Friday, March 19, 2010
Slow Days
Owning your own business means being ready for slow days. I have been having slow weeks since I quit my part time job. I guess I've been doing the same number of dogs or more but it just doesn't seem like much since I don't have the other income anymore. I am expecting to grow the business at the same rate that it has been growing but maybe I need to try harder to find new clients. With some warm weather and sunny days there are more dogs out on the streets and in the parks. I guess I will have to approach people with business cards and a few words. It takes nerve and it's hard for me. I don't know how many people I'll have to talk to before I'll find someone who will actually make an appointment. Usually people will take the card, maybe they will be polite, but I never know if they'll call and make an appointment. I have a few clients whom I met on the street. I don't know how many people I've spoken to on the street. One hundred? more? less? I think I will go outside with 50 business cards and not let myself go home until I've given them all out. OK, maybe I'll try 25 first. I'll keep you posted.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Tips for New Groomers
I thought I write a little about what to do if you're a new groomer, whether you are self-taught or coming out of dog grooming school.
A great source of information is the forums on petgroomer.com. Groomers from all over the country and beyond are contributing to the threads on this website. You can ask a question or try to answer one or just put in your own two-cents. You can find other groomers in your area and actually meet them. It's always nice to have a friend who is interested in talking about dogs so you don't bore your other friends and family members.
Dog Grooming Books that are great to own:
Melissa recently published a pocket size version that is a little abbreviated but still very nice to have if you need something small to carry around.
The original is still my personal favorite.
Trade Shows
Trade shows are a great place to meet other groomers are looking to improve and keep up on the latest trends and products. Trade shows are always held in conjunction with grooming competitions, demonstrations, presentations, seminars, and classes. Search the internet for dog grooming trade shows near you. In the northeast U.S. there is Intergroom in NJ in April and GroomExpo in Hershey, PA in September.
Intergroom is the largest international conference of its kind in the world. Over 2,000 dog and cat groomers from over 20 different countries attend Intergroom yearly.At the conference held in the United States each year, Intergroom always begins with an international grooming competition that leads to the title of "Intergroom International Groomer of the Year" - one of the most prestigious awards in the the world of grooming. The quality of grooming is extremely high and the competition is keen as top groomers from the United States, Canada, England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, New Zealand, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore, compete for over $20,000.00 in cash, trophies, rosettes and prizes.
Groom Expo, the biggest educational seminar and trade show for the petcare professional in the world, is held yearly in Hershey, Pennsylvania. It is Barkleigh's flagship show. Groom Expo drew 170 exhibitors and nearly 3800 attendees in 2007. Eight educational seminars are in progress at all times during the weekend. Included is an IJA sanctioned grooming contest, Barkleigh Creative Styling Contest and much more. Barkleigh is the producer of many shows for groomers as well as other shows for other pet industry professionals. Barkleigh Productions Calendar of Events
A great source of information is the forums on petgroomer.com. Groomers from all over the country and beyond are contributing to the threads on this website. You can ask a question or try to answer one or just put in your own two-cents. You can find other groomers in your area and actually meet them. It's always nice to have a friend who is interested in talking about dogs so you don't bore your other friends and family members.
Dog Grooming Books that are great to own:
- Notes from the Grooming Table by Melissa Verplank
Melissa recently published a pocket size version that is a little abbreviated but still very nice to have if you need something small to carry around.
The original is still my personal favorite.
- The All Breed Dog Grooming Guide by Sam Kohl
Trade Shows
Trade shows are a great place to meet other groomers are looking to improve and keep up on the latest trends and products. Trade shows are always held in conjunction with grooming competitions, demonstrations, presentations, seminars, and classes. Search the internet for dog grooming trade shows near you. In the northeast U.S. there is Intergroom in NJ in April and GroomExpo in Hershey, PA in September.
Intergroom is the largest international conference of its kind in the world. Over 2,000 dog and cat groomers from over 20 different countries attend Intergroom yearly.At the conference held in the United States each year, Intergroom always begins with an international grooming competition that leads to the title of "Intergroom International Groomer of the Year" - one of the most prestigious awards in the the world of grooming. The quality of grooming is extremely high and the competition is keen as top groomers from the United States, Canada, England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, New Zealand, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore, compete for over $20,000.00 in cash, trophies, rosettes and prizes.
Groom Expo, the biggest educational seminar and trade show for the petcare professional in the world, is held yearly in Hershey, Pennsylvania. It is Barkleigh's flagship show. Groom Expo drew 170 exhibitors and nearly 3800 attendees in 2007. Eight educational seminars are in progress at all times during the weekend. Included is an IJA sanctioned grooming contest, Barkleigh Creative Styling Contest and much more. Barkleigh is the producer of many shows for groomers as well as other shows for other pet industry professionals. Barkleigh Productions Calendar of Events
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Zoomin Groomin and Anivac
OK, so this guy calls looking to hire a groomer. He just bought a franchise call Zoomin Groomin. It's a mobile dog grooming van. He has a pet shop but knows nothing about how to groom a dog except what the franchise people told him. He's called me a bunch of times now, and we've discussed how he might find a groomer to hire. He's also told me about a waterless bathing system for dogs called Anivac.
Today I saw his mobile dog grooming van and this waterless bath for dogs called Anivac. You can also use it to wash floors, cages, horses, cows, etc, I couldn't believe that the van doesn't have a tub for washing dogs! Nope, just a dog grooming table, a hi-velocity dryer, and this Anivac system. It's like the system people use to clean upholstery and carpets. You put some water and solution in a tank and this device sprays this mixture onto the animal and vacuums it off just as quickly with one nozzle that you move over the surface of the dog. As the solution circulates through the dog's hair and over the skin it supposedly washes and sanitizes. I don't know how you wash the dog's face, butt, and feet but this guy seems to be sold on the idea. Well, actually, today I met his girlfriend and she's the one who's totally sold on all of this.
