Dog Grooming Salon

[Westie Girl]

Hi All,

I'm looking at starting or buying a Dog Grooming Salon in Perth. Can anybody point me in the direction of where to go, where to get information etc. Does anybody know anyone who would be willing to buy in with me and help me get it up and running. I have never owned a business but I am planning on taking a grooming course and hopefully employing someone as well.

Any advice / thoughts / comments would be greatefully received.

Thank you.

[fancyfeathers]

Good luck with it. I opened one 4 months ago in Canberra and we hit the ground running. I had never done any grooming prior to opening our doors, had a cushy job in the public service. I did a grooming course and with help from fellow groomers in our district open the doors and we have been flat out ever since. I caught up speed quickly which was great. Very nervous about how we survive the colder months coming but fingers crossed we will make it to the next spring ready and better and bigger than we were last year.

Advertise as much as you can. Get good relationships with groomers near by. they have given us probably 75% of our business. They are booked out and been referring customers to us.

Its very exciting, very tiring, very challenging but hopefully all worth every bit of it. Great seeing the doggies needing a bit of TLC and trotting out looking wonderful and the smile on their owners faces.

All the best of luck

[~tj~]

Im not sure, but let me know if you do open in Perth - always looking for somewhere to take my boys

[Dogsfevr]

Take the course & then decide what path.I own a salon & it isnt easy work & bad skills means no clients.

Learn as much as possible about proper clipping which the course wont cover fully & decide what breeds your are planning to take more off or what types of clips will be the main.

Unfortunately we have to re do many dogs that have been butchered & the owners are devasted,

Bad grooming doesnt spread the word well so pick what your capable off & above all buy books & use them.

My breed has suffered badly from groomers who have no clue or appreciation for what the trim off & the time it takes to grow back.

Learn about asking questions as to what the client wants & be honest with them about your ability.

There dogs shouldnt be your guinea pigs,there paying you for a service & you need to be upfront as to whether you can offer it on that breed or dog.

Do your homework because whilst there is a need for new groomers it has one of the highest retirement rates around

[Koemi]

i really hope you don't take this the wrong way - but may i ask why you're opening a salon if you aren't a groomer? Perhaps i've read the post wrong... If not, have you considered working in a salon to see what it's like before you commit? Grooming is quite difficult and a LOT of girls (and boys, i guess) burn out within the first two years. It looks like fun, but it's a hell of a lot of work.

i'm not preaching, i swear Good luck with it!!

[jerojath]

I really think you should do the course ( a GOOD complete course!!!!) and work in the industry for a year or two before even contemplating starting shop.

Some folk who learn the trade "have IT" while some simply do not.

I have seen many people 'complete' courses but could never handle operating a salon as they lack confidence, speed and real skills for quite some years.

If you were to open a salon while inexperienced (and although doing a course, you WILL be inexperienced!) and were churning out second-rate work, you will develope a poor reputation VERY quickly, and it is near impossible to win back unhappy clients.

Do a course, find yourself a mentor if possible, get some experience under your belt and THEN go for it!

[fancyfeathers]

I really think you should do the course ( a GOOD complete course!!!!) and work in the industry for a year or two before even contemplating starting shop.

Some folk who learn the trade "have IT" while some simply do not.

I have seen many people 'complete' courses but could never handle operating a salon as they lack confidence, speed and real skills for quite some years.

If you were to open a salon while inexperienced (and although doing a course, you WILL be inexperienced!) and were churning out second-rate work, you will develope a poor reputation VERY quickly, and it is near impossible to win back unhappy clients.

Do a course, find yourself a mentor if possible, get some experience under your belt and THEN go for it!

