Ep. 59 | Feeling Behind? Here’s Your 2025 Dog Treat Biz Reset Plan

Feeling like 2025 is slipping through your fingers? You’re not alone. But here’s the good news — there’s still plenty of time to reset, realign, and finish this year stronger than ever.

In this episode, I walk you through a powerful mid-year dog treat biz reset plan to help you:

• Reflect on what’s worked and what hasn’t so far in 2025
• Create SMART goals that actually move the needle
• Prepare for fall and holiday sales, the busiest and most profitable season for dog treat makers
• Identify where to invest your time and energy for the biggest payoff

Whether you’re behind on sales, stuck in overwhelm, or simply need a confidence boost, you’ll leave this episode with a focused game plan to finish 2025 with profit and purpose.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• How to review your first half of 2025 with intention
• Goal-setting strategies (with real examples) to help you crush Q3 and Q4
• Smart steps to prep your fall treat lineup and seasonal packaging now
• How to save time and money with tools like my Dog Treat Pricing Toolkit and Wholesale Catalog Template
• The power of community — and why connecting with other bakers accelerates success

Resources & Links Mentioned in This Episode:

• Dog Treat Pricing Toolkit – Stop guessing and start pricing with confidence
• Wholesale Catalog Template – Pitch retailers like a pro
• Join the FREE Dog Treat Bakers Facebook Group – Get real-time feedback and community support
• Seasonal Dog Treat Molds on Amazon – Perfect for creating fall best-sellers (pumpkins, leaves, bones!)

Your Next Step: 🎯 Pick ONE thing from today’s episode to take action on. DM me on Instagram @PawsitiveProfit or comment in the Facebook group and tell me what you’re focusing on this week. I’d love to cheer you on!

Subscribe & Review: If this episode helped you reset your momentum, share it with a fellow dog treat baker and leave a quick review on Apple Podcasts. It helps more women just like you find this show.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction and Mid-Year Motivation

00:48 Essential Tools for Dog Treat Business

01:45 Welcome and Mid-Year Reset Overview

02:52 Reflecting on the First Half of the Year

04:59 Setting SMART Goals for Success

07:21 Preparing for Fall and Holiday Season

10:06 High-Impact Investments for Your Business

11:30 Community and Final Encouragement

Episode Transcript

(00:12):
Hey everyone.
Hi.
It's Kara with Pawsitive Profit.
Surprise.
Here I am.
Do you guys feel like2025 is slipping away?
I know I do.
You guys are not alone.
But guess what?
There's still plenty of time to refocus,realign, and finish this year strong.
In this episode, I'm walking youthrough a powerful mid-year reset

(00:35):
that'll help you turn things around.
No overwhelm.
Just real strategies.
Real stories, and real wins.
So let's get you back in the driver'sseat of your very own dog treat business.
Hey, before we go any further, ifpricing still stresses you out or
if you feel unsure, if you're reallymaking a profit, you've got to check

(00:58):
out my dog treat pricing toolkit.
It has helped tons of treat makers.
Stop guessing and startgrowing with confidence.
You'll get all my.
Pricing knowhow plus cheat sheets andmore, designed specifically for home-based
dog treat businesses like yours.
And the link is rightbelow, so go grab it.

(01:19):
Also, if wholesale is on your radarthis year, there's still time.
Don't miss my wholesale catalog template.
It is the exact format that I teachmy students to pitch retailers
with confidence and clarity.
And it's on sale right now, andyou could download it right after
this episode, and you can bepitching like a pro in an afternoon.

