Alex Willen is the founder of Cooper’s Treats, a premium dog treat company in San Diego, CA that makes high-quality, make-at-home dog treat mix. He started the company after leaving a decade-long career in Silicon Valley in order to follow his passion of making dogs’ lives better! He’s been featured in Thrive Global, Authority Magazine and several other publications, and he loves to share his journey with others. He lives with his wonderful wife Maggie and hooligan dogs, Cooper and Maple.
Please tell us a little bit about your company – what is Cooper’s Treats all about?
We believe that all dogs deserve healthy, delicious homemade treats, and we’re on a mission to make that as easy as possible for dog owners! We sell make-at-home dog treat mixes that have just a handful of high-quality ingredients, including real meat. All you have to do is add water and bake (for our Baked Biscuits) or freeze (for our Pupsicles) and you’ve got the best treats for your best friend!
Tell us a little bit about your background and how you started your company?
I actually come from the tech industry in the Bay Area – I spent about a decade working as a Product Manager at a few enterprise software startups. In 2019 I decided to do something new, so I moved to San Diego to open a dog boarding business. Long story short, Covid killed that before I ever got the doors open, so I decided to try something in ecommerce, which was booming. I had been making frozen treats for my dogs during the hot San Diego summer, so I packaged up the mix, started selling it online, and thus Cooper’s Treats was born.
What are your plans, how do you plan to grow this company?
For now, I’m focused mostly on digital advertising, but once everyone’s vaccinated, I plan to do a lot more marketing in person. I’d like to be at all the major dog-related events in my area, plus farmers’ markets and fairs.
What was the biggest problem you encountered with your business and how did you overcome it?
Shipping! Coming from the software industry, I didn’t realize how expensive shipping was. I initially made the box for our first product, the Pupsicle Starter KIt, far too large, which was not only wasteful but also meant that I was overpaying for shipping. When I launched our second product, the Baked Biscuit Starter Kit, I did everything I could to get the box as small as possible. After that, I went back and updated the Pupsicle Starter Kit Box to be about 50% of its original size.
What were the top mistakes you made starting your business and what did you learn from it?
Not building in enough lead time for inventory – specifically having my boxes printed. I planned to launch the Baked BIscuit Starter Kit just in time for Black Friday, and the printer said the boxes would be ready by then. They ended up being a couple of weeks late, unfortunately. I still managed to pre-sell a number of Starter Kits, but the fact that I didn’t have the boxes in time meant that I didn’t have good photography, which I’m sure hurt my sales. Next time, I’m planning way ahead!
How do you separate yourself from your competitors?
Our ingredients are our biggest differentiator. Most of our competitors have unpronounceable ingredients, while we only use things you can recognize – whole wheat flour, whole grain rolled oats, cheddar cheese, etc. We also include real meat in all of our treats, by freeze drying it and then blending it into a powder.
What is one thing that you do daily to grow as an entrepreneur?
I read as much as I can – from short articles online to books (plus I also listen to podcasts while I walk my dog). There’s so much great information out there for entrepreneurs, and I really make a concerted effort to absorb as much as I can.
What are three books or courses you recommend for new entrepreneurs?
The Snowball by Alice Schroeder – a biography of Warren Buffett that gives some great insight into the minds of one of the greatest entrepreneurs in history.
Deep Work by Cal Newport – as an entrepreneur, you get pulled in a thousand different directions all the time. This book is all about focusing deeply on important things, which is absolutely critical to success.
The Employer’s Legal Handbook by Fred Steingold – I know, I know, super boring but important anyway. Employment law is incredibly complex, so I really do recommend reading this book to get a basic idea of what you need to know before you start hiring.
What is the one thing you wish you knew before starting your business?
There are a thousand things I wish I knew! I wish I knew more about effective digital advertising, conversion rates on a website, shipping and logistics, and inventory management. Every day I learn something new that I wish I had known when I started.
What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?
During the pandemic, a lot of dog-related charity events were forced to go virtual. This ended up working out really well for me, as I was able to advertise at small events all over the United States. The type of people who give money to charities that help dogs are a perfect audience for me, and I was able to secure sponsorships at many of those events at relatively inexpensive prices.
If you only had $1000 dollars to start a new business, knowing everything you know now, how would you spend it?
I’d set up a Shopify site and make a small run of inventory. That’s really all you need to get started on a business – from there, you can hustle and figure out how to acquire customers through hard work instead of spending money, but you have to have something for them to buy and somewhere for them to buy it first.
What’s your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?
Find a business idea that doesn’t cost that much to start, and just go do it! You’ll learn more by doing than you will by reading or studying. Even if you don’t end up making money, the lessons you learn will be well worth the time and effort invested, and you’ll be that much more prepared for your next business.
How can we get in touch with you?
Come check out our website at coopersdogtreats.com or shoot me an email at info@coopersdogtreats.com.
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