 It’s hard to spot Michelle Simpson at first, as she’s bent over in a sea of happy, wagging dogs to pick up an eight-week old puppy. My heart has already melted and I haven’t been upstairs to see the Cat Loft yet. Simpson owns and operates Diggity Dog & Lonesome Kitty Hotel and Grooming Spa, an oasis for pets in the High Park area of Toronto. It’s her humble, grand venturous beginnings that brought WCDA to her doorstep.
A matter of need
In 1999, Simpson was struggling to make ends meet. As a single mother working her way through a degree in Fine Arts, she found that there were few income-generating opportunities that would allow her to work from home so that she could be there when her son came home from school.
While she enjoyed painting, her involvement in the arts community showed her that having a backup job to bring in a relatively steady flow of income was necessary. While she doesn’t remember which talk show she was watching, she does remember this quote:
“Too many people follow careers involving things that they’re not passionate about.”
Simpson had no intention of joining the ranks of workers confined to a desk. How would she be able to take care of her son and two beautiful dogs while cooped up in an office? That’s when she started chatting with other dog owners and walkers in her neighbourhood park and the topic of finding good places to board pets kept on coming up.
“The owner of the Portuguese Waterdog club asked me if I would board a dog for her for a weekend,” says Simpson. That’s all it took to get her started.
While she also took on dog-walking and doggy-daycare work, the spare room in her loft apartment soon turned into a miniature version of the current pet hotel. Word spread about her enterprise to the pet-owning community—and she started making money immediately.
Her investment? Time and energy.
 Minimal start-up costs
Since dogs were dropped off with their own food, necessities and toys, all Simpson had to stock up on were cleaning products and receipt books. The only problem was the reactive nature of the business. “It was a case of feast or famine,” she admits with a smile. “I did my best to set aside money each time a customer paid.”
Knowing that relying solely on word-of-mouth could only take her business so far, Simpson decided to start promoting her dog-boarding service on a four-letter budget: FREE. “I made up 8-1/2” x 11” posters on my home computer and put them up at the local veterinary clinics, pet shops…anywhere I could put up a sign at no cost.” A local monthly newspaper offered free classified ads so she put one in, expecting a call or two.
“On the day the papers were delivered, the phone didn’t stop ringing,” she claims. Among the ads for dog walkers and doggy daycare operations, hers was the only one offering overnight accommodation for canines.
With sales up and continuing to grow, Simpson’s business was limited by the size of her apartment. Plus, she realized that opening her door to cats would bring in a new revenue stream. Especially since some of her existing customers had a feline or two at home.
Not wanting to bear any resemblance to some pet boarding companies that turn a blind eye to overcrowding and lack of attention, Simpson knew that she would have to find a new location that would offer her company room to grow. And take a huge calculated risk.
 Putting up people
“The last thing I wanted was to go into debt,” says Simpson. So she searched for a property with appropriate zoning for her business and realized that any place she could afford would require extensive renovations. That’s when she decided to take in people as well as pets.
“When I found this location, some of the rooms were suitable for renters…. I brought in foreign students to fill those [rooms] while I worked on the rest,” she said as we took a tour through the Cat Loft, a lovely hideaway where cats are king. For Simpson’s plans for the new location to work, each space had to be generating income or receiving renovations.
It was a little crazy at times, but she feels that the steady income from the human guests made it all possible. “The best part was they could walk themselves,” she laughs.
One big step
Simpson says that she’s received the best bang for her buck with her Yellow Pages advertisement. While it’s a far cry from her first free ad, it’s generated more than new business. “It’s how the neighbourhood high schools found me to discuss internships,” she says. Currently she has three interns on a part-time basis and also employs students during the summer months, as well as 4 year-round part-time employees.
And business, featuring a posse of lounging cats and happily panting pooches, looks pretty darn friendly. Simpson knows each pet by name and makes a special effort to introduce me to a gorgeous golden Labrador. “Maggie’s been coming here for eight years, and when she first arrived she needed her own private room,” she says, giving the old girl a pat. “Now, she keeps everyone in line like a mother hen.”
While the comforting atmosphere of the hotel and grooming spa serves as its own testimonial, it’s also the customers who travel great distances to ensure their pets stay here when the need arises. One client, who had moved to Vancouver, will stop in Toronto in order to drop off her cat when she visits relatives in England. That’s loyalty.
Simpson sums it up purrfectly: “I wouldn’t trade any of this—even with all the physical work involved—for a 9-5 job. I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be.” And, when their owners are away, neither can all of these happy dogs and cats.
For more information on the Diggity Dog & Lonesome Kitty Hotel and Grooming Spa, please contact Michelle Simpson at 416-536-4694 or by email.
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