From Homemade Dog Treats To A One-Stop Pet Business In Alva

Dog businesses are everywhere right now, but very few feel like they belong to the community they serve. We’re in Studio King Street with Emma, founder of Emporium in Alva, and Paddy, her dog trainer with a military working dog background, to talk about how a small idea becomes a one-stop hub for dog grooming, dog training and day-to-day support for owners across Clackmannanshire, Stirling and beyond. 

Emma shares the real story behind Emporium: starting with homemade dog treats during recovery, then building out grooming, training, a dog shop, and a welcoming “Pit Stop” coffee space where you don’t even need a dog to come in, sit down and have a chat. We also get into what’s driving demand, including the surge in UK dog ownership and the knock-on need for better guidance, better routines and better support for people who are learning as they go. 

Paddy breaks down a refreshingly simple training philosophy: prepare dogs for the human world, keep routines clear, and remember that most behaviour work is actually owner education. We talk workshops (including crate training), social skills, and “Bark in the Park”, plus the lighter side of Emporium such as made-to-order dog birthday cakes and the bigger vision for education programmes with schools and the council. 

If you care about local business, animal welfare, or simply want calmer walks and a happier home, listen now then subscribe, share the episode, and leave us a review.

Transcript

Welcome To Studio King Street

SPEAKER_01 0:11

Hi, my name is Neil Munda and I'm your host for the Sterling Business Podcast. The podcast is brought to you from Studio King Street here in the heart of Sterling. You can book our wonderful studio by going onto our website and making your booking that way, or sending uh an email to inquiries at studio kingstreet.com. Or you can simply pick up the phone and give Laura a call to make your uh make your booking. So, over to this week's episode of the Sterling Business Podcast.

Meet Emma And Paddy

SPEAKER_01 0:45

So, welcome Emma, welcome Paddy, to the studio King Street and the Sterling Business Podcast. So, how are you?

SPEAKER_02 0:52

I'm fine, thank you. How are you?

SPEAKER_01 0:54

I'm great. How are you, Paddy? All good, thanks. Yeah, thanks. Glad to be here. So I'm looking forward to this conversation today, Emma. Uh you set up a business uh about a year ago, or you went you went uh live about a year ago uh in Alva. Uh Emporium is the name of the business.

From Recovery To Emporium Launch

SPEAKER_01 1:12

So um how did life start out for Emma before we get into that?

SPEAKER_02 1:17

So I was 18 when I had my first son, and I was 22 when I had my daughter, and it was always children or animals that I wanted to work with. So I became a childminder, done that for years, and then moved house. Then basically after that, I worked in a care home to get more experience with young adults with learning disabilities. And after that, that was in 2020. So basically, I ended up having to have a operation. So when I was basically getting better, um I decided that I wasn't going to go back and get myself sorted and whatever else. So I decided to start making homemade dog treats while I was getting better. And that's when that appeared. And I decided, right, let's go and do the dog training, dog grooming, all of that good stuff. So done that, and life has its roller coasters.

SPEAKER_01 2:33

When did you do that? Did you do that just as an individual?

SPEAKER_02 2:35

Kind of all on my working with people around the all on my own. Um done that. Life kind of gets in the way and whatever else, and in between all of that, I had to get other jobs in between. So done that, and when I finally decided, right, it's time to get Emporium right back up. I know where I wanted to go with it, and all my ideas. To be honest, everybody thought it was crazy because there were like all these different ideas from the dog ice cream to the birthday cakes, birthday parties. I'd love to have a dog ice cream truck going around. Um, and all these different ideas from dogs' birthday parties, daycare, kennels, the list the list goes on.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

Um but so you weren't short of ideas though.

SPEAKER_02 3:34

No, yeah, and they just keep coming. Okay. Um but not only that, it's uh just to bring everybody together. That that's where I wanted to go. Um

Funding Advice And Building Blocks

SPEAKER_02 3:47

so when I decided, right, that's it, I went to Business Gateway.

SPEAKER_01 3:52

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 3:53

And that's when they put me in touch with Centris.

SPEAKER_01 3:56

Ah, and that's when you when you first probably met Maggie, right? Maggie Golman.

SPEAKER_02 4:00

Yes. So I basically went to Business Gateway, they gave me a call back and said, we've actually got a course, can you go tomorrow? I went, okay, I'm there. Um and went on the course and it was phenomenal.

SPEAKER_01 4:13

Great. And what did you learn from that?

