Howdy Dog Pack! Welcome to Dogonomist, what discerning dogs like to read.

Follow us on Twitter

THIS WEEK'S TOPICS:

• 🥩 Own a raw dog food business that makes $1.4M/yr!

• What 1,000 cloned dogs has taught us 🐶🐶

• Handmade dog beds from NYC 🫶🗽

 🥩 OWN A RAW DOG FOOD BUSINESS THAT MAKES $1.4M/YR!

We’ve talked about how lucrative the dog food business is ad nauseam, annnnd…we’re here to do it again!

EXCEPT this time it’s about an actual opportunity we came across.

There’s a e-commerce company based in Lithuania that’s carved out its’ own slice of the UK market by offering a dehydrated raw dog food.

This idea isn’t exactly proprietary, but they do claim to have patent-pending technology, although it’s not clear if that’s in the form of processing or something about the product itself.

Company summary:

• Founded: 2018

• Team size: 15

• Name: Unknown (they’re listed on Acquire.com, which you must have an account with to gain access to the confidential stuff)

• Asking price: $4.5M

They claim to only be using fresh ingredients sourced from organic, responsible suppliers, and use zero synthetic supplementation which is often disguised as ‘nutritional additives.’

The numbers:

✅ $1.4M in trailing 12 months (TTM) revenue

✅ $75K in revenue last month

✅ $10K in profit last month

✅ Raised $1.5M in funding

✅ Competitors: Sundays for dogs, Ziwi Pets, Edgard Cooper, FOTP

Why should you buy?

The revenue potential for this business is substantial, especially considering the current trends in the pet food market.

The UK pet food market alone is expected to generate a revenue of US$6.49 billion in 2023, with per person revenues standing at an impressive US$94.30.

Furthermore, the market is forecasted to grow annually 📈 by 2.57% from 2023 to 2028.

With the average volume per person in the pet food market expected to amount to 19.11kg in 2023, the room for growth is evident​.

Its air-drying technique aligns well with the current market trend towards raw and natural pet food and ditching kibble altogether.

The company's business model offers a ready platform for further growth, especially if the new owner can leverage digital marketing and online sales channels.

WHAT 1,000 CLONED DOGS HAS TAUGHT US 🐶🐶

You may remember Dolly, the sheep that was the first mammal cloned about 25 years ago?

Well, scientists have been cloning dogs, too. In fact they've successfully cloned over 1500 dogs to date.

We found a recent study exploring what has been learned so far in the realm of cloning. It's VERY science-y, so we tried our best to both understand it, and break it down for everyone.

❗We haven't done enough thinking to decide on the moral issue of cloning animals (who's got the time when you've got a dog to play with!), so take this as an overview on what has been learned and not necessarily our support on the topic.

Cloning Overview

The 1500+ cloned dogs cover about 20% of recognized dog breeds. What's interesting is that dogs and humans have a high degree of genetic overlap to humans.

While we don't know that human cloning is a good idea, these learnings do help us understand the possibility better.

The process is roughly:

• 🧬 DNA is extracted from the pet to be cloned, generally through a biopsy of tissue. This tissue is cryogenically preserved.

• “Surrogate” animals create fertilized eggs 🥚

• The DNA is then erased from those eggs, and the pet’s preserved DNA is inserted 💉

• Those altered eggs are then implanted back into surrogate animals, which may or may not get pregnant and carry them to term 🤰

As we're sure you guessed, the cost isn't anything to sneeze at.

$50,000 is a safe assumption to clone a dog, so not something we are going to find in the couch cushions.....

The Learnings

🧑‍🔬 Scientists have noticed some interesting things about cloned dogs - they can look different and have varying personalities, even if they come from the same original dog (also called phenotypic variations for you nerds out there).

This means that it's not just about their genes (which are like instructions for how to make an animal), but there are other things that can affect them too.

Scientists think that these other things might have to do with how cells are programmed or how cells change over time.

They're still trying to figure it all out 🔬, but they have noticed that sometimes cloning the clones again can help reduce these differences. This is something called epigenetics, which can affect how genes are expressed.

Additionally, over time, scientists have developed better methods for taking care of cloned puppies 🐶🐶.

With improved care, most healthy cloned puppies survive and have a similar lifespan to non-cloned dogs.

While there are still many questions surrounding the ethics of cloning animals, these insights can help us better understand the possibilities and limitations of this cutting-edge technology.

HANDMADE DOG BEDS FROM NYC 🫶🗽

🚨 Cool small business alert! 🚨

We love a business that’s born from a passion project.

Mumu beds stems from the creators' love for animals, which extends far beyond simply producing high-quality pet beds.

The business model includes making donations to dog rescues and animal charities. This philanthropic commitment, although modest in its early stage, is a fundamental part of the Mumu Beds mission and is set to continue with every sale made from their website.

What makes this business unique?

Mumu has set out to create a dog bed that’s not an eye sore and can look good in any room.

These artful beds are crafted from recycled fabrics and turned into eclectic patchwork dog beds that are comfy and a statement.

The company's commitment to sustainability is another element that sets it apart from many others in the pet industry. Mumu Beds operates on a small-production scale, focusing on quality and sustainability rather than mass production.

KIBBLE BITS:

Every week we love to shoutout a pooch that has made another trip around the sun. Happy Birthday 🎂 to Ms. Pepper Potts, who has made her first full trip around the sun! Those ears 🥹

That's all there is to bark about this week.

If you want more, be sure to follow our Twitter (@dogonomist).