“The environment is my number one priority in my business.”
What would be the use of an outdoor pet bed if we had no destinations to travel to or camp in, due to forest fires and polluted water and airways?
What would the purpose of an outdoor petbed be if we could not travel or camp because of forest fires, polluted air and waterways?
My dog’s love of nature and wanting to be in it as much as possible drove me to craft the perfect outdoor adventure pet bed. I was inspired by my dog’s love for nature and desire to be as close to it as possible. I love nature too and need to be able to escape to it.
I also love nature and need to be in it. So, preserving the great outdoors has been of the utmost importance to me. Preserving the great outdoors is of utmost concern to me.
That’s why Timberdog has partnered with One Tree Planted to plant two trees for every RuffRest sold. Timberdog has partnered up with One Tree Planted, to plant two trees per RuffRest sold. This will help us with our ambitious plan to be carbon negative by 2027.
This will help us achieve our ambitious goal of being carbon-neutral by 2027.
It’s extremely pricey to be sustainable, but I didn’t want to be one of those companies who does it later on just for optics. It is expensive to be sustainable but I didn’t wish to be one of the companies that did it for the sake of appearances.
Even though it hurts my bottom line, it was imperative for Timberdog to be a green company from its very inception. It hurt my bottom line but it was important for Timberdog to start as a green business.
Brand and brand equity is everything to a company, and I want everyone to know that Timberdog doesn’t just do things to “look good”. Brand equity and brand recognition are important to any company. I want people to know that Timberdog does not just do things “to look good”. We do things because we want to be good.”
The Daily Grind
“The average day has me going through emails for about 3-4 hours per day, and then working on organic SEO through things like internal linking, blogging, and guest blogging – as well as responding to journalist queries in order to get additional exposure.”
“I spend about 3-4 hours a day going through emails, then I work on organic SEO by doing things like blogging, internal linking and guest blogging. I also respond to journalist queries to gain additional exposure.”
I also spend quite a bit of time connecting with influencers and signing them up to showcase RuffRest via their user-generated content.
“I also spend a lot of time connecting with bloggers and influencers to get them to promote RuffRest through their user-generated content.”
Building Connections & Influence
“I offer a direct line to me to anyone who seems like they need one – usually it’s folks who are hesitant to buy and tell me they need to be convinced, or people who wish I had a brick-and-mortar presence as they don’t trust buying things off the internet because they can’t touch or test them in person.”
“I offer direct contact to anyone who appears to need one. Usually it’s people who are hesitant to purchase and tell me that they need to be persuaded, or people who wish that I had a bricks-and-mortar store because they don’t feel comfortable buying products online as they can’t test or touch them in person.”
I also look at every comment as an opportunity to engage in dialogue and demonstrate why RuffRest is, say, at its price point, or why it’s the best pet bed on the market.
“I also use every comment to engage in a dialogue and show why RuffRest, for example, is the best pet bed available.”
After trying to contact Gear Junkie for two years, I finally got through and word of RuffRest has traveled all the way to the editor-in-chief, who will have one of his reviewers do a full spread on RuffRest in the next few months.
After trying to reach Gear Junkie for over two years, I finally made contact. Word of RuffRest reached the editor-in chief, who will have a reviewer do a full-spread on RuffRest within the next few months. Also, getting 22 influencers with a combined following of 6.2 million people to sign with Timberdog hasn’t been bad either!
“Also, getting 22 influencers who have a combined following 6.2 million people to join Timberdog wasn’t bad either!”
More Information
How to Sell Pet Supplies Online:
If you’re considering building an online store for pet-related items, read our guide.
Sustainable Business Ideas:
More ideas to get you started: How to Make Your Website More Eco-Friendly: Minimize your website’s impact with these simple steps. Reduce your website’s environmental impact by following these simple steps.
Creating a Unique Product:
“Our pet bed is the first of its kind in the world.” “Our pet bed was the first of its type in the world.”
Usually travel items for dogs are either a thin roll-up mat, or travel bag, or a simple pet bed made from durable nylon, or simply a sleeping bag for dogs. Travel items for dogs usually consist of a thin mat or travel bag or a simple pet-bed made from durable nylon or a sleeping bag. But it’s never all four of those items in one.
It’s rare to find all four items in one. RuffRest accomplishes all of that plus 10 more features with its patent-pending design. RuffRest’s patent-pending design accomplishes that plus 10 additional features.
[When it comes to creating a new product]… Sketching things out helps me take the visual stuff in my brain and organize it on paper. [When creating a new product, sketching helps me organize the visual stuff I have in my head on paper. Drawings are universal and don’t need much language to explain it – when working with prototypers overseas, sketches have proved invaluable.]
Drawings are universal, and you don’t have to use a lot of language to explain them. When working with prototypers abroad, sketches were invaluable. I also keep a master to-do list on Monday.com, keep a Google calendar for meetings, and a paper pad for daily items.
