American-Made Cat Products w/ Diane Danforth

Diane Danforth is the founder and CEO of Americat Company, a cat products company that manufactures all of its goods in the United States.

Diane’s business blends her entrepreneurial ambition, corporate experience, and love for cats into a single company.

In this discussion, Diane and Aaron discuss how she’s built out her products SKUs, what lessons from large corporate marketing she has brought with her, and how she engages with her customers.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Introduction
00:33 What is Americat Company
01:19 Growing global trend to consider pets family
01:33 How Diane started Americat
02:52 US Kitty the original name she supposed to used but changed due to consumer research
03:46 Diane started working in a family business managed by her father and eventualy quit her job and built her own business.
04:28 Americat's inital products
06:01 Americat's manufacturers
06:45 The elevated stand product idea is from her clients suggestion.
07:41 The process of making and selling a product.
11:39 Americat company goal is to be peoples favorite cat brand.
11:36 Diane wants her company to be a product company instead of a brand company.
11:52 Important that the brand is made in the USA and each product must meet it's standard.
14:09 Launching new product is not easy.
15:45 Research, survey, and costumers reviews helps me grow my business
19:38 Consumer research is very important and you can do it cheaply and quickly.
20:15 Brand Equity
20:56 Business Planning
22:35 Forecasting Process - Project your growth
27:38 Made in the USA cat products are safer
31:24 Dream product want to launch
32:48 Cat care tip
35:41 Diane's Actionable Personal Challenge