SUCCESS STORY
Derek Reynolds
Reynold's Pet Resort
What began as a way to teach their kids hard work and responsibility has grown into a successful family enterprise for Derek Reynolds and his family.
When their five kids started entering their teen years, Derek and his wife Krista wanted them to experience some of the lessons of farm life. So, they moved the family out to a 6-acre property in Tualatin, Oregon and bought a few chickens and a cow. Noticing the new set up, a friend figured they must like animals and asked if the family could watch their dog while they went out of town. The Reynolds’ oldest daughter was 14 at the time, and it seemed like a good way to let her have some responsibility, so they agreed.
“People just spread the word and suddenly we've got a half a dozen dogs in our house … they're all sleeping in our kids’ beds and wandering the hallways,” Derek says with a laugh. At that point they thought they might be onto something but were not looking to develop a major pet care services operation.
Local interest continued to grow steadily, so in 2008 they officially created an entity and named it Reynolds Kennels. They transformed an existing barn and then renovated a shop building into suitable facilities for overnight care. The customers kept coming and by 2010, Derek and his family decided to go all in. They built a brand new building in the middle of their property and haven’t looked back.
When their oldest daughter got married, she and her husband wanted to get more involved in the business. The Reynolds worked with Teija Heikkilä of PET|VET M&A, Sales & Advisory to purchase an existing pet resort facility in McMinnville, which their son-in-law and daughter operated as the second location of Reynolds Kennels.
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Derek and Teija had met at a conference several years prior to their first deal, and again when Teija taught a symposium in Dallas on valuing and purchasing pet care businesses. “To me, it's an absolute no-brainer to work with Teija and her team,” Derek says. “They know the industry so well, and they understand individual business ownership.”
A short time later, the Reynolds added a third location in West Linn, which was run by their second-oldest daughter and her new husband. With three thriving pet resort operations, life in Oregon seemed to settle in. But a series of seemingly unrelated factors led the family to pursue new opportunities on the other side of the country.
“I’m not from the Northwest, and I really am not a rain person, either,” Derek says. He had already been thinking about getting a small place in the south, just for enjoying the warm weather once in a while. Texas kept coming up as a possibility, first when their daughter married a young man from Texas, and then when a networking email from Teija featured a spectacular pet resort facility that was for sale in the same area. Derek flew down to visit the property and worked on a deal with Teija that ultimately didn’t go through. But in the process, he had also looked at a facility in Kyle, TX that turned out to be a great fit, so he worked with the PET|VET team to finalize its purchase. The original plan was to keep Oregon as a home base, but as they say – life is what happens while you’re making other plans. The new facility needed their attention, and they liked the idea of everything from the weather to the schools to the business environment in Texas. So, the family bought a house in Texas and made the move. When it became apparent that the next step would be to sell the three facilities in Oregon, Derek immediately brought PET|VET on board to develop a plan.
Although it was not difficult to find a buyer, Derek describes the stressful experience of selling to a consolidation group as akin to a full-time job. Teija’s team kept the process organized, gathered information, ran reports and provided a system of checks and balances to make sure no details were missed.
“Teija’s group made a world of difference,” Derek says. “Without her involvement, it would have been a nightmare.”
Teija’s expertise in valuing the worth of the business and managing the negotiations also made a huge difference in the outcome of the deal.
“The sale of our Oregon facilities was the culmination of years of hard work, and I felt we were more than compensated for that effort. We could have easily settled for considerably less without Teija’s knowledge and skills,” Derek says. “We are so grateful to her and her staff.”
For the Reynolds family, there are more adventures ahead as they expand their high standards for pet care to new locations in central Texas. The kids have come a long way from those farm chores in the early days, but the lessons stuck and have paid off in more ways than the family could have imagined.