Definitely a good choice to do the course first. We decided to do open a salon, then signed on for the course. Shop opened after the course but it was hard yakka. Fortuneately it turned out that I "have it" but would have been a huge mistake if it proved that I didnt. Even though it has worked out well it is really hard work physically and mentally. There were days when I just broke down and cried my eyes out. Fortunately my sister was there each time this happened and helped get me through it and to finish the groom, but boy there were days when I said, what the hell was I thinking. Started off doing only 2 dogs a day now can do 6 on my own from wash to clip. Most days I work on my own, and it is really hard. I feel like a truck has hit me over night when I wake up. I dont know your age, but I started this at 42 after 20 years in office jobs sitting on my arse all day. six months later my body is still learning to cope. I am managing quite well now, but there are still days where I want to curl up in a corner and sleep for days. Its a big move. Prepare for it as much as you can. You cant have a sick day, you just have to go in and do it or the bills dont get paid. I lost my dog the week before christmas to cancer and we were grooming 9 dogs a day. I had to put my dog to sleep in the morning and go to work 20 minutes later and get through 13 hour days. By Christmas eve I just cried my eyes out. So you gotta think of how it is going to effect all aspects of your life. We were open for 7 days a week. Grooming 7 days a week was a mistake. We now operate 6 days, every week needs to have an ending or you get burn out. I love the job now and do beautiful grooms and love the satisfaction I get when I see them walk out the door happy and beautiful with really happy owners, but I tell its a shock to the system when you first start.

Also give a lot of thought to opening a salon opposed to mobile or home salon. We now have to work harder because we pay almost $2000 a month in rent, thats a lot of dogs. I wish we had done up the garage and worked from home it would have been a much better idea.

Edited February 11, 2010 by fancyfeathers

[~*Shell*~]

When you do a course, make sure it's hands on. I did one by correspondance (just for my own interest - I have no plans to groom professionally) but most of the people in my "class" had plans to set up shop and walked away $1500 out of pocket with no practical experience. Clipping, scissoring and hand stripping take time to learn. I could groom a friend's dog but there's no way I'd charge them for it. I have no where near enough experience to be able to groom professionally.

There's no way I would send Zero to anyone in the course I did for grooming, and he's a relatively simple dog to groom.

[Clyde]

Also give a lot of thought to opening a salon opposed to mobile or home salon. We now have to work harder because we pay almost $2000 a month in rent, thats a lot of dogs. I wish we had done up the garage and worked from home it would have been a much better idea.

How do you make any money on only 6-9 dogs a day plus all that rent? Do you sell product as well?

I admire anyone who can do a career change midlife, I wish I had the balls to do it

I agree with JeroJath to get some hands on experience for a while first to see if you like it Westie Girl.

[Rysup]

I ran a mobile business for 5 years. It is hard work, you are out in all sorts of awful weather, dealing with a lot of dogs where no owner is home, or the owner has unreasonable expectations. I found that we got the worse dogs - the ones people were too ashamed to take to a normal salon - the ones you have to shear a fleece off. But I also had a large reliable client base, and when I closed my doors a lot of my clients were very sad.

I closed down because I found grooming for work, and then having to groom my own dogs at home, was taking the enjoyment out of having my own dogs. It was becoming such a chore, and I decided I did not want that.

Best of luck!

[jerojath]

I did a grooming course when I was 16. I did a lot of research first and found courses by correspondence were a waste of time as were courses available at TAFE. Some "All Breeds" courses even require you to bring in dogs yourself so it is very hard to get experience in many breeds at all that way!

I signed up at the "Dog Grooming School Of Victoria" in Heidelberg. The Course was run alongside a VERY busy salon so there was no limit to what dogs or breeds you have access too. I remember starting out watching, then bathing and drying, then grooming, then clipping and scissoring and so on. I think it was 3 full days a week for 12 months(??). By the end of the course I was COMPLETELY confident in all breeds grooming. I worked for a year while I got my finances in order and made certain that I still wanted to be a groomer before looking at setting up business. Eventually, it was the best move I could have made, but had I not had that confidence or such skills I would NOT have survived in business.

I think once you're in a shop and paying bills, you really need to do at LEAST 9 or 10 decent jobs a day.

That's a lot of dogs to do a thorough job on! It helps to have someone bathing & drying though, so you can concentrate on the grooming/clipping/scissoring and clients etc...

Edited February 11, 2010 by jerojath

[fancyfeathers]

I did a grooming course when I was 16. I did a lot of research first and found courses by correspondence were a waste of time as were courses available at TAFE. Some "All Breeds" courses even require you to bring in dogs yourself so it is very hard to get experience in many breeds at all that way!

