Ben Eberdt is the owner and co-founder of GoDog, a premier pet hospitality brand with locations dotted throughout the Southeast, including its flagship location in Nashville, TN. Ben has led a varied career, doing everything from running an ad consulting agency to touring in an electronic rock band. But he’s always had a passion for business and pets, and ultimately, that’s what led him down the path he’s on today.
Q: How did you go from touring musician to pet hospitality?
Ben: I’ve always been a business guy. Even when I was in my band, Savoy, we treated it like a business because that’s what it was. We toured for about a decade or so and were fortunate enough to play sold out headlining shows at the amazing Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado on numerous occasions, but touring gets hard. You can only do it for so long. And then, the older I got the harder it was to relate to the younger fan base. Art is subjective and therefore an interesting business to be in. I’ve always wanted to build something of my own.
Q: What inspired you to start GoDog?
Ben: It was several things, really. I guess my first inspiration was when I was living in Boulder, CO. I loved taking my dog hiking with me, and there were so many businesses and programs that were geared towards benefitting both dogs and their owners. It felt like everywhere else, the concepts were dated and just didn’t meet the standards that I knew were possible in this industry.
My father and co-founder is a seasoned entrepreneur who has been invested in this space since 2006, and the return on investment has always been strong. Eventually, my wife and I moved to Durham. We’re both from North Carolina originally, and I’d started an ad consulting agency. My dad and I had identified an opportunity to create a new brand that would appeal to generations to come, as well as a need for what we were building almost everywhere. So, when the opportunity to build GoDog came up, we jumped on it.
We wanted to create a place that provided the ultimate level of hospitality for pets and their owners and was better than the options currently available. Our experiences came together to inspire what is now GoDog, a place for dogs and pet owners that provides dog boarding, daycare, training, grooming, and a membership-based dog park and bar, all driven by our hospitality-approach to pet care.
Q: What makes Go Dog different from other pet care businesses?
Ben: Our approach to design, our decades of experience and knowledge across our operations that allows our staff to provide the highest quality of care. GoDog provides a premium experience rooted in transparency and extreme cleanliness. When you walk into a GoDog, you feel the difference – like wow, these people thought of everything, and they really really love dogs!
We’re a convenient, all-in-one solution for today’s pet parents. You don’t have to find a daycare, a boarding kennel, a trainer, a dog park, or a groomer — our goal is to create a place for all of these things. And because all of our services are under one roof, we also build a bit of a community. Our staff don’t just know your dog. They know you. You can connect with other pet parents, meet the families of your dog’s best friend and have a beer or two while they have a playdate. It’s the social experience that we’re really emphasizing at GoDog.
At the end of the day, dogs are part of the family, and we all want the highest quality of care for our loved ones. The industry hasn’t kept up with what pet parents want to provide their dogs and we believe dogs deserve better; people deserve better. And GoDog provides that.
Q: What’s next for Go Dog?
Ben: We’re on an exciting growth path and are looking for people who share our passion for owning wonderful businesses and caring for dogs to contribute to this growth with franchising. Our initial investors at Level 5 Capital Partners have been phenomenal in helping us take the solid foundation on which we’ve built our business and given us the resources and training to make it scalable.
