Today we’d like to introduce you to Sara Saber.
Hi Sara, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Carin and I met when we both moved to Houston, almost 20 years ago, and have been friends ever since. We always talked about opening a business together because we have similar interests and complementary strengths. We came across the Three Dog Bakery brand and realized it brought together our interests: dogs, baking and community.
We started with our first location in 2018 in Rice Village to be close to where we both live and shop. We opened our second location in the Heights in 2022.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There’s no such thing as a smooth road in small business! There is no roadmap for opening a small business, even a franchise. The biggest lesson we have learned is to only focus your energy on the things you can control. We can’t control the economy or trends, we can only control what is within our four (or eight) walls. We want our space to be fun and happy so that people want to spend their time with us, and bring their dogs! We want visiting the bakery to feel like an event and not an errand. We focus on baking and decorating the cutest dog treats in Houston and having the friendliest people!
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Three Dog Bakery?
Three Dog Bakery is the World’s First Bakery for Dogs. The first one was in Kansas City and there are about 50 nationwide. Carin and I wanted a business that catered to the dogs of Houston to help them to celebrate everything from birthdays and gotcha days to cancer-free and worm-free days to gender reveals and lost my nuts days! We feel that every day we’re alive is a day to celebrate and with whom better to celebrate than your dog?!? All the treats, cookies and cakes we bake are all natural and with human-grade ingredients. We do not use artificial dyes or preservatives. We can (and do) taste everything we make. We take our brand very seriously, in that we only want to provide the best for your dog. We carry a limited amount of food brands, because we believe these are the best options for your dog’s nutrition. The accessories we carry are made in the US, by other small businesses, just like us. Our community is our investment. We want to strengthen the brick & mortar, Mom & Pop, small business market in Houston. Our neighborhoods have so many wonderful, unique establishments for people to come out of their homes and interact with their neighbors in. Small Business is the cornerstone of the American Dream and economy.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
We wish we had a mentor! We believe mentorship is incredibly valuable. Our best advice is to talk to EVERYONE! The more human interaction we all have, the more opportunities to meet someone who can help you.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.threedogbakeryhtx.com
- Instagram: @threedogricevillage
- Facebook: @threedogtheheights
- Twitter: Three Dog Bakery – Rice Village
- Youtube: Three Dog Bakery – The Heights
