ready for business?

[DogChic]

so this is a small possibility, but a possibility ....

a grooming shop in town that was previously owned by my current boss is not doing well ..... a lot of things were changed when it switched owners and it went way downhill. i'm trying to find out if they are interested in selling.

I however, am not yet ready to be a full time groomer ... I graduated from NASH about 1 year ago (July of 06), but I haven't been grooming every day and am still apprenticing. I would not be comfortable being on my own with a 'full' line up of dogs. this shop in question needs to do AT LEAST 20 dogs a day to make rent & such, but at the time i think there are 2 groomers & 1 bather. it has room for 4 -5 groomers. There is also plenty of room for daycare and retail - which is currently not being well utilized.

ideally I would want more experience as a groomer ... and more knowledge about running a business - BUT I would also not want to pass up this opportunity. (i know nada about running a business OTHER than reading from problems to profits, which is now my bible - thank god for that book!). my plan would be to groom as many BB&nails dogs, and naturals as possible, as well as be a groomer's assistant to the current groomers (while learning to become a full fledged groomer).

Is this possible?? i think everyone thinks i'm crazy, but this is truly a dream location & shop for me. what do i do?

[hairdevil]

IMO, you are jumping in over your head, uh putting the horse before the cart so to speak! Number one, never, never depend on others to help you out in a business. You say you are not comfortable on your own, after a year of grooming and school, shows me that you lack the confidence to pull this off. You must find your inner strengths before jumping into what you have already described as a bussiness going down. what if the other groomers decide they are walking out? what if they take a client list and open their own shop? where will that leave you? If they have already lost business, why don't you find someplace smaller and cheaper and start out on your own? I'm sure with your schooling and your experience, you will do just fine, you just don't know it yet. I would not go that far in debt with so much depending on others. Think long and hard before you jump!!

[DogChic]

IMO, you are jumping in over your head, uh putting the horse before the cart so to speak! Number one, never, never depend on others to help you out in a business. You say you are not comfortable on your own, after a year of grooming and school, shows me that you lack the confidence to pull this off. You must find your inner strengths before jumping into what you have already described as a bussiness going down. what if the other groomers decide they are walking out? what if they take a client list and open their own shop? where will that leave you? If they have already lost business, why don't you find someplace smaller and cheaper and start out on your own? I'm sure with your schooling and your experience, you will do just fine, you just don't know it yet. I would not go that far in debt with so much depending on others. Think long and hard before you jump!!

hairdevil -

thanks so much for your reply - that is my biggest concern .... if the rest of the staff were to leave i would be screwed - but wouldn't that be a risk even if I was a very capable groomer? but yes, i know .... this is not the greatest of ideas .... i've just been thinking about it a lot lately.

[cassidy1]

Maybe you could work something out with the current owner. I'm thinking they could further your training and then close on the business 6-8 months or more away. There are lots of ways to write this into a contract, should after the training you decide you don't/can't buy and then they would be compensated at a set amount for the training. Usually a bank will require proof that you are capable of running a business and may require that you get on the job training in order to loan you the money. Alot depends on how quick the owner wants to move on, if they do. You are probably alot more capable than you realize but as previously mentioned, you don't want to be at the mercy of others. Another possibility is that you also negotiate with the groomers and they get a set (generous) bonus if they stay, work and train you for 6 months. Risky, yes, but sometimes being creative can lead to opportunity. I would STAY AWAY from jumping into the retail stuff until you've really got your feet under you. I have watched shops sit with money on the shelves, otherwise known as merchandise, and get into trouble. One shop opened near me that had an ENORMOUS amount of high end specialty foods. It sat and sat and they got into $ trouble, owner also wasn't a groomer and they couldn't find a reliable one, doors closed. Think about it and take WELL CALCULATED risks!!!! Keep us informed and Good Luck!

[luvpets]

Go for it!

Hi Dogchick,

If this is something you are passionate about, go for it!! From life experience, some of the things we don't have much experience about, we learn the most by doing more of it. If you offer the best service, and have the confidence that you will have a successful business, everything else will fall into place.

Good Luck!!

[squawbonds]

I went for it

The opportunity came up, it's what my husband and I wanted so we jumped. There are alot of things we had to do. Write a business plan for the bank with a projected cash flow and all that stuff. Husband did all that. Long story short, we didn't get the loan. So we are doing it all ourselves. If you have the money to hold you over until you get some clients in the door then...go for it. There are alot of ways you can make your dreams come true you just have to be creative, courageous, and confident. I am at the age where it was do it or go on slaving away for somebody else. We may fail but at least I can say I did something. I learn something new every day, I love what I do and I ain't gettin rich but I'm happy. I'm probably what alot of groomers would call a wanna-be. And they're right. I wanna-be a groomer and am doing pretty good at it. I've done my own and family and friends for years so I took a course and now I've got some clients and it's slow but I think it's slow all over right now. Anyhoo-don't put yourself in the poor house but if you want to do this thing then by all means put on your thinking cap and get to work making it happen. You can do it-don't EVER sell yourself short.

[DogChic]

The opportunity came up, it's what my husband and I wanted so we jumped. There are alot of things we had to do. Write a business plan for the bank with a projected cash flow and all that stuff. Husband did all that. Long story short, we didn't get the loan. So we are doing it all ourselves. If you have the money to hold you over until you get some clients in the door then...go for it. There are alot of ways you can make your dreams come true you just have to be creative, courageous, and confident. I am at the age where it was do it or go on slaving away for somebody else. We may fail but at least I can say I did something. I learn something new every day, I love what I do and I ain't gettin rich but I'm happy. I'm probably what alot of groomers would call a wanna-be. And they're right. I wanna-be a groomer and am doing pretty good at it. I've done my own and family and friends for years so I took a course and now I've got some clients and it's slow but I think it's slow all over right now. Anyhoo-don't put yourself in the poor house but if you want to do this thing then by all means put on your thinking cap and get to work making it happen. You can do it-don't EVER sell yourself short.

Thanks for the support squawbonds! and guess what? i did purchase the shop - back in july! and things are great. I am so happy that I didn't pass it up.

[squawbonds]

Way ta go!!!

Good for you. Glad to hear it is working out for ya. See? Dreams can come true.