Listen to this article
By Sam Boykin
Jason Watson was pulling down $140,000 a year as director of sales for a software-development firm when, in October of 2006, he sat down his pregnant wife and told her about his epiphany: He wanted to quit his job and sell dog collars.
“Yeah,” Watson said, “she thought I was crazy.”
But his wife, Jennifer, also backed him up, knowing how he dreaded the constant traveling his job demanded.
So Watson quit and launched Dublin Dog out of his Charlotte home. Despite some early manufacturing hiccups and the recession, the company has grown steadily. Today, Dublin Dog has products in over 1,000 stores in 12 countries, and recently moved to a 3,500-square-foot office on Sugar Creek Road in north Charlotte.
And while Watson, 36, acknowledges he is making less than half of what he did in his previous career, he expects his company to reach $1 million in sales by 2011.
“Our competitors range between $10 million to $20 million in sales,” he said. “The benefit they have is time; they’ve been in the market for seven to 15 years. I feel confident that with our product line, branding and market penetration, we’re right on their heels.”
Watson had his Dublin Dog “Aha!” moment in June 2006 while driving home to Charlotte after a sales meeting in Atlanta. He was daydreaming about the upcoming weekend with Jennifer, and how they planned to take their two dogs out for a romp in the woods.
It was something the newlyweds did frequently, as they both loved the outdoors. But Jennifer often complained how their dogs’ collars, typically made of such absorbent materials as nylon or cotton, smelled bad after the dogs spent the day jumping in the water and digging around in the mud.
As he drove and dreamed, Watson glanced down at his watch, a rugged, waterproof Timex Ironman. “It occurred to me that here is an item I wear all the time, whether I’m working out, swimming, or working in the yard. If it gets dirty, I simply rinse it off.”
Watson concluded that people who love dogs and the outdoors might be interested in a dog collar made of similar materials. When he got home, he researched composite polymers, plastics and silicone.
“I didn’t have a clue as to what the hell I was doing,” he said.
After about a month of tinkering, he finally settled on collar designs and materials, a polymer blend of silicone and vinyl, and that summer he paid to have prototypes made. “Once I received the prototypes back, I felt like I could make something real out of this.”
Watson then had the “What if?” conversation with his wife.
“At that time we were pregnant,” he said. “And if I was going to bring children into the world, I didn’t want to be traveling all the time. My wife said if you’re going to do it, do it now, because once we have a baby, you won’t have the guts to move forward.”
So Watson quit his job and started working from home on designing and fabricating the collars. In November 2006, he flew to China and made a deal with a Chinese company to manufacture the collars. In March of the following year he moved the business into a small office building in Plaza-Midwood near his house.
Finally, the first container of his dream products, more than 40,000 of what Watson dubbed the “original All-Style, No-Stink” dog collars, arrived June 21, 2007, the day after his daughter, Adeline, was born.
What also arrived was a problem: The little loops securing the collar straps were defective and broke easily, a tiny yet potentially ruinous detail. Watson ended up scrapping about 5,000 collars, but some were shipped out to stores, and he heard yelps from some disgruntled customers and wholesalers.
“It could have been a company killer,” Watson said. “We didn’t have an established reputation, and for a lot of folks, this was their first time dealing with us. It was a lot of money wasted and lost inventory.”
Watson found a new manufacturer in China and consulted with some of his customers, explaining the situation and using their feedback to tweak the collars’ designs. “We made a product essentially built by our clients,” he said. “By making them part of the process, they want us to succeed.”
For nearly a year after he launched the company, Watson didn’t draw a paycheck. To help get his products on the market, he made sales calls throughout the region, targeting smaller mom-and-pop operations, including Pet Essentials, Canine Café and Great Outdoor Provision Company in Charlotte.
“Once you go to the Walmarts and PetSmarts, then you’re just another commodity item,” he said. “Our position is to stick with the niche, specialty retailers. There’s a level of exclusivity to our product, which I encourage.”
By 2008 the company had gained momentum. But as the company continued to grow, Watson couldn’t keep up, and last summer, Dublin Dog ran out of several popular products. “We were completely caught off guard, and weren’t able to capitalize on the potential growth,” Watson said. “But now we have better forecasting models and are better prepared.”
In January the company, now with four full-time employees, moved into an old 3,500-square-foot volunteer fire station in north Charlotte, from which they ship about 2,600 collars a month, Watson said.
This summer, he said, Dublin Dog – the name honors Watson’s Irish heritage – will introduce dog toys, leashes and even human apparel. “We’re working toward becoming a lifestyle brand for people who love the outdoors,” he said.
With his products already in about 1,000 retailers, Watson hopes to expand further, as he goes to an international trade show this May in Germany. “We’re in 12 countries, but this will open up a global market.”
Watson said he’s now making about $60,000 a year, far less than in years past. But he’s adamant that starting Dublin Dog is the best decision he has ever made.
While he still travels quite a bit, including trips to China several times a year to meet with his manufacturer, he’s able to spend more time with his family, including the newest addition, a second daughter, London, who was born in January. “Before, I was making more money, but I was working my tail off, and employers always wanted more. Now I’m doing it on my own terms.”
