How To Make Money With A Dog Grooming Business

The average jobs a dog groomer performs on an animal is...

-Shampooing/Conditioning (With a dog flea and tick shampoo, or a sensitive skin dog shampoo...)
-Trimming the facial fur and the fur in between toes
-Nail clipping/Nail polishing (People DO love to spoil their pet)
-Cleaning out the ears
-Shaving for different breed styles
-De Shedding Treatments
-Teeth Brushing
-Brush Out
-Anal Gland Expressing (Yup, you heard me. One of the not so pleasant services)

Some dog groomers even offer such services like temporary pet tattoos, fur coloring and fur styles like mo-hawks. It depends on your customer base whether or not to offer these extras. Some people may not take you seriously and some may welcome the ideas with a smile. I suggest sticking with the basics at first.

PROS:

1)You get to make a lot of new friends and get to know your regular customers and dogs
2)You have contact with animals that you adore in the dog grooming business
3)You make the animals feel better and you make the owners happy
4)It's a fun profession if you enjoy pampering and cleaning animals
5)You get to educate people on better health practices and tips to keep their dogs comfortable in winter and summer, so on and so forth

CONS:

1)Sometimes you have to deal with squirmy, anxious and/or frightened dogs who lash out. There's always a chance that you may get bitten in this profession. That's why you need to be insured against accidents that may happen to yourself and to the dogs.
2)You will get hair in places you didn't know you had
3)You will get hair splinters in your arms, fingers, clothes, etc. (and they DON'T feel good)
4)Some supplies are expensive and have to be replaced frequently
5)You have to deal with clients in the dog grooming business who want a specific look and you may do exactly what you think they wanted time after time.. but they are still unhappy ( make notes of what they want changed next time) or take the dog back and fix it on the spot if they wish.

Starting a dog grooming business is going to be a lot of work but that's true with any entrepreneurial business. The MOST important concept is education. You will need a dog grooming business course and a business management knowledge. Both are fairly simple and can be learned quite quickly. You can either take a hands on class in your area, or you can learn from a professional with an online course from home.

The up side of hands on training is that you will have an instructor right there by your side, the downfall is that these classes can be a bit pricey.
You can also learn online with a professional online dog grooming course. You won't have the hands on advantage but these programs are very detailed and are designed to be the next best thing to hands on learning. They are also MUCH more affordable and produce a certificate upon completion just like with the the local classes.

Whichever path you choose for your education, you should not only be learning the grooming part but the in's and out's of owning and operating a dog grooming business as well. Luckily, some online course have complete and printable business packages which provides you with all of your invoices and other paperwork that go along with your business.

I recommend this very affordable Dog Grooming Business course. After searching many online courses, this is the cheapest course with the most information. It teaches how to groom dogs AND the dog grooming business aspect of things.

Remember to ADVERTISE! There are so many ways to get your business name and info out there.

Here's a list of advertising ideas:

Address labels
Answering machine Messages
Billboards
Books
Brochures
Business Cards
Catalogs
CD ROM Presentations
Checks
Christmas Cards
Classifieds
Coupons
Envelopes
Fax Cover Sheets
Flyers
Freebies
Invoices
Leaflets
Letterheads
Magazine Ads
Mouse Pads
Newsletters
Newspaper Ads
Packaging
Pens and Pencils
Phone Book Listings
Posters
Press Releases
Products
Promotional Material
Radio Ads
Receipts
Sales Letters
Shop Notice Boards
Stationary
Storefront
T-Shirts
Television Ads
Trade Shows
Uniforms
Vehicles

Once you have started your dog grooming business you will have already figured out your business/company name. Make sure that you have yourself "branded' by having a business name and icon that goes with your business and stick with it. People love catchy and humorous business names. After that, you are able to print your company name and icon on most anything and hand it out to friends and family and they can be your walking/driving ads.