How Wayflyer funding helped Petz Park grow almost 600% year-on-year

In 2018, Julian Freyer made his desire to start his own business a reality, building it around his passion for dogs. After many years working in corporate supply chain management, he was ready for something new. Petz Park was founded to provide Australian pet owners with top-tier supplements to keep their pets healthy at every age.

As he started out, Julian knew repeat purchases would be critical to building a lasting brand — great products alone weren't enough. So he was laser-focused on cultivating brand loyalty through tireless dedication to customer service. Petz Park’s commitment to a best-in-class experience can be seen with thousands of rave reviews logged via Trustpilot on its website.

Trying to keep pace with demand

Many people were stuck at home during the pandemic lockdowns and got a pet. This presented a unique opportunity for the business. “Sales demand went through the roof, and I needed to catch up with inventory levels. I wanted to take funding on board to spend more money on advertising while making sure I could actually keep up with demand,” Julian recalls.

The business had been completely bootstrapped initially. Julian wanted to prove the concept before taking on additional risk by adding employees, partners or investors into the mix. When he researched more traditional financing routes, the tradeoffs weren’t appealing. “I was looking at ways to potentially get money on board without having to give up too much ownership of the business,” says Julian.

“I was looking at ways to potentially get money on board without having to give up too much ownership of the business.”

At the time, Petz Park was facing some major hurdles to continued growth. Although its ingredients were locally sourced in Australia, packaging was manufactured overseas. Factories scaled back their production due to COVID-19, and the supply chain wasn’t reliable. The timeline from placing inventory orders to receiving them continued to grow exponentially.

“Global shipping delays, container shortages… Looking back, it always somehow just worked out. Although I’d always order way in advance, new inventory often just arrived in time,” Julian explains about the early days of inventory management at Petz Park.

Many customers ordered their pet supplements as recurring monthly subscriptions. The “just-in-time” supply chain threatened the core customer service principles the business was built upon. Stockouts would ruin the relationship Julian had worked so hard to cultivate with his customer base.

Finding a partner to help Petz Park scale

With Petz Park entering its peak sales season, Julian wanted to seize the moment. That’s when he discovered Wayflyer.

“Revenue-based funding was something I had never heard of before, but it’s just a genius service to help fuel the growth of any online business. We operate a Shopify store. Wayflyer just plugs in with their app to read our performance data. The set up only takes seconds and is hassle-free,” says Julian.

“Revenue-based funding was something I had never heard of before, but it’s just a genius service to help fuel the growth of any online business."

Wayflyer provided the support needed to scale the marketing spend and secure stable inventory supplies. With the funding, Julian doubled ad spend and it paid off! Petz Park saw 40-60% month-on-month growth following the increase in marketing spend. Additionally, he leveraged Wayflyer’s team of performance marketing experts for insights on improving his Google and Facebook ad performance.

All in all, Petz Park saw nearly 600% year-on-year growth closing out 2021.

“The experience from that first point of contact until I had my first cash advance approved was just incredible! Within hours Wayflyer was able to provide me with a first offer,” says Julian.

“The experience from that first point of contact until I had my first cash advance approved was just incredible!”

As Petz Park continues its trajectory, Julian is able to dedicate time to areas of the business that matter most. “I used to do everything myself but I’m slowly starting to give up control and fill key positions with the right people''. He keeps busy with another new addition in his off time – a border collie puppy named Neil!