Pet Circle is one of the fastest growing e-commerce businesses in Australia, established only four years ago by a former investment banker with a simple idea. Mike Frizell was collecting a large bag of dog food for his golden retriever and straining under the weight when he had a light-bulb moment. There had to be a simpler way to shop for your pet, especially for bulky or heavy items like food. With that, Pet Circle was born.
Mike, founder and CEO of Pet Circle, started his career in a different sector. ”I studied both engineering and finance at university, but decided to give management consulting a try as my first job out of university. It was a great precursor to starting my own business, as I worked with many businesses across Australia and internationally helping them to become more profitable and efficient. I also worked as an investment banker at Macquarie and Greenhill Caliburn.”
Despite the dramatic change in career paths, Mike says that his varied résumé helped him to establish Pet Circle and grow it into the thriving business it is today. ”Both consulting and banking were very useful backgrounds to have, and engineering is as well. From the consulting side, I spent many years working with dozens of companies with their various business problems. We would look at a business, understand what makes it tick, what makes it successful, and then come up with ways for it to improve further.”