SPEAKER_02 4:16

So much. Um from really building a business. Um now I know I was a childminder for years, that was a business in itself, but this time round, even setting up with the dog grooming, um, it was like a completely different feeling. Um, and how I look at it was see, like when you build a house and you start from the ground up, and everything's so structured, and the advice and everything else that comes along with it, networking, funding, um their expertise were just out this world. Um, and I'm part of their family forever now, do you know?

SPEAKER_01 5:00

So Maggie's got a really great team, so it's unbelievable. Unbelievable. Definitely have helped you. So um, so how many employees do you have today? You have three. Three. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 5:11

So I'm assuming Patty is my dog trainer and phenomenal.

unknown 5:17

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:19

Thanks so much. I thought you were gonna park then.

SPEAKER_02 5:24

When I was trying to create Emporium and the staff that I wanted in, um I wanted it to feel like uh another family. That family-oriented feeling because we've all had jobs that you just dread to go. And so far, I've got an excellent team.

SPEAKER_01 5:45

So it's obvious that you have a real passion for dogs. Yes. Um I don't know about any other animals or other uh any other pets, but tell us a little about where this passion came from.

SPEAKER_02 5:55

Um I think it was always children or animals that I've always wanted to work with. And growing up, I was an only child, so I was always around my animals, small animals. Um and right up till adulthood, dogs, small animals, horses. My daughter does horses, she does show jump in, so it's always just animals. Um and I feel that when you've got animals around you, um there's just that care and it just takes you out of the that other world, if that makes sense. Um that is really it in a nutshell. Um and that care, I I just love it. I absolutely love it.

SPEAKER_01 6:47

And how did you come up with the name Emporium?

SPEAKER_02 6:49

So I love, absolutely love going into little shops with little knick-knack bits and pieces. So when you go into like an Emporium shop, um it's got loads of little bits and bobs in it. And I wanted my name in it as well. So plus working with dogs and other small animals that can pop into the shop. Um Emporium, that's where the name came up.

SPEAKER_01 7:16

Yeah, it's a great name. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:18

Um I just want to kind of create that little bit of paradise to be fair. Um, and anybody can come along. Anybody can come along, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:29

So where do your clients typically come from then? So obviously your clients are kind of dogs, but obviously they have owners. Uh but where do they know where the typic where do they typically originate from and come from?

SPEAKER_02 7:40

Clockman and Shire. Um but we've we've actually got customers from Stirling, Bannockburn, uh Falkirk. So the word's getting out. People are starting to travel.

SPEAKER_01 7:54

So if we bring in Paddy here, so if you can tell us a little bit about how the doggy polar is is affected, is that a good description of it? Yeah. Uh how it's set up and the types of services that you offer. So, Paddy, uh, do you want to start with your

Training That Prepares Dogs For People

SPEAKER_01 8:08

training?

SPEAKER_00 8:08

Uh so the training aspect, I um I have a long history of working with dogs, starting from the military. Uh, I was originally a military working dog handler in the Royal Air Force, and then when I left the Air Force, I was looking for something to do. And basically, my partner at the time said, the last time you were truly happy was when you were messing about with dogs, and someone else was paying me for it. So I thought, okay, let's do that. Uh went into business for myself for a while, and then I went in to meet Emma. Um, I was actually just doing some research into how I could go about learning how to groom dogs as well as an idea for the future for me, um, just to offer another string to mind bowl, and then we got chatting, and Emma was looking for someone that could train. Um, I was looking for experience in the dog grooming aspect, and we just kind of went from there to like and uh I was working somewhere else at the time, Emma rang me and said, you know, how'd you fancy doing this? So instead of a partnership, we were we were originally working a partnership where my uh client got discounts in her establishment and her and uh vice versa, and then we just said let's just combine this and have everything in one stop, and we're gonna what would a typical dog training exercise involve then? So the way I work is um I I essentially think of dog training as preparing a dog for the human world, so it's not got too much to do with there's a there's a lot of different stuff out there from different trainers. I tend to try and keep it as simplistic as possible because I would like the dog to be able to understand the environment that it's in. So we keep simple commands, we keep everything as routine as we possibly can because dogs crave that structural routine in their lives, and we've provided it for them for thousands of years. So it's just about keeping that simplicity there and helping the owners to understand. 90 to 95% of my work usually ends up being training the people rather than the dogs. Um the dogs naturally seem to understand things, and they it's been proven recently that they tend to follow people that can do complex tasks. Now, to you and me, opening a cupboard and getting food out is a bog-standing thing. To a dog, it's magic. They have no idea how we did it, so they tend to follow things like that more popular uh more commonly than than not.

SPEAKER_01 10:37

Okay. So you have some other services that you have uh on on site in Alva. So give us a few a few examples of some of those, Emma.