I also keep an online master to-do on Monday.com. I keep a Google Calendar for meetings and a paper notebook for daily items. It’s a lot, but it keeps me organized. It’s a lot but it keeps me organised.
Amazingly, I went from a drawing on the back of a loan to a fully-fleshed, commercially viable product within 4 years. I was able to go from a sketch on the back of a bank loan to a fully fleshed out, commercially viable product in just four years. It took another year to perfect it, get it manufactured, and get it on the market.
It took an additional year to perfect the product, manufacture it, and put it on the market. I’m working on building the brand and community in the meantime. In the meantime, I’m building the brand and the community. It’s very exciting work. It’s a very exciting job.
I did most of it [the work] myself as I could not afford outside help. I did the majority of it myself because I couldn’t afford to hire outside help. But I did have to invest in a few expensive things, such as the tech pack, and some help to customize the website theme I purchased.
I had to spend money on a few things, like the tech pack and some help customizing the website theme that I purchased. I also needed help shooting the videos and professional photos of the product. I also needed assistance in shooting videos and professional photographs of the product. I cut costs by doing the majority of the setup work myself and just having the pros come in to do the last bits which I could not figure out.
I saved money by doing the majority of the setup myself and only having the professionals come in to finish the last bits that I couldn’t figure out.
I had to go through many tech packs, many manufacturers, many disbelievers, and thousands of other missteps before finally landing on a manufacturer who could bring my vision to life. I had to go though many tech packs, manufacturers, disbelievers and thousands of other mistakes before I finally found a manufacturer that could bring my vision into reality. But even here there were communication, tech, and knowledge barriers.
Even here, there were still communication, technology, and knowledge obstacles. It was a steep learning curve for the both of us since I knew nothing of textiles and manufacturing, and they were encountering a complex product like mine for the first time.
Timberdog gives potential customers all of the information they could need about the RuffRest. Timberdog provides all the information a potential customer could possibly need about the RuffRest.
Advice for New Businesses
“[The pet industry] is a saturated, highly-competitive market.”
“[The pet-industry] is a saturated and highly competitive market. You better have something that stands out.”
You need to have something that is unique. And you must stick by it for several years before seeing success.
You need to have something that is unique. And you must stick by it for several years before seeing success.
You must be committed to your project for at least three years before you see any success.
Be patient and keep grinding. Be patient and keep grinding. There’s room in the market for everyone – don’t worry about copycats.
Don’t worry about copies. There is room for everyone in the market. If you stand by your product, your product is here to stay.
If you stick to your product, it will be here for a long time. There will always be copycats, but you’re the original, and if you’ve built your brand properly, the people will know that.”
Thoughts on Shopify
“Kickstarter inspired me [to build a website].” “Kickstarter was the inspiration for me [to create a website].
I noticed that innovators on there had these endless, scroll-type landing pages which explained products exhaustively. I noticed that many innovators had long, scrolling landing pages that explained their products in detail. This is critical when you’re new to a market with a product and early adopters need to read all about it.
It’s important to do this when you are new to the market and want to make sure that early adopters know everything about your product. It has to be informative, anticipate all possible questions, and be visually stunning. It must be informative, anticipate every possible question, and be visually stunning. The devil is in the details.
I chose Shopify because they were the most popular choice at the time, had incredible themes, and had real-time phone support. I chose Shopify as it was the most popular option at the time. They had amazing themes and real-time telephone support. Now that they’ve nixed their phone support, I am considering other options.
Now that Shopify has discontinued their phone support, i am looking at other options.
Nothing really sets it apart from other major players, to be honest. To be honest, it doesn’t really stand out from the other major players.
Google Analytics 4 has been very helpful as a tool but you don’t need Shopify to get on it. Google Analytics 4 is a great tool, but you don’t have to use Shopify in order to use it.
I’m on the hunt for a platform which won’t cut corners on their customers. I’m looking for a platform that won’t cut corners with their customers. Shopify has steadily been going down, in my opinion, for the past couple of years.
“In my opinion, Shopify’s performance has been steadily declining for the last two years.”
Finish the Sentence
- I am happiest when… my customers are happy.
- I am most happy when… my clients are happy.
- To me, success looks like… my customers’ satisfaction.
- For me, success is… my customers’ satisfaction.
- If I could go back in time, I would advise myself to… relax and not worry so much.
- If I could go in time and tell myself what I would do differently, I would… relax and stop worrying so much.
- Having a business website has… been hugely gratifying and helpful.
- A business website is… gratifying and useful. People are impressed with the site, so I’m very proud of it.
- I am very proud of the site because it is well-received by visitors.
- Being an entrepreneur means… strapping in for a marathon, not a sprint.
- Being an entrepreneur is… preparing for a marathon and not a sprint.
