Member of the Month: Sarah Gleave

Congratulations to our March Member of the Month, Sarah Gleave, founder of Meg K9 Custom Dog Leads and Meg K9 Paddock.

What is a logical business idea for a dog mum who wants to work from home and whose mum used to be a curtain maker? For Sarah, whose multiple businesses revolve around her passion for dogs, it was to put her skills to good use by launching Meg K9 Custom Dog Leads in 2006.

She did her research, got herself a sewing machine and found suppliers. While she was familiar with designing websites, she started her own e-commerce store for the brand as well.

Over the years Sarah has also run a dog rescue centre, boarding kennels, a secure dog park, Meg K9 Paddock, and is also a published author.

In this interview, she shares her journey, challenges and successes – from featuring on Dragons' Den to celebrating over two decades in business – offering valuable insights on resilience, product development and business growth. She says:

“When you’re not a people person, I can come across as one, but I will be honest, I'm not always. Being able to take it on the chin when someone leaves a bad review has been a massive learning curve.”

What inspired you to start your business?

It all started in 2006 when I attended a local country show and saw a stall selling dog leads and collars. At the time, I was running a dog rescue centre from home and needed a way to generate income.

The idea of making dog leads fit perfectly with my skill set, which I inherited from my mother, who was a curtain maker.

How did your business evolve?

I initially started making dog leads as a side business while running a boarding kennel that I opened in 2008, in addition to the dog rescue I started as soon as I moved to Lincoln in 2002.

When COVID hit, I decided to close the kennels and focus entirely on the dog leads, which had become my primary source of income and to support the dog rescue centre. During this period, I also designed an anti-theft dog lead, which gained significant attention, even leading to an appearance on Dragons' Den.

How was your experience on Dragons' Den?

It was nerve-racking! I was so anxious that I was in tears half the time before going on. However, once I was in front of the Dragons, I forgot about my nerves and just went for it. I wasn’t fully prepared in terms of financial figures, which showed, but the experience was invaluable. I didn’t secure an investment, but the exposure helped my business grow.

The whole anti-theft dog lead period of the life of the business was a massive success. But it is something I don’t shout about because the need for this type of dog lead was not a very nice time, post-COVID. There were a lot of people who wanted to steal people's dogs to earn money or to breed them. Although I was providing owners with peace of mind, it wasn’t something I was proud of.

How do you come up with new product designs?

There are three main ways I design my products:

• Standard leads that are commonly available

• Products I create to solve specific problems, like my car boot lead, which helps prevent dogs from jumping out of cars

• Custom requests from customers, such as leads designed for wheelchair users. If a bespoke product has wider market potential, I may refine and add it to my store

Where do you source your materials from?

I try to source as much as possible from the UK, with a lot of my webbing coming from a mill in Nottingham. However, some specialist materials, such as reflective webbing, need to be sourced from Europe or Asia due to limited availability in the UK.

What challenges have you faced as a business owner?

The biggest challenge has been resilience – learning to deal with customer complaints and negative reviews. While most issues have been about delivery delays rather than product quality, it still affects you emotionally. When you’re not a people person, I can come across as one, but I will be honest, I'm not always. Being able to take it on the chin when someone leaves a bad review has been a massive learning curve.

Another challenge has been navigating increased costs due to Brexit and customs charges, which have impacted my ability to source materials at competitive prices.

What marketing strategies have worked best for you?

I’ve done all my own web design and digital marketing. Amazon advertising has been a learning curve – I found that Amazon’s automated ad campaigns often perform better than manually set ones. Recently, I’ve also started selling on TikTok, and my initial sales have been completely organic.

What’s next for your business?

By July 2026, I’ll have been running the dog lead business for 20 years, and I plan to semi-retire. I’ll likely continue selling a few key products but on a smaller scale.

Meanwhile, my secure dog park, Meg K9 Paddock, which I launched post-COVID, is growing and will provide passive income. Additionally, I’ve started focusing on writing, which has become a passion project.

Tell us more about your writing journey.

I’ve published several books, including dog training guides and a personal project called Tapered Dreams, which documents my experiences while coming off antidepressants. I even used AI tools to help structure my thoughts. So, the content was mine and my tone of voice, but just a bit structured.

The whole process was therapeutic. Talking to AI, and this is all in the book, there's a whole chapter on it, talking to AI and hearing that perspective of what I dictated was quite mind-blowing because it was like talking to a therapist.

In the future, I see myself expanding into other storytelling areas.

How did you come across Enterprise Nation?

I found it a few months ago when I was reaching out to join communities of like-minded people. I've attended many Lunch and Learn webinars and also the Lincolnshire online meet-ups. It's been more of a case of reaching out to people who are in similar situations to try and troubleshoot things.

Become part of the Enterprise Nation community

We're proud to have entrepreneurs like Sarah as members of our amazing community of small business owners. Join today for the full range of member benefits!