Starting your own business and becoming an entrepreneur can be intimidating, especially if you’re hoping to start a business that works with one of the most beloved aspects of the American home: pets. Dog owners spend billions of dollars every year caring for their fur babies, so it offers a lucrative business opportunity if you know what you’re doing. Keep reading to learn some successful tips for starting a dog grooming business.
Create a Business Plan
Before you can start any business, including a dog grooming business, you have to create a business plan. This means asking hard questions about the market you’re in, startup and operation costs, the location, what equipment you’ll need, and getting a license.
Once you’ve asked yourself these questions and you know the answers, you can create a business plan that will act as a personalized guide throughout your business development and launch. This plan will include your ideal customer, how you’ll reach them, service charges, and your service area.
Act on the Plan
Now that you have a plan laid out, you have to act on it. Start by choosing the location of your business. Dog groomers have more flexibility than other kinds of business owners, so you can run your business out of your home, in a mobile van, or in a traditional brick-and-mortar store. Choose a location that’s cost-effective but will also allow you to reach your ideal customers.
Once you know where you’ll be working, gather the supplies you need to start. You’ll need to choose the right grooming shears for your and the dog’s comfort as you work on its coat. Dog grooming is about more than cutting a dog’s coat; you’ll need to find the right bathtubs, hoses, brushes, combs, gloves, nail clippers, shampoos, and conditioners. If you provide a niche service for specific breeds, buy supplies specialized for that breed as well.
And Open Your Doors
You have the plan. You have the location and the equipment you need to act on the plan. Now it’s time to open your doors. Market as much as you can to get customers through those doors. This can be old-fashioned ads on telephone poles and in newspapers, or you can take advantage of all that social media has to offer. Share your business everywhere you can and tailor your language to draw in your ideal customer.
To help attract that ideal customer, make sure that you’re taking care of the humans as well as the pets you work with. Provide a website that’s easy to navigate. Be responsive to emails, phone calls, and other messages. Offer discounts and rewards to keep people coming back and to get them to bring new people along with them. The better you take care of people, the more comfortable they’ll feel leaving their dog in your loving care.
Creating a business plan that looks at everything you need before you start, starting well with a good location and equipment, marketing well, and taking care of the people you serve are four successful tips you need to know to start a dog grooming business. While these tips can’t cover everything you need to know before you start, they’ll keep you on track as you work through your business plan, act on that plan, and open your doors.
