Pleasing the pooch

Dan Barton loves his 6-pound pooch, Mercedes. Within weeks of getting her, he bought her a $200 leather bomber jacket and a Swarovski crystal collar. “The dog was like a child to me,” he says. That's why he was disgusted by the smelly, dirty, big-box pet store options for getting Mercedes groomed.

“There was no guidance, no help,” Barton says. He wanted to find a person who treated his pet like a family member. So in 2008, he bought a pet store, without any experience in retail or the pet industry.

The $58.5 billion industry has proven to be a successful endeavor for Barton's St Petersburg-based company, Splash and Dash, especially with his unique business model. Barton has managed to grow his upscale dog grooming business to $2.3 million in annual gross revenue, with a three-year annual growth rate of 2,118%, which landed it on the Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing companies.