(01:39):
Head over to the website,pawsitiveprofit.com
Hey.
Hey, beautiful dogtreat baking boss babes.
Welcome back to the show, or maybewelcome for the very first time.
If you're new here, i'm Kara, your go-tocoach for all things dog treat business
related, and I help women like you turnyour passion for baking into profitable,

(02:04):
feel good home-based businesses.
And today's episode, it is a juicy one.
Oh yes, we are talking abouthow to launch and finish strong
in the second half of 2025.
Yep.
You guys, it is officially halftime inthe game, and whether you have crushed

(02:26):
your Q1 and your Q2 or maybe you justfeel like the year totally snuck up on
you, this episode is your permissionslip to pause, regroup, and power
forward with clarity and confidence.
So grab your coffee, your planner.
I'm gonna grab my water.
Maybe make a peanut butter snackbiscuit, no judgment if it's for

(02:49):
you instead of your pup, who cares?
Let's dig in.
All righty.
Let's start by checking in.
If you are anything like me, you'vemade some big goals back in January.
Remember those?
Maybe you wanted to increase sales bookmore markets, finally launch your website
or get serious about your branding.
But here's the thing.

(03:11):
Okay.
Goals are only good if you actuallyuse them to course correct.
Are you with me?
All right.
Stay with me, you guys.
So how did the firsthalf of your season go?
Ask yourself what really workedwell, what didn't go as planned?
What surprised you?
And most importantly, what did you learn?

(03:33):
Let me tell you about oneof my students, Brittany.
Back in January, her goal wasto launch her online store by
March, but then life happened.
She ended up pushing it to Mayand she felt so behind until
she looked back and she realizedthat she doubled her email list.

(03:53):
Perfected her best selling treat formulaand got picked up by two local boutiques.
She didn't fail.
She pivoted.
All right, that's a clutch word.
Pivoted.
Things aren't going as planned, and youturn and you go a different direction.
And now she is pacing ahead of heroriginal revenue goal for the year.

(04:15):
Woo-hoo.
Good job, Brittany.
Your homework after this episode isto set a timer for 15 minutes and
write down your top three wins andyour top three challenges that you've
had so far from January to June.
I know you can do it, and you can't growif you don't know where you've been.

(04:48):
Now that you've had time to reflect,it is time to rework your roadmap.
Now you still have sixwhole months ahead of you.
That's a lot of time tomake progress, friend.
So let's realign your goals usingthe tried and true smart method.
SMART stands for specific, measurable,achievable, relevant, and time bound.

(05:13):
The S in specific.
Don't say, I want to grow my business.
That's pretty generic.
You need to get specific.
Say I want to grow my onlineorders by 20% by October 1st.
That is a very specific goal.
The M for Measurable.
So how will you track this?

(05:34):
Will you use Shopify stats, Instagraminsights, or a simple spreadsheet?
Because you can't really havea goal if it is not measurable.
Achievable is A. Be honest with your time.
If you're baking during nap timesor working weekends only, you
guys don't overwhelm yourself.
So just make sure whatever goalyou set is achievable by you.

(05:58):
We are not robots.
The R in SMART stands for relevant.
So make sure that your goalsupports your long-term vision.
If you dreamed of wholesaling,maybe your goal is to pitch
five retailers by September.
That's totally doable.
T is for time bound.

(06:19):
Put a date on it.
Deadlines create momentum.
And here's a few goal ideasthat you can totally steal.
Launch your fall themedtreat line by September 15th.
And if I'm saying fall and youguys are getting butterflies in
your stomach and you're startingto sweat a little, don't panic.
I got you.

(06:40):
We're going to get there andwe're going to get there soon.
We're gonna start soon.
And actually you can starttoday by making these goals,
you can start thinking about it.
Maybe your goal is to grow your email listto 500 subscribers before Black Friday.
Maybe a goal of yours is tobook at least three fall vendor

(07:02):
events by the end of August.
Or, start batching content weeklyto post consistently on Instagram.
That is something I struggle with.
Remember, it is not aboutdoing all the things.
It's about doing the rightthings with intention.
Let's talk about strategy, becausefall and the holiday season is

(07:26):
the busiest and most profitabletime for dog treat businesses.
If this is your first falland your first holiday season.
Start immediately.
If you've been down this road, you guysalready know you need to start right now.
From Halloween, costumes to pet photoswith Santa people are buying gifts and

(07:48):
goodies for their fur babies and for theirfriends and families, fur babies too.
And you want to be at the verytop of their shopping list.
So what can you do rightnow to prep for that?
Well, number one, you canfinalize your fall lineup.
Start with three to five best sellers,and consider adding one seasonal flavor

(08:12):
like pumpkin spice bites, apple andcinnamon chews, or Turkey dinner bones.
You can also update your packaging.
That's a very easy way to get festive.
Cute, festive packaging increasesperceived value like crazy.
Those finishing touchesreally make a difference.

