Need Advise

[minpin]

Good Evening All,

I'm new to Groomer Talk - in fact, I'm not a groomer (yet) but very much interested. I'm working in the corporate world and it's depressing me. I don't like my job and I find myself daydreaming about running my own grooming and doggie day care center. I'm unable to quit my job and enroll in grooming school as I am not finacially able to go without my income so I did the next best thing... I think, I enrolled my daughter in a dog grooming school. She starts this week and she is very excited about it.

My plan is this; she gets trained in grooming, gets a job for some hands on experience and when she's ready - I open the business. Do you think that would be a bad idea on my part? I mean the fact that I wouldn't be able to groom dogs. She and I have discussed this and she says not to worry, she'll groom and I can take care of the day care part.

While my husband is supportive of the idea, he feels I'm making a mistake by not going to grooming school. He thinks I should go to school on the weekends (while still working during the week). I don't think I can handle both, my job is very demanding and some nights I'm there until 7 or 7:30 in the evening. I'm afraid I'll get burned out - and fast.

Do you think it's foolish to open a grooming business with my daughter, with her being the only one knowing how to groom? Would I be making a mistake?

[pamperedpups]

Keep in mind that knowing how to groom is only the start. The most successful people in grooming are "business persons who groom" and you've come to the right place to find out all about that. Welcome to the forum!

[Gracy Rose]

I agree with your hubby, you need to learn to groom to grasp the demands.

[Mary1980]

Why not when your daughter gets the business going, if it does well you go to school? She should pay you something sence your starting the buisness. Then you go to school and you can have 2 groomers in the business. Grooming school is short too.

Just a thought.

[Poodlefluff]

I think that if your daughter learns how to groom at a grooming school and you get her a shop- she could teach you to bathe for her at first and let you run the front desk and that kind of thing, or you could run the day care part as well. It could work, eventually she could teach you to groom. But it will probably take her some time to be confident enough in her own skills to do that. It would be wise to try to hire a groomer that has experiance and let her and your daughter groom the dogs at first. She can do the breeds your daughter is not confident in at first. Most of the groomers I have met out of grooming schools can't finish a dog very well yet or can only groom 3 or 4 dogs a day, so she may not earn enough money to support the salon on just her grooms alone for a while. I would buy the book from Problems to Profits, I did when I first started to think about having my own business. It has a wealth of useful info. Good luck.

[Raggs]

Go to www.nashacademy.com

It sounds like a pretty good idea to me, but it might be best to learn how to groom. There are dogs out there that require more than one person to groom them. All those lovely nasty dogs and wild dogs, etc. It's best to have some else that works there that knows how to groom even if you don't do it on a daily basis.

Best thing to suggest to your daughter is to have her work at a shop for at least 1 year, better if it was 2 years, just to learn shortcuts and different styles. All the good stuff. Sometimes working at more than one shop is better. Working with different groomers helps out other groomers so much. They learn the easy way to do things without sacraficing quality and it helps them groom faster.

Other than that, good luck. There will be others on here to say everything that I didn't say...

[pamperedpups]

Thought I'd add... I also agree with Gracy. Not only will learning to groom help you understand what's going on, you'll also be able to help out if your daughter needs it! At the very least I suggest you take a bather/brusher course.

[minpin]

Thanks to all for the all your advise. I really do want to do this. I know that I would be better off knowing how to groom. I don't want to feel lost or helpless. The suggestion to do a bather/brusher course sounds like a good idea. The school my daughter will be attending offers an assistant grooming course. Perhaps I can do that on the weekends? I did order the book "From Problems to Profits" yesterday - hoping that can help me establish a business plan. I talked with my daughter tonight and tomorrow will be her first day, she is excited and confident. I'm excited for her. I told her that I want her to work at a salon after completing her course and learn all she can. Hopefully by this time next year - we'll be opening our doors for business! Thanks again for the advise...

[Waggles]

Not only are you managing a high demand job, you are managing the home front. You need time for you. It sounds like weekends are your time to regenerate so don't give that up. It will be beneficial to you and the business to learn how to groom, but it doesn't have to occur this soon in your plan. A successful business doesn't happen overnight. Define your 5 year goal. From that break it down into smaller short-term goals and assign realistic time frames to accomplish each of those. I would focus on the business side of the business for now, allow your daughter time to get her formal training before enrolling yourself. Good luck.

[bow_wow_wheels]

MinPin, I don't know where in FL you're located but the Graywood Academy of Pet Care and Design is an EXCELLENT school that graduates their students as fully certified ISCC Petcare Dermatech Specialists! I **promise** you that if your daughter attends there and then goes to work for someone else to gain some experience you will NOT regret sending her there. You'll be able to open sooner becuase of that educational background and you'll also have an automatic edge over the competition...How many places can advertise an Internationally Certified Skin & Coat Care Specialist on staff?

[bow_wow_wheels]

Oh, sorry-I forgot to add that Graywood is in Newnan, GA just off of the interstate.

[TAILSRWAGON]

You can do it!!

I was in the same boat two years back and decided I wanted grooming more than I wanted work, But like you I could not quit because we needed the income.
I attended grooming school only on Saturday and at first it was exhausting but I loved it so much I was boring my family to death with doggie stories. By the end of the first month I got into a rhthym.
It took me 10 months to complete my training during which time I also wrote my business plan and did as much prep work as I could to hit the ground running.

[luckydog]

If you can't afford to quit your job and go to grooming school what's going to happen as your waiting to build a client list and you cannot groom as many dogs a day as an experienced groomer. My suggestion is to get the book "Financial Peace" by Dave Ramsey before going out and spending the money to start up a shop. I used to work at a grooming school and in my experience it will take school, plus 1-2 years of working for someone else just to learn the basic technical skills. There is a very high turnover rate for grooming businesses out there. BTW--I know someone who sent her daughter to grooming school--got a huge loan to buy a business in her name--2 years later the daughter got a boyfriend and moved away--who's grooming now?

[supermutts]

First how old is your daughter ????? I opened my shop after 17 years of grooming and my 17 year old wanted to bath and learn to groom so she can take over the busniess when i retire Haha . so work for atotal of 3 moths and got bored of it. she loves the dogs but just doesnt want to work with mom understanding they want to become independent.... which they should if you daughter is even in her 20's the first couple years are the tough ones if you stick it out you'll stay and I think your looking at the Fun of plaing with the doggies ha it not that way... jumping,sitting moving around,biting shaking, your think that your job is the only stress ful job. I love doing what i do but I started as abather and did it for 3 years and learned to groom in that time built my confidence and learn to deal with any dog now no dog bothers me I am never stressed. I dont understand why everyone whats to just jump into it with eyes closed.