Strong growth in the pet services industry has spurred Ann Arbor's DaySmart to expand its pet-related business management software offerings by acquiring Charlotte, N.C.-based kennel and grooming software firm PupKeep.
"We saw a growth of 7.7 percent in this sector just last year," says DaySmart CEO Jeff Dickerson. "There are 70 million dogs in the country, and the market is going crazy in pets."
DaySmart already offers business management software for beauty salons, tattoo shops, medical spa, and pet grooming businesses. The software allows business owners to manage appointment scheduling, payroll, payment tracking, and other business needs. Acquiring PupKeep means that DaySmart can integrate the North Carolina firm's kenneling and doggie daycare software into its existing pet grooming platform.
Dickerson says PupKeep was an attractive acquisition because PupKeep's owners also owned a kennel business and knew the industry's ins and outs.
"It's built from the perspective of a user," Dickerson says.
For example, he notes that bringing dogs into a kennel or daycare business in the morning can create a lot of chaos. But the PupKeep software uses radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology so that as soon as a dog walks through the doorway, the software can automatically register that "Fido is here and should be taken to run 17," Dickerson says.
"There's no sign-in, and they did away with all the pandemonium that creates in the morning and afternoon every day at daycare and kennel businesses," Dickerson says. "That's not something a software designer would know unless you owned a kennel business."
Dickerson says DaySmart's existing 123Pet product is "more robust," so its features will be added to the existing PupKeep software to create a full suite of software on one platform.
PupKeep owners Kraig Jacobson and Brandon Ray, as well as other PupKeep team members, have joined DaySmart as full-time employees. They opened a new office in Raleigh, N.C. in January and expect to make several new hires in the first quarter of 2019.
Sarah Rigg is a freelance writer and editor in Ypsilanti Township and the project manager of On the Ground Ypsilanti. She has served as innovation and jobs/development news writer for Concentrate since early 2017 and is an occasional contributor to Driven. You may reach her at sarahrigg1@gmail.com.
Images courtesy of DaySmart.
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