Local entrepreneur named Delaware’s Small Business Owner of the Year

MILLSBORO, Del. – Lisa St. Clair, owner of Tailbangers, is Delaware’s Small Business Owner of the Year.

St. Clair started whipping up all natural dog treats inside her own home in 2003. “It started with a rolling pin and I started at my kitchen counter. Eventually I moved out into my shed,” she said. “I was trying to hire people and I would interview them on my front porch, and say ‘I’m going to be the Otis Spunkmeyer of dog treats,’ and they believed me.”

19 years later, The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is giving St. Clair top honors. “There was a lot of interest during COVID-19. Certain industries did better than others. Anything to do with pets or food delivery did well,” said SBA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator, John Fleming.

Fleming says success stories like St. Clair’s don’t come without a lot of hard work. “You can’t expect or anticipate everything. But, if you do a plan, you can anticipate much more, and plan for contingencies, who your market is, and how you’re going to service the market,” he said.

Tailbangers was a perfect candidate to receive the award because of St. Clair’s employee retention and steady growth. It’s something that Fleming says the SBA tries to assist other businesses with, so they too can succeed. “If somebody needs assistance and they can’t get a conventional loan – maybe they’re a start up or they don’t have enough collateral – the SBA can help with that,” he said. “If you need help with a business plan, or maybe you need help with a marketing plan, we have folks who can help you do that, and that is free of charge.”

St. Clair says even though she’s received this honor, she’s still dreaming big, and planning to expand her business. She says those dreams could soon be accomplished, with the help of the Excite Sussex loan program. “They’ve been really instrumental in helping us be where we are,” said St. Clair.

It’s been quite the journey since St. Clair first began the business. “I always knew it had potential, but I never would have imagined this,” she said. “Now we sell nationally to over 3,000 stores around the country. Our new thing that we’re doing is we’re selling to campgrounds.”

St. Clair says the growth that Tailbangers has experienced couldn’t have happened without her team of dedicated employees. But, she says those employees are more like family to her. “I have the most amazing managers around, and crew. Most of my managers have been with me for five or more years,” said St. Clair. “I consider them my family. If somebody’s struggling with a sick spouse or something like that, we all pitch in.”

With the strength of a small army, and the determination to continue serving the community in Millsboro, St. Clair says not even the fear and uncertainty that came with the COVID-19 pandemic could stop them. “Through COVID-19, it was scary, because we were an essential business. People were afraid to come back to work,” she said. “I cooked for everybody for six months. They would be in quarantine. Nobody left the building. I cooked for them every single night. I did the laundry.”

And for those hoping to start their own business, St. Clair has some valuable advice. “I remember when my goal was to be able to pay people a certain amount of money. When you’re first starting out, everybody’s minimum wage. You can’t afford anything,” she said. “So many people say, ‘Oh I don’t know if I could ever do that.’ You don’t know until you just try it. I always say this: Perfection is the enemy of the good.”