Broadly Q&A: Bluegrass Pet Resort

Broadly Q&A features our small business partners. This week, we are featuring our conversation with Candy McKing, owner of Bluegrass Pet Resort in Louisville, Kentucky. McKing is a CPDT-KA certified dog trainer and has been working with dogs for over 35 years. She bought – and turned around – Bluegrass Pet Resort last year.

Bluegrass Pet Resort is a large facility that accommodates dogs and cats of all sizes. What else is unique about your kennel?

Our kennel is geared toward huge dogs. We offer grooming, too, but right now I’m trying to get the daycare business off the ground. It’s very seasonal. Most of my clients have kids in school, so they’re all tied to the school calendar. We’ll get busier after Valentine’s Day and more toward spring break time.

What were some of the challenges you faced when you took over Bluegrass Pet Resort last year?

If I’d have known some things going in when I bought the business, I wouldn’t have bought it the way I did. The people who owned it didn’t want to participate in handing over the business.

We also had a really hard time getting our Google and Yelp accounts separated from the previous owners. It took me a year and a half to get the Google account in my name. At first, none of the customers wanted to write any reviews. It just takes so much time for customers to get comfortable to give a good review.

What are some of the ways you’ve gotten the word out about your business?

I’ve tried some different things. For example, I’m offering coupons, but that has not done anything for me. I’m also trying some Facebook campaigns. We offered some contests, and I also want to run some PPC campaigns. It’s a big challenge.

What made you decide to partner with Broadly? How do you know that it’s working?

I feel very fortunate that you guys happened to call me at the right time. I’m really happy with the service that Broadly has done for me. It took me almost a year and a half to get Google to put a line in the sand – same thing with Yelp. You guys turned that around overnight.

As much money as I spent trying to get Google, Broadly has been inexpensive. I appreciate that, because everyone else wants to charge $300-400 a month. Even though it’s just under $200 a month, it’s still a lot less than what everyone else charges. Your service has been exactly what I needed.

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