Pet grooming has seen a rising trend as the career of preference, especially among people who are avid pet lovers. With the variety in pets, temperaments, and grooming requirements, every day as a pet groomer is interesting, at the very least!
However, before you begin to convert your passion for pets into an active profession and make your mark in your pet grooming business, there are many things you should know. Like any other business, pet grooming is not all cute dogs and well-behaved cats; there are always a ton of other serious things such as licenses and compliance to be considered.
Which explains why, we have complied a list of the 9 things you must know before you start your own Dog grooming davie fl business. Here goes!
#1 Whom to Groom?
Your first and foremost question to yourself should be, which pets and breeds may i groom? Because of this, you need to analyse your skill set, your likes and dislikes, and gather information about the species you would like to care for. For instance, some breeds of dogs and cats need high maintenance grooming, which might not always be within your budget or you might not have the knowledge for, as a first-time pet groomer.
In such instances, it can help to be clear about the pets you’ll be able to handle for certain and cater to only those, steadily expanding your portfolio as time passes.
#2 Educational matters: Courses, Training, Compliance, and Licences
The reason we have included all of the under one category is that they form the four pillars of education, when it comes to pet grooming.
Courses: Based on your geographical area, there are many official pet grooming courses available. Although a certificate is not always strictly necessary to begin your own business, having legitimate certification not only generates more trust among your visitors, but also enhances your own confidence.
Training: Whether you opt for a course or not, training as a pet groomer is crucial. To the end you could work within an existing pet grooming shop or begin working as a freelancer for your neighbors. In any event, you will need to get some good hands-on training on handling pets in various circumstances before you begin your own official pet grooming business.
Compliance: As you start to lay the building blocks for your pet grooming business, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with all pet-related laws and compliance laid down by the pet Rights Acts in your country. This is important as it can help to avoid any perceived indiscretions later.
Licenses: Having the official license for establishing your dog grooming store is imperative. You can examine with your local authorities to obtain a clear idea of the licenses you will need to begin your business.
#3 Choosing A SPOT
You will discover three different alternatives when it comes to choosing a spot for your dog grooming store:
Take up a home-based business
Rent a shop and begin an entire salon
Decide on a mobile pet grooming van service
In the event that you opt for running your business from home, you need to create separate rooms for bathing and cleaning the pets, as well as designating areas for clients, parking, kennels, plus more. Substantial planning is necessary when you consider setting up all the infrastructure inside your home. Furthermore, working from home comes with the necessity to set clear boundaries for yourself to keep your individual and professional lives separate.
If renting a shop is your decision, there are evident things such as capital investment, rent, mortgage, infrastructure setup, plus more to be studied into consideration. However, having a separate pet grooming salon adds a specialist touch to your business and helps build brand awareness.
There is a rising trend of offering mobile pet grooming services. While it has several advantages such as better client outreach and a far more flexible business, the area constraints on infrastructure in the van can hinder your growth. Besides, your services can be severely limited on account of a little storage space, maintenance costs, petrol/diesel costs, and other overheads.
#4 Start-up Cost
The start-up cost includes from building the basic infrastructure such as tables and bathtubs, to purchasing the dryers, blowers, shampoos, conditioners, clippers, shears, and other instruments required for pet grooming. Furthermore, the fixed overheads includes your rent, gas and electric bills, water supply and maintenance charges, employee costs, and even more. It’s important to create a cover all the original investment that will be incurred and plan expenses before you create shop.
#5 Services Provided
Since you start planning your dog grooming business, it can help to comprehend the niche you begins working with. For example, do you want to run a straightforward, regular cleaning and bathing service or do you intend to go all the way and offer customized services such as nail clipping, styling, pet treatment, and even more? You could conceivably focus on one niche and then expand your neighborhood of expertise as time passes, as you get experience. Alternatively, if you want to become the entire provider for everything related to pet grooming, you can consider hiring people with the required qualifications to make your projects easier.
#6 Ensure Insurance
Getting the company insured is crucial for every pet groomer, in case there is any unfortunate mishap. Owners are really possessive about their pets, and rightly so, hence, it is best to be ready for any eventuality. Pets can be considered a handful sometimes, so you have to get yourself covered from an insurance company that knows how to handle animal-related issues.
As you are in charge of caring for the pet when it’s in your possession, you will be held accountable if your pet falls ill or runs away. Hence, it’s important to obtain a policy that evidently states your insurance plan in cases of accidents and other setbacks.
#7 Establishing your website
Given that you have your dog grooming business ready to go, it’s important to promote it. You might have a distinct segment, you have a market, but people aren’t yet alert to your existence. To remedy this, you could start by creating a site for your store. The web is a robust tool for promotion when utilized successfully. A lovely and well-designed website can do wonders in conditions of your reputation, brand awareness and customer loyalty.
In addition, it could be highly ideal for setting up appointments, keeping track of the success of your business enterprise, informing people about the assistance you offer, keeping touching your clients, and networking to attain more people. There are many user-friendly platforms that you can avail of, such as WordPress, Joomla, etc., to build your website. Besides, if you aren’t a very tech-savvy person, you can always hire professional web development services to get the job done for you!
#8 Marketing, Marketing, Marketing
The store is ready, your website is set up, and clients are needs to trickle in. Now if there is one thing required to make business bloom, it is marketing. The planet runs on marketing today. No matter how great your service or how beautiful your store, people will never be aware of it unless you market it right.
One characteristic of your pet grooming industry would be that the review about services spreads quickly among all owners by word-of-mouth, as your pet owners’ community is similar to one big family. This is often a positive thing (or an awful thing) from the point of view of marketing, provided your services are top-notch.
However, you are unable to simply rely on word-of-mouth publicity for expanding your business and since the days of flyers and newspaper advertisements are fast becoming obsolete, a viable alternative is email and social media marketing.
Create awareness on social media websites, encourage clients to add reviews, send out regular newsletters that speak about your services, discounts, and other offers. You can even take up a blog discussing pet grooming and maintenance tips you want to tell your audience, without giving away business secrets of course! The main point is to let your clientele know that you are a veteran of your art, which increases trust and customer loyalty manifold.
#9 Creating A Network
An extension of the marketing approach, creating a joint venture partner network is a superb way of increasing your clients. You can hook up with local veterinary doctors, other pet grooming businesses, and even more and create a solid network that together offers every service a pet owner could require.
Endnote
Starting a pet grooming business commences with passion, but continues with dedication. The changing lifestyle of people across the world has increased pet owners’ desire to keep their pets well-groomed and presentable and they’re more ready than ever to avail of professional services to do so. In that scenario, choosing a distinctive feature that sets your grooming business aside from others is essential.