I signed up at the "Dog Grooming School Of Victoria" in Heidelberg. The Course was run alongside a VERY busy salon so there was no limit to what dogs or breeds you have access too. I remember starting out watching, then bathing and drying, then grooming, then clipping and scissoring and so on. I think it was 3 full days a week for 12 months(??). By the end of the course I was COMPLETELY confident in all breeds grooming. I worked for a year while I got my finances in order and made certain that I still wanted to be a groomer before looking at setting up business. Eventually, it was the best move I could have made, but had I not had that confidence or such skills I would NOT have survived in business.

I think once you're in a shop and paying bills, you really need to do at LEAST 9 or 10 decent jobs a day.

That's a lot of dogs to do a thorough job on! It helps to have someone bathing & drying though, so you can concentrate on the grooming/clipping/scissoring and clients etc...

Six dogs gets us through a day. As long as I get $200 in the bank a day, mortgage and shop rent plus bills related to home are paid. the rest goes towards shop bills. Im scared of winter not sure how we get through that, but groomers around me tell me not to worry. But as long as we can get through to next september we will be laughing as we will get our dog washer in regularly and be able to take more bookings, plus hopefully another groomer. At the moment it is just me with my brother coming in once in a while when we have the demand for it. We do have a retail side as well which supplements a small bit. Selling science diet, huge range of dog clothing and bling, collars, leads, NRL jerseys for dogs, dog bags, things you can only get on the net. Hopefully in winter the jackets will help keep the money coming. Last year I spent all weekends sitting outside woolworths supermarkets around canberra selling our stuff before we opened a shop so can see I will probably have to do that again.

[Clyde]

Quite a few years back I offered discount cards in winter. It gave clients the opportunity to see how lovely a dog can look with coat left long and styled. Explain to clients that dogs really need more grooming in winter than in summer as their coat is longer. You can also have a loyal client system where people who rebook within say, 6 weeks, get $5 off their groom.

I find winter is actually busier as the coats are left longer and more styling is involved. My days are longer.

It took a couple of winters to train my clients in this area that they still need upkeep in winter but we are there now.

[fancyfeathers]

Quite a few years back I offered discount cards in winter. It gave clients the opportunity to see how lovely a dog can look with coat left long and styled. Explain to clients that dogs really need more grooming in winter than in summer as their coat is longer. You can also have a loyal client system where people who rebook within say, 6 weeks, get $5 off their groom.

I find winter is actually busier as the coats are left longer and more styling is involved. My days are longer.

It took a couple of winters to train my clients in this area that they still need upkeep in winter but we are there now.

We were thinking of doing a deal for winter similar to that and offer money off grooming in may june july. I have been trying to coach them into a longer clip in winter. I think most of our regulars will keep coming in. We will be in the yellow pages by then so hopefully that will get us through

[becks]

westie girl

Also I hope you realise that not all the dogs you work on will behave like your own dog, you will get dogs who get stressed easily, those who will snap and bite, sometimes without warning, dogs who none stop fidget, dogs with matteed and dirty coats, owners who have different expectations to what is actually possible. On top of that is it back breaking work and being self employed you don't get paid holidays or sick leave, also think about how you would run the shop if you became pregnant or had an injury that would take a long time to heal.

A lot of people think the work is easy and the day is spent playing with cute puppies.

As was said before, it also takes the fun out of grooming your own dogs.

if this is a job you want to get involved in, as others have said, go and do the course and then look at working for someone else for awhile to gain more experience and have help on hand for the times you get in a new breed or you aren't sure what the client wants you to do. also go to dog shows and see the correct way the breeds are presented, this will help you to provide better pet trims that will still retain the breed character.

[Miranda]

I gather that as you're planning to take a course you know very little about grooming? To be frank I don't think you should be setting yourself up in a grooming salon when you know next to nothing about it. Pet owners expect that when they take their dog to a grooming salon it is going to washed and groomed by a professional who knows what they're doing. I really don't think that it's ethical to offer a service to the public when you have absolutely no experience and probably don't know much more than they do.

If I were you I'd do a good course and then work in someone else's salon for a year or two before starting out on your own, then you'll know whether it suits you because grooming dogs is hard, sometimes unpleasant work. Until you have established yourself and have a regular clientele you'll be grooming all and sundry and some dogs are a complete mess, matted to the skin, covered in sores, unable to defecate properly because the hair around the anus is matted with faeces, sometimes they're even flyblown and the sores are full of maggots. Some of the dogs will be very hard to handle and will bite so dog handling skills are also necessary. I groom my own dogs, but there's no way I'd groom other peoples.

