Conceived in 2012, the original idea was to turn the metaphorical doghouse into an actual place where men could go, after being kicked out of the house – a boutique hotel – more like a converted house than an actual hotel. The main difference was its size, suburban location, price but more specifically the business of apologies accompanied by a gift buying service. It was like a halfway house of sorts where men could gather their thoughts and plan.
The idea was to have a low-lit bar – classic traditional type – manned by a well-presented bar tender in his 60’s, the intention being to employ people with life experience, not university students. For me, older staff would offer more appeal and add value when it came to lending a sympathetic ear, serving a stiff drink and offering some friendly advice. I believe most men would appreciate the chat given their circumstances. Alongside the bar was a gift shop where our staff could not only help you pick out the perfect gift but also write a sincere heart-felt apology; writing a letter was once common practice, unfortunately these days, it has fallen by the wayside.
Many men who have been in this situation before will tell you, a well-thought-out gift is worth the extra effort. Simply choosing a bunch of flowers may raise doubts about whether you actually understand your partner at all, possibly adding fuel to a fire that is already well ablaze. The woman you love needs to feel your sincerity and know that you’ve gone the extra mile. If you’re not sure what her favourite flowers are, I suggest you make a phone call to one of her friends and find out immediately; a relationship’s success can sometimes be about the little things – the personal touches.
The more I investigated, the more I discovered a need for this service. It seemed that men were getting into trouble with their wives, girlfriends or partners on a regular basis. If this proved to be right for at least 20% of couples, maybe this idea had more promise than once thought. Despite these encouraging figures, men would still need to apply themselves and take the time to find out things like: favourite colour, flowers, food, places to go, interests and so on but were men up to the task?
The basic principle of this concept was good, but the more I thought about it, the problem was in the execution. I needed a more feasible solution, one that wasn’t unrealistically expensive. While the boutique hotel sounded like a nice retreat for men, it was as foolish as it was impractical.
Looking back, ‘The Doghouse’ was thought up over a few drinks with friends and its initial intentions were more about getting a few laughs than being developed into an actual working business model. It just goes to show you what an overactive imagination and alcohol can create.
Years later, the bones of the ‘Doghouse’ were dug up. I can’t remember the details but I’m pretty sure it was at a pub with friends – talk about your déjà vu. Once again it got laughs and sparked new energy and thanks to a little encouragement, I decided to explore it for the second time. However, this time, I’d leave bricks and mortar to the brickies and make it 100% online. Don’t ask me why I didn’t think of that in the first place. While the execution would be different, the intention was the same: helping men get out of trouble with their loved one by engaging in and building a better relationship.
I wrote a few taglines, and one stuck out – call it my eureka moment – as it seemed to capture the essence of the idea: ‘The Doghouse –a personal relationship assistant’. This idea was like having a digital secretary in the palm of your hand, a tool that managed your personal life, keeping track of birthdays, anniversaries, special interests and other important information men needed for healthy relationships.
Like all good ideas there were always the inevitable stumbling blocks, in this particular case one of my concerns was men’s commitment to build a profile on their wives. Many of the guys I explained the app to, swore they definitely needed an app like this, but when it comes to the crunch, would they or could they even be bothered answering questions and gathering personal information? Would it fall into the too-hard-basket? If so, the app would be a complete waste of time. Proper research, risk assessment and focus groups would need to be implemented to take it to the next level if we wanted investors and financial backing.
A gift buying app of this type was all about the accuracy of the information.
Another potential hurdle was women knowing of the ‘Doghouse’ app. If they knew of this app, would they manipulate the situation, or perhaps cause an intentional argument for the sake of it, knowing an apology and a gift would be coming their way – some might say ‘opportunistic’, I say ‘scepticism’ – but when it comes to due diligence, all things must be considered.
Moving on, what if we could reward men with incentives to build the profiles, offering them discounts on a range of items they would use anyway, like half-price drinks, or meal discounts at certain local restaurant in their area. Would this be enough to get them to commit to the app? If so, then maybe we had a solid foundation to really build on.
I asked myself, what were the typical situations where men needed to purchase gifts? The obvious ones like apologies, anniversaries, birthdays, Mothers-day, Christmas. I’m sure there are plenty more that I haven’t mentioned. Organising the dates was the easy part; accuracy of the data was harder but this is where the magic happens. Perhaps simple reminder messages from the app could be sent and while I’m not a big fan of notification messages, I would make an exception in this case, especially given the unpleasantness linked to absent-mindedness or forgetfulness. What if the notification could be taken a step further by adding a more personal message for example: It’s Carmen’s birthday in a week, would you like to book a table at her favourite restaurant ‘Lovatt’ to celebrate? We’d like to wish her happy birthday and as a gift, offer you 50% off your total food bill. In addition you’ll receive a further 30% off a range of items we think she might like. Simply click the link www.doghouse.com/gifts/for/carmen.
As our lives are becoming increasingly busier – and it’s near impossible to keep track of all the dates as the lists gets longer and longer – it seems like men need all the help they can get. However, what man on the planet would refuse this kind of relationship assistance: all of sudden they’ve become warm, caring, kind, loving and sincere overnight. And while you are completing your wife’s profile, you might as well fill one out for your daughter, mother and sister, as remembering their birthdays and important dates is equally as important.
If maintaining the peace is a priority in your household and you resonate with the cliché, ‘happy wife, happy life’, then this app’ is for you. In its infancy, it has countless possibilities, with more content being added every month, improving its effectiveness and user experience with such things as: self-help e-book titles, articles by sex therapists, psychologists, marriage counselling for repeat offenders and lastly divorce lawyers for those unreconcilable situations.
While the basic premise of the ‘Doghouse’ has a lot of promise, there is much more to be done in the development of the idea, including: Data storage, AI (Artificial Intelligence) and automation algorithms, product supply chains, warehousing, distribution and delivery, protocol, payment and security system, legal and much more. The main foreseeable issue that would need serious consideration is to do with privacy and protection of sensitive information. Obviously provisions would have to be put place to prevent on-selling of all data obtained.
Maintaining a good relationship takes love, thoughtfulness, sincerity and commitment all requiring great effort. Let the ‘Doghouse’ help you take control and allow you to be the best husband or partner you can be.
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