Coffee Shop Hub And One-Stop Services

SPEAKER_02 10:46

So we have our pit stop coffee shop where you can pop in, get a coffee, cup of coffee shop.

SPEAKER_01 10:52

Yep, we pit stop coffee shop.

SPEAKER_02 10:55

And so what I was trying to create there was you don't have to have a dog to pop in so nobody feels alone. Um I know what it's like to feel alone. A lot of people know exactly what it's like to feel alone at some point in their life. Um so I would love for people to just have that little safe hub that they can come in and have a blather with us and see other dogs because whatever life has maybe thrown at them, they might not be able to have a dog or whatever.

SPEAKER_01 11:28

So pop in and just relax and enjoy the so it's effectively a coffee shop, but um you know the whole kind of ethos of it is to bring like-minded people who love animals and dogs together.

SPEAKER_00 11:41

Okay. Emma's always said that she wants to have a community hub, she wants the community to be this to be centralized around the community. Um we saw that on Saturday with the birthday party, the amount of people that came around. And a lot of people don't know where we are, and to see that there and to have the different setup that we have. And what makes our setup good is that it's so varied. There are so many different things that can be done all in one place.

SPEAKER_01 12:08

I can definitely resonate with the uh community hub because that's kind of what we're building here. Yeah, albeit it's local businesses, you know, people out on the on the high street that are kind of part of the ecosystem, charities, artists, so bringing everybody together to work with each other as well and feed off each other. So you're just taking a slightly different approach to that and using animals as the kind of conduit to bring bring those communities together. Um so do you have any kind of statistics in terms of how many people have dogs these days? It's seems like every other person so many.

SPEAKER_02 12:42

Yes i just so many.

SPEAKER_00 12:45

Pre-COVID, I think pet ownership was or dog ownership was in the six or seven million sort of bracket in the country. Uh that's now over 13.1 million. So, and there's a lot of there's a lot of business out there. And there's business for everyone. You know, this is the thing, is there's so many different aspects to owning a dog. It's having a dog walker when you've had to go back into the office. It's having kennel info when you want to go to holidays. Um so it's it's just the there it's a big business. Multi-billion pound business. So Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:20

Are you seeing a trend of um the workplace allowing more and more dogs to be part of the day-to-day life? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:29

Well, especially our place.

SPEAKER_02 13:32

Obviously, your place. This is it. It's um because obviously we do the the the dog room and the dog training, we've got the dog shop. Um I do canine kitchen where that is handcrafted homemade treats, um, birthday cakes. We've had a birthday party um a few weeks ago. We had the very first dog's birthday party with eight little dogs, and it was all set up, it was beautiful. Proper birthday party. Um because there's so much, and then if we want to actually go on to bringing in volunteer spaces, educational programmes, working with schools and colleges, um work placements, there's so much that Emporium can bring to the community and surrounding areas. Um that's that's what I've been trying to achieve.

SPEAKER_01 14:28

So is that a big focus going forward? The education piece? Yeah. And how are you typically going about that?

SPEAKER_02 14:34

So the now I've been working with um the council. Um they're going to put me into the the right programmes and stuff like that for on that side of it. Um, but yeah, uh there's so much. So much.

SPEAKER_00 14:51

Great.

Workshops Social Skills And Education

SPEAKER_00 14:52

We uh we started some workshops recently where people can come in even if they don't have the dog with them. It's education about things like crate training, which tends to have a negative impact in some people's opinions on on whether you should crate train your dog or not. The right equipment to use. When it comes down to the basics, there I think uh during COVID, 36% of new dog owners had done no research into what they were doing and had never owned a dog before. They just got one and then went out and learned as they went. So to be able to educate people with workshops and classes and bark in the park, which is another one where you've just started where we can go out and meet people in the park. You can the dogs can learn to socialise with each other. And it's not just a dog, socialisation is really difficult because it's not just a dog meeting another dog, it's a dog learning to understand that the other dog's there and preferably ignore it until it's given permission to go and meet the other dog, just so that it avoids any social awkwardness, we'll say, about dogs jumping into each other and the usual stuff that happens when dogs meet.

SPEAKER_01 16:01

Yeah. Yeah, it's interesting because obviously lots of dogs look very different to each other, right? So like a human, you know, we know you're a female, you're a male, you can kind of tell what's what, right? But there's so many different varieties of dogs, colours, you know, curly curly dogs and what have you. So how do they do they typically recognise that they're all from the same species, if you like?

