Bark Butter - Take 5 with Love Tails
Taking 5 with Love Tails today is Fraser from Bark Butter. Bark Butter Shampoos, Healing Balms and Dog Treats, are made of all natural & organic ingredients designed for dogs with all ingredients are locally sourced within Australia. Fraser took 5 minutes to tell us a bit about what he's doing and his inspiration. 1. So, Fraser, tell me your businesses life story! I created Bark Butter back in 2015 for my dog Norman; He’s a British bulldog and very prone to skin irritations, hot spots, infected skin folds, dry nose and paws. I was a chef for 20 years and worked all over the world, I began dabbling in organic natural dog care along with ingredient research and then learned to make my products for two reasons: 1) I enjoy working with dogs and want them to have the best possible natural chemical free ingredients and: 2) because I was frustrated with existing dog products on the market. After seeing the results on Normans skin (which always used to be red, and dry with inflamed skin folds no matter what I used), my friends demanded that I start making products for them as well. Once I did, they all declared that the product worked wonderfully on their dogs also, diminishing redness, helping acne and reducing skin infections and irritations. They then encouraged me (OK. "Demanded") that I start Bark Butter Australia selling these products, and we haven’t looked back.
2. What does a typical day look like for you? My days start early and finish late ha ha. I am big on customer service, so I try and start my morning with setting up all orders for that day and send out shipping emails. Then I'll try and find Norman who will be sleeping in the sun and take him for a walk. My mornings are when I try and do social media take some product photos and get the ball rolling for the day. Then I'll start looking at my products, and get stuck in the kitchen and make more if needed. Currently, a lot of our time is getting things ready for the markets and festivals we have coming up. We haven’t done markets yet, so that's going to be a lot of fun.
3. What is the greatest myth about running a business like yours? People seem to think that you if have a fantastic product people will flood your website and buy, buy, buy. But it's not that easy; you have to invest in marketing, social media and getting your product out to as many people as possible. I’ve had to learn loads over the last year, and I am still picking new things up. Having a niche business can be very time consuming, with Bark Butter everything is handmade, so it takes a lot of my time, you need to love your product and back it 100%.
4. What do customers love most about Bark Butter? What's coming up for you? We have had some great feedback about our Healing and Repair Balm; our customers love the fact we are organic and natural. Our packaging also gets a lot of nice compliments. Over the next six months, we have a new product hitting the store soon, which will be a doggie cologne that will complement the organic shampoo we offer. And as I mentioned, we are excited to be getting into a few markets in Brisbane, Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast. Along with a few festivals and puppy clubs.
If you were a dog, what would you be? Bulldog! Work, Sleep, Eat, Repeat! You can find Fraser and Bark Butter here! Online www.barkbutter.com.au Instagram @barkbutter Facebook https://www.facebook.com/barkbutteraustralia Email barkbutter@gmail.com