Pet massage business relieves stress, pain in canines
An interview with Ron Hanik, owner of A+ Pet Massage & Swimming
Q: Describe your business. What do you do?
A: We provide massage therapy services for humans and canines. We also provide swimming and hydrotherapy services for dogs.
Q: What made you start your business?
A: Massage has always been an interest in my life. I then received a wonderful dog, built very poorly, named Bella. Initially it was to provide her with a better life. She has bad knees, hips and ankles. She limped every day when we got her. Now she walks better than she did 5 years ago. She even can play with our puppy!
Q: What has been the most difficult obstacle in running or starting a small business?
A: Money is always an obstacle. Another challenge is making trustworthy business connections with other small business owners
Q: What do you enjoy most about operating your business?
A: I love when our clients dogs see great results. After that I usually end up with the humans on the table as well. Pretty soon, the humans and dogs are coming for several hours of massage services.
Q: Is this what you pictured yourself doing when you were young?
A: I always wanted to help people. Massage is a wonderful way to help people and their dogs. It helps to recover from injuries, maintain a good quality of life and to reduce stress.
Q: What keeps you up at night?
A: I’m always looking for another service to add to benefit our clients. We started with canine massage. We added our swimming services and human massage. I’m hopeful to be adding western herbalism and other therapy modalities in the near future.
Q: If you could give one tip to a rookie business owner, what would it be?
A: Keep it up. One of the first business’ I gave my information to had a very poor message for me. They told me nobody will want my services. It’s been 5 years and we’re growing and going strong.
- Kim Mikus
Ÿ Every Monday we feature a small suburban business. We want to hear about yours. Contact Kim Mikus at kmikus@dailyherald.com.