Small Business of the Day: The Spot Experience

We’re highlighting small businesses from around the country as nominated by you, our readers. If your favorite small business is using Twitter to communicate with customers, let us know about it @fbsmallbiz with the hashtag #mysbc, and it may be featured as an upcoming Small Business of the Day.

Small Business of the Day: The Spot Experience

Who: CEO Mitch Marrow, 36, @spotdogsrule

What: A full-scale service center for dogs that offers overnight and long-term boarding, grooming and transportation

When: January 2011

How: Marrow, a former NFL player, entered into the hedge fund business 13 years ago after suffering a career-ending injury. He said he had always had a passion for animals, and was struck that the pet industry appeared to be recession proof. "This pet space is so interesting," Marrow said. "Even in a down economy, people are still spending significantly on their pets. I was a huge dog lover and saw there was no place to invest in a scalable, well-capitalized pet services business. There was a huge unmet need."

This idea, coupled with having bad experiences leaving his own two dogs at different pet care facilities in Manhattan, led him to approach investors to finance The Spot Experience. Today, Marrow has five locations across New York, including one in the country, as well as a partnership with Continental Airlines at Newark Airport.

Where: New York City

In his own words: "We give people a piece of mind about where they are leaving their animal."