SPEAKER_00 16:24

And yeah, a lot of it comes down to body signals. So when a dog encounters another dog, they send each other out signals, but their sense of smell is so much further advanced than ours that they they can know a dog's coming before we do. Um and what they will do is they will send out signals to say whether they're approachable or not, and it's up to us to try and understand them and say, Okay, well, this is fine, or let's wait a little while and try again later. Right.

SPEAKER_01 16:51

Right, okay.

Treats Cakes And Dog Birthday Parties

SPEAKER_01 16:52

So tell us a little about the kitchen uh side of things and the doggy treats that you make and I I'm assuming sell in the shop?

SPEAKER_02 17:03

So everything's made to order. Um so with the the handcrafted treatment.

SPEAKER_01 17:08

I've just got those visions of an MM factory or something.

SPEAKER_02 17:11

Hopefully. Like for dogs. Hopefully. Um so basically with the birthday cakes, so say for instance it was liver or tripe or whatever, um, they're made to order. Um which it's fun.

SPEAKER_01 17:27

Um Who does the bacon?

SPEAKER_02 17:29

Me.

SPEAKER_01 17:29

Got all of it?

SPEAKER_02 17:30

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 17:30

Alright, okay.

SPEAKER_02 17:31

So and then obviously all the different um little biscuit treats or ice cream, um, so I can do all that. They're it's it's just something else that's all natural, it's all good for the dogs. Um and then it goes hand in hand with the the treats that are selling the shop because they're all natural. Um and that's it's just just having that other little niche for Emporium. Um and to be honest, when I've actually made the birthday cakes before, everybody's actually thought it was for us, which you can eat. Um I wouldn't really think it would be tasty enough for us, but hey ho. But they look they look like when they're on the outside of put some gravy on it and build a light for your banner.

SPEAKER_01 18:29

Oh my god. So how many dogs do you actually have on your books then?

SPEAKER_02 18:34

So there's um around 200 and 8300 on the books between the grooming and the training. That's not how many's actually appeared in the shop just for buying stuff or just sitting in the garden having a coffee. Not the dogs, the owners have sat in there.

SPEAKER_01 18:57

What what's the biggest side of the business, would you say? Would it be the grooming or the training?

SPEAKER_02 19:01

Um I think obviously at the beginning you're it all started with the treats, and then obviously the dog grooming. And then the dog grooming has obviously kicked off. Um and then obviously bringing in the dog training. So you've you've had dogs that have came in for the grooming side of it that have then gone for the training. Then you've had dogs coming in just for the training that have then gone to the grooming. Um so right now it's it's a complete mixture. Um and then we've had people coming in that have never had any. Yeah. So you're basically upselling absolutely every single thing in the shop from the groom in the treats, the just even people popping in for coffee. Um and it's a mixture. And even with the um the natural treats, uh made it that it was called my sniffin' mix. So that's that's my way. That is my way. Um where the dogs can come in and have a little excitement picking their shit.

SPEAKER_01 20:12

You must just sit there at night coming up with different uh things to call things.

SPEAKER_02 20:16

Yep. Everybody thinks I'm mad.

SPEAKER_01 20:20

No, you're good at it, though.

SPEAKER_00 20:23

There's frequently of I've had an idea, we get that a lot, so I'll just wander in the office and go, boss, had an idea. Go. And that's it.

SPEAKER_02 20:31

I love an idea. I love it. Yeah, I absolutely love it.

SPEAKER_00 20:34

You can take something and run with it. I think that's the other the other joy of being in something like this, is if if it's something that we feel is part of the emporium ethos that says that's got emporium written all over it, that's what we do.

SPEAKER_01 20:47

And is it I mean you touched on other pets earlier on, but is it predominantly dogs, or do you do any other things?

SPEAKER_02 20:53

Sometimes we've had some cats and whatever else. Um so, but it's it's more dogs.

SPEAKER_01 21:00

So veterinary practice next, maybe?

SPEAKER_02 21:02

Hopefully.

SPEAKER_01 21:03

Hopefully, never know. Why not? Um, the money in veterinary, I know that for sure. Not that I have any animals myself, but uh constantly hear from people who are complaining about how much they're having to spend on the veterinary services.