[kirst_goldens]

Hey all,

Im also a dog groomer. I am in my second yr at a grooming course - its a certificate 4 in pet grooming, we learn pet clips and breed clips and have had some lovely and most helpful breeders bring in their dogs and demo breed standards and some hae even let us groom their dogs who are not in show.

I also work as a groomer and have been for about a yr now. i am in tlaks at the moment with the owners to take over the grooming side of the business - we are a boarding kennels and cattery as well.

I think that without my course and yrs experience there is no way i could have handled the take over - NO WAY.

As it is i am getting as much help as i can trying to work out how to cover costs but not charge through the roof... i am llucky i dont have rent but i do have a fee per dog for use of bath and dryer - saves me having to buy them and pay for servicing

As others have said it is not something to take on lightly... u shouls def IMO look at working in the industry first i have had my fair share of bites and horrible dogs - one we reported the owner to the RSPCA, owners are sometimes very hard to please and wont want to listen and its not always fluffy puppies having a fun bath, playing in the bubbles. I love grooming and i cant imagine doing anything else, it is so rewarding - but pls dont get too involved without testing the waters first!!!

i also get may fixup jobs and sometimes cant believe the state the other groomer has sent the dog home in...

Cheers

Kirst

[GoldiesRgr8Poodles2]

Westie Girl... Im wiht the others on ehre... I started grooming from an animal health course. I went for 2 weeks work exp. in the salon that I now own and the boss kept me on. I worked as a washer, dryer, brusher for a year fulltime then started grooming training. As someone said on ehre I "had it" and could do complicated breed clips better than the manager who had been showing and grooming for 10 years. I had the benefit of training under 4 differnent people at one time which was grea to gert all their tips and withting 2 years of grooming the m amanger left, i was promoted and within 4 months of that she retired and sold me the salon...

If you do not get sufficient traing in all aspects you will either fail the business or get a really bad reputation. I woudlnt be half the groomer I am if i hadnt slogged it out as a washer for a while. That is where all the basics are for a good hair cut. Without the right washing, drying and brushing? fluffing doesnt matted how good a groomer you are you cant turn them out well..

Myself and my bestfreind who runs the salon wiht me bother groomed this way and my business consistently grooms 20 dogs on a normal day and 30or more on my 2 busiest days where Ive taken on another groomer. I run 2 washers and myself and my best friend in the styling room. then on the big days its 3 washer the two of us and a third groomer with 20 years behind her.

I am sick of the amount of young girls who think it would be cute to trim and primp dogs who have NO idea. Im sick of owners comeing to me expecting to fix a cut that really needs to be taken back and re grown becasue its that badly hacked.

Put it this way if you wanted to be a hairdresser you couldnt just open up a hairdressers and receive clients could you?

Dog grooming SHOULD be no different. The dog cant tell you what its owner wants(hell most owner dont knto what they want) and dog cant tell you that your holding its leg at a bad angle and your hurting it, a dog doesnt jsut squirm if they dont like it they BITE and scratch and meanwhile you have to keep your cool and not blow your stack at the dog because its "irratioanl". Dog grooming is so much more involved that hair dressing yet any tom, dick or harry who doesnt have a clue can open up one.

get a job and a Good, Reputable salon for a could of years. Ask for a job just sweeping floors and watching then start washing and drying and then approach about stlying training. Its the only way to know that you could make it in the industry. ANd god knows with the amount if inexperienced hacks out there the industry needs more good groomers.

I wish you luck.. its a hell of a lot of hard work and very waring on your body but gor I couldnt imagine doing anythign else anymore I love it so much.

[The Shearing Shed]

After grooming for 10 years in England we moved to Toowoomba QLD and set up a grooming salon that offers courses to people who would like to start up their own parlour, and can not believe the amount of owners who come in that are so upset by 'groomers' that have done their dogs in the past. Many dogs have a great fear of being clipped due to rough handling from people who claim to have done a course and are professionals in the industry. I started out by just bathing dog after dog under my mentor who wouldn't have dreamed of giving me the clippers until I could bath brush out and fully pre and understand why and how things are done. Make sure you fully look into the task before going on a course. Good luck with your new venture.