APPA Creates New Membership Category for Startups (But it Costs $875)

The American Pet Products Association announced that it launched a new category for pet startups. The category, called Right Start Membership, is intended to help pet startup companies get a foothold into the industry by providing retail, marketing and pet industry knowledge.

Sounded good to me, as I consider this website a startup. And I am always trying to learn more about the pet industry.

However, when I clicked to join, I quickly realized that I would not be a good fit.

There were a couple of membership requirements:

First, I had to provide documents that proved that I was a legal US business entity.  Something like articles of incorporation, a lease, certificate of good standing, etc.  Seems a bit old school, but whatever.

Second, I had to prove that I was actively engaged in launching a pet product by providing a diagram or picture of the product, and a purchase order or invoice from a supplier.  That seemed reasonable too, but it would disqualify me as I am not really interested in launching a pet product. I would like to learn more about the industry, but the APPA is focused on serving product manufacturers.  I suppose that should have been obvious to me based on the name, but I am a bit slow.

Anyway, if a company provides the necessary documents, along with $875 fee, the APPA will review the application and consider it for approval.

Looks like their is also a business association that focuses on pet services called the IBPSA (International Boarding & Pet Services Assocation.)  I will look at that next week.