Hello! Seeking Advice

[Taina]

Hi!

I have been employed in the nonprofit sector for over 15 years and I am looking for a career change. I love animals! I have three dogs at home and I want to become a dog/cat groomer. We are planning to relocate to Florida in the next couple of months and was wondering if anyone can refer me to a really good dog grooming school. My husand and I want to open a dog spa once I complete my program. Can anyone give me some idea on the start-up costs for the salon? We have also discussed the possibilty of mobile grooming. Any recommendations will be very much appreciated!

Taina

[DAPER DAWG]

Hey there

I'm in Connecticut so I'm not aware of the grooming schools in Florida.

I can say that if you don't have any other animal handling experience yet, that while you are in school and when you get out of school that you should get a job with another salon to learn more and to make sure that you like grooming before investing in your own business.

It is really hard work and I've seen a lot of people in my class that didn't even want to do it after the class ended because the didn't realize how involved it was.

The other option is go to work for another salon as a bather (petco, petsmart, bestfriends) those franchises tend to pay more per hour while you are learning but would always start you as a bather/brusher and go from there. Even after you get out of grooming school they will still only hire you as a bather until you learn to groom their way.

So that way you could save the money school will cost you and I believe you can learn a lot more about how to run the whole business, because in school you just groom and never learn how to take customers in and all that stuff.

To increase my animal handling skills and confidence I volunteered at the Human Society, helping to train the shelter dogs (I love it). If you can't or don't know how to handle all sizes and types of dogs it will make your job 100% harder than it needs to be.

Other peoples dogs don't hold still like yours might and many have little or no training from the owners on how to behave, so some training methods come in handy.

That's about all I can suggest. Good luck with your career change. I just love it.

[hairdevil]

There is a really good grooming school that was suppose to open in March in Orlando. you can private message Faux Paws, she has the info I believe. You can also contact Gracy Rose on here, she too is in Orlando. good luck!

[Helly]

Hi!

I have been employed in the nonprofit sector for over 15 years and I am looking for a career change. I love animals! I have three dogs at home and I want to become a dog/cat groomer. We are planning to relocate to Florida in the next couple of months and was wondering if anyone can refer me to a really good dog grooming school. My husand and I want to open a dog spa once I complete my program. Can anyone give me some idea on the start-up costs for the salon? We have also discussed the possibilty of mobile grooming. Any recommendations will be very much appreciated!

Taina

While it's not impossible to go straight from grooming school into your own business, it's much better to work with an experienced groomer for a while before you put all your hard earned money into opening your own shop or mobile.

There are just too many things involved in grooming that you never experience in school. Not even the very best schools. In a shop environment, you'll get to experience all the "What to do if..." situations that just don't happen at school. You'll have to deal with impossible clients, impossible dogs and cats, maybe even an impossible employer. All vital experiences you'll find handy to know about before you open up your own shop.

And it's also very important to be a business owner who grooms, not a groomer who owns a business. That's something that grooming school won't teach you. If you've never had management experience, invest in a class or two at your local junior college. Learn about business licensing, taxes, insurance, and liability, and how to plan for the future. Learn about inventory control, managing cash flow, employer/employee relations. Too many groomers open up without consulting and attorney and an accountant, don't have liability insurance, and no idea how to manage a business. And they fail, because they didn't have a plan.

At the very least, buy (and read!) From Problems to Profits.

[sheilabgroomer]

I ditto what the others said! Also, I would maybe try to get a job as a bather or kennel help even before you go to school. As mentioned, there is a lot more involved than just love for animals. While I was at school there were quite a few drop outs from students who found it was a lot different than what they thought. I am NOT trying to discourage you, please don't think that I am, I would just hate for you to put money into tuition and find out that it really wasn't what you wanted.

As far as schools in Florida, I went to Merryfield, which is in Ft. Lauderdale. It closed for a while but I believe it has recently reopened. Good luck to you! I hope this works out for you and your dream becomes a reality!!

[Taina]

You are the best!

Thanks so much for your feedback! Interesting enough, yesterday I took Papo (my Llasha Apso) and Flavor Flave (my Yorkie) to my local groomer. We had a bad winter storm on Friday and she was working all alone on Saturday. She asked me to stay while she groomed my dogs and asked if i wanted to help. I said YES! So, got to see first hand how she groomed the dogs. I enjoyed it very much. Then again, I was helping her with my own dogs.

She suggested that I work as a bather before I decided on attending school. I work five days a week, so I am only avaibale on Saturdays. Nonetheless, I will try to find a job locally. I am so glad I found this site! You guys are the best! Thanks so much for your guidance!

[SpikeyTheYorkie]

It is for sure an awesome job, but very hard at times, physically exhausting, and not a "clean" job that is for sure!

You have to deal with pee, poo, vomit, diarrhea, parasites, MAGGOTS too!

Matted messes, neglected dogs, injured dogs that owners have neglected to bother taking to the vet, etc...

These are the negatives.

The positives are too many to list. They do not all stands like little statues, and it's not all playing with puppies.

I think school is a great idea, you don't need to start out as a bather, that is the slow way, lol. I DO, however, think that starting up a business immediately after school might not be the best idea---but that's just me. I know that I have greatly benefitted and learned from working with many other groomers. It helps to be in that environment to learn from others---though sometimes you'll learn bad habits too.

Good luck, grooming is the love of my life---after my husband and my dog.

Tammy in Utah