(08:33):
Plus it makes your treats giftable.
People are gonna wannastart doing that, you know?
You can also start content creation.
Batch your product photosand your social content now.
Your October self will.
Thank you for this.
You can also book your markets early, soreach out to fall and holiday markets now.

(08:57):
Great booths get snagged early and youwant that foot traffic for your shop.
Oh, and if you're struggling withpricing or pitching retailers,
don't forget I've got tools to help.
My dog treat pricing toolkit andwholesale catalog template are linked.
Seriously, grab them If you haven'talready, they will save you hours.

(09:19):
Student shout out is Jenny from Wisconsin.
She prepped her Howl-i-day Adventline in August of last year.
She sold out twice before December 5th,and she ended up turning customers away.
I remember you, Jenny.
This year, she's scaling intoa subscription box model.

(09:40):
How many of you are interestedin subscription box models?
Let me know in the comments below.
Or if you have a Howl-i-day advent boxthat you've been thinking about doing.
If those things interest you, let me know.
Now, I know that spending money onyour business can feel scary, but if
you're serious about treating this likea business and not just a hobby, you

(10:03):
have to invest, but where it counts.
So here are three high impactways to invest this quarter.
Tools that save time.
Grab my dog, treat pricing toolkit tomake sure you're actually making a profit.
Yes, you.
And templates that sell.

(10:23):
Use the wholesale catalog templateto pitch retailers professionally.
No Canva confusion required.
Education that shortcuts the process.
So join a workshop, take a course.
Invest in yourself and higher learning.
Or, even hire a coachwho knows your industry.

(10:44):
Um, hi you guys have something big coming?
It's not for a while, but stay tuned.
I'll be dropping little hints.
Smart entrepreneurs ask, whatcan I do now that will save me
hours or make me money later?
And that's you.
All right, I'm talking to you.
That's you.

(11:05):
Okay.
You're a smart entrepreneur.
If you are prepping your fall treatline, you guys, I came across some
fall themed silicone dog treat molds.
Think pumpkins and leaves and theseare on Amazon and they are perfect for
creating consistent seasonal treatsthat sell like hotcakes at markets.
Order soon with the link inthe description to stay ahead

(11:28):
of the fall sales madness.
If there is one thing that keeps mystudents consistent and motivated
and thriving, it is community.
You don't have to do this alone.
That's why I created the DogTreat Bakers Facebook group.
It's a free space where women like you orguys connect and ask questions and grow

(11:50):
their dog, treat businesses together.
Here's what's inside.
Challenges, prompts, behind the scenetips, realtime feedback on logos,
packaging, and pricing, and encouragementfrom other bakers who get it.
You'll finally havesomebody to talk shop with.
Join us over there.

(12:11):
Just search dog treat bakerson Facebook, or click the link.
So let's wrap up with a truth bomb.
You are not behind, you are notlate, and you can absolutely
make this rest of 2025, your mostprofitable and aligned season yet.
Here is your challenge.
Pick one thing from today's episodeto take action on this week.

(12:36):
Maybe it's reviewing your numbers oroutlining your fall product line, or
finally joining my free Facebook group.
DM me on Instagram @pawsitiveprofitor comment in the group and let
me know what you're focusing on.
I'm in your corner a hundred percent.
So until next time, keep baking,keep dreaming, and remember, you

(12:58):
are building more than just treats.
You're building a brand that makestails, wag, and wallets open.
Take care.
I'll see you next time.