SPEAKER_02 21:18

Yeah, this is it. So Emporium just keeps growing um from all my little ideas. Yeah. I can see where it can all go and I can see where it can all run, if that makes sense. But keeping it at a reasonable reasonable price for m the customers. Do you know they're paying a lot of money um every day for their their pets, which they're not just pets, they're they're they're babies. They

Trust Fair Pricing And Big Plans

SPEAKER_02 21:47

are. And when I started Emporium, I always said that I'll never have it as a conveyor belt. I will know all my customers as best as I can. Um if some Somebody can't actually pay for something, put them on a programme. Um put put them on a payment plan. We try our best for like the VIP um Scary Depause. Scary pause. We've got so many different things that even if they're wanting to do the grooming side of it and the training, that's when we've brought in the scaredy pause, haven't we? Um so much, so much stuff that we try and cater for everybody. And see, even if somebody just pops in and they don't buy something, to somebody that comes in and just says they spent the hundred pounds, we all treat them exactly the same. Um and Emporium is built on trust. That is a big factor for Emporium, for me. Um that they come and they're they're dropping their their babies off and it's just like another family. Do you know? They're coming to CIM, Uncle Pads.

SPEAKER_01 22:57

That means a that means that means a lot to a lot of people, right? You know, you've got the kind of trust that, you know, if you need to leave the dog for a few hours, it's gonna be looked after and you know, gonna they're gonna enjoy themselves.

SPEAKER_00 23:09

Some of our customers we may be the only people they speak to in the day. Yeah. You know, we we have certain certain of the older customers that come in, we might be the only person they speak to all day, so we've got to make it worth we've got to make it worth it for both of us, you know, for for everybody. And that person actually gets to feel part of part of the business, part of the community, part of what we do.

SPEAKER_01 23:31

Yeah. You mentioned another team member earlier on, what does uh that individual do? You said those three of you. Got two?

SPEAKER_02 23:39

Yeah, there's an so there's three members of staff in total. Um so we've got Lauren, she does dog grooming, some dog training classes, um, a little bit of everything. Um Joanne does dog grooming and a little bit of everything else as well. So but you're the main um dog trainer. Lauren does some dog training as well. And basically. Yes, work together. Yes. Everybody does a mixture.

SPEAKER_00 24:12

Yeah, whatever job comes up, just muck in and get it done.

SPEAKER_02 24:16

I'll not ask my staff to do something that I'm not prepared to do myself. Um and I think that as a as a team, um it's really quite hard to find that.

SPEAKER_01 24:28

Yeah. No, I can I can imagine. So what what are your future plans? And I know you've you're doing lots of little things. What are your big things?

SPEAKER_02 24:36

Um my big things is hopefully getting my kind of block up and running. Um hopefully my ice cream van, you never know. Get that up and running.

SPEAKER_01 24:47

So we'll be hearing that buzz and run uh who let the dogs in. Yes. Yeah. Is that gonna be the the tune of the van, is it?

SPEAKER_02 24:54

Hopefully.

SPEAKER_01 24:55

Something dogs can hear a hype whistle or something.

SPEAKER_02 24:59

Um there's so many plans. So much plans um that I can see for Emporium um down the road. So yeah, just like.

SPEAKER_01 25:08

And are you looking to predominantly try and keep that local or Yes? Uh do you are you think they're going further afield at some point?

SPEAKER_02 25:15

At this moment in time, um I want to just keep it for the community, especially with everything with the educational programmes, working with the council, working with the schools and whatever else. Um right at this minute in time. That's what I'm hoping for the now.

SPEAKER_01 25:34

Brilliant. Thank you. Well, well, thanks for coming along, Emma.

SPEAKER_02 25:38

Thank you. Thanks for coming along, Patty.

SPEAKER_01 25:39

So it's good to meet you. Sounds like a fantastic philosophy you've got there, and you know, I'm really, really impressed with just how quickly it's grown. I mean, you must get a lot of footfall coming through with 280 dogs on the books. So that in itself must make it a really vibrant kind of place to work and place to be.

SPEAKER_02 25:57

It's just lovely, and I think how it's worked and how everybody just it's just natural, isn't it? It's just it's just lovely. It's just really lovely, and um I can't thank my customers enough, I can't thank my staff enough, um because it's a good team behind Emporium, and that's that's where it's

Find Emporium And Follow The Podcast

SPEAKER_02 26:24

that's good.

SPEAKER_01 26:24

So if uh anybody wants to find you, and you're the uh the listeners uh or the audience watching uh on YouTube, uh, where can they find you and uh who do they get in contact with?

SPEAKER_02 26:34

Um you can get us on Facebook, Instagram, um, our website, and or pop along in the Alva Industrial Estate. See us there.

SPEAKER_01 26:46

Okay, sounds great. Well, thanks for coming along. Thank you. Thanks again so much. Cheers. Cheers. So that brings us to another end of an episode of the Sterling Business Podcast. Thank you again to our guests this week. Remember to follow us on the YouTube channel, on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Until next time, stay safe.