I have to admit I am a skeptic. I'm curious as to how it will work with long haired dogs, matted dogs, and poodles and bichons that need a blowout. Someone is going to be visiting this guy and demonstrating how to use Anivac on some dogs. Perhaps I'll see the demo and my opinion will change. I'll keep you posted.
Today I saw his mobile dog grooming van and this waterless bath for dogs called Anivac. You can also use it to wash floors, cages, horses, cows, etc, I couldn't believe that the van doesn't have a tub for washing dogs! Nope, just a dog grooming table, a hi-velocity dryer, and this Anivac system. It's like the system people use to clean upholstery and carpets. You put some water and solution in a tank and this device sprays this mixture onto the animal and vacuums it off just as quickly with one nozzle that you move over the surface of the dog. As the solution circulates through the dog's hair and over the skin it supposedly washes and sanitizes. I don't know how you wash the dog's face, butt, and feet but this guy seems to be sold on the idea. Well, actually, today I met his girlfriend and she's the one who's totally sold on all of this.
I have to admit I am a skeptic. I'm curious as to how it will work with long haired dogs, matted dogs, and poodles and bichons that need a blowout. Someone is going to be visiting this guy and demonstrating how to use Anivac on some dogs. Perhaps I'll see the demo and my opinion will change. I'll keep you posted.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Finding new clients
My marketing efforts are no cost or low cost. What I mention here includes what I've done over the last 2 years.
To start with, I posted craigslist ads (free), printed flyers (paper and ink costs something but I already owned both so I considered it free), designed, printed and distributed business cards to pet supply stores, vet offices, and dog owners on the streets and in dog runs (graphics design - free from a friend, Avery business card stock - $20 for 250 cards, printed at home). Subsequently I have bought business cards using Vistaprint. I had to redesign them to include website URL and new email addresss and I thought it would be easier to order them than print them at home all the time. Vistaprint also offers lots of things for free. I recommend it.
Mostly I get new clients in response to my craigslist ads which also refer to my home dog grooming website. I have posted ads on other websites that offer free or low cost ads (under $10) but none of them have resulted in any clients, as far as I know. But it's good to post ads anywhere you can and have a link to your website so that your website ranks higher in the search engine indexes.
In addition I get new clients from referrals by my existing clients - the old "word of mouth". People seem very willing to help grow my business by telling others about my services whenever prompted by another dog owner. "Word of Mouth" is great but doesn't grow my business as fast as is needed.
With the search engine optimization (SEO) I have done for my website, people find me using Google and most other search engines easily. I am still trying to figure out how to come up in the search results of Bing. For some reason the Bing search engine eludes me.
Most recently one of my clients posted a note about me on "Building Link" - a website for her condo building and this resulted in 2 new clients within a month's time. I am now asking other clients if their residences have similar websites and if they would post a recommendation of my services.
One client mentioned a newsletter for her building and said she will put a recommendation of my services in the newsletter.
Getting new clients in buildings that I already work in is something I've been thinking about for months. I was looking into bulk mailings but everything to do with mailings always end up being expensive. I was also thinking of just standing in front of the building at key walking times and talking to the dog owners about my services. The down side of this is that some dogs don't go outside and others are walked by dog-walkers. Also, standing in front of buildings in time consuming. (I have put up flyers on bulletin boards in the past and have gotten no clients in response to that effort.)
I have put many business cards in vet offices and pet supply stores and from all that effort I've gotten 2 clients. If I owned a dog I'm sure I could have a better relationship with a vet and a pet supply store. I think I need to borrow a dog for the pet supply store at least.
And of course, I have spoken to many, many people on the streets and at dog runs. This has resulted in clients but I can't say how many people I spoke to and I can only recall 2 clients that resulted from this effort. The nerve it takes for me to bother people on the street is more than I'd like but I will talk to people on the street again when the weather is nice because it gives me the best odds of finding clients in my neighborhood.
Merchant Circle is a website that a client told me about. She has her own hair extensions business called VIP Lifestyle Hair. I created a page on Merchant Circle for free and am now creating a network of neighboring businesses. I don't know how much this website is used by New Yorkers to find services in Manhattan but it can only help to have more presence on the internet. I will try to take more advantage of Merchant Circle in the near future.
To start with, I posted craigslist ads (free), printed flyers (paper and ink costs something but I already owned both so I considered it free), designed, printed and distributed business cards to pet supply stores, vet offices, and dog owners on the streets and in dog runs (graphics design - free from a friend, Avery business card stock - $20 for 250 cards, printed at home). Subsequently I have bought business cards using Vistaprint. I had to redesign them to include website URL and new email addresss and I thought it would be easier to order them than print them at home all the time. Vistaprint also offers lots of things for free. I recommend it.
Mostly I get new clients in response to my craigslist ads which also refer to my home dog grooming website. I have posted ads on other websites that offer free or low cost ads (under $10) but none of them have resulted in any clients, as far as I know. But it's good to post ads anywhere you can and have a link to your website so that your website ranks higher in the search engine indexes.
In addition I get new clients from referrals by my existing clients - the old "word of mouth". People seem very willing to help grow my business by telling others about my services whenever prompted by another dog owner. "Word of Mouth" is great but doesn't grow my business as fast as is needed.
With the search engine optimization (SEO) I have done for my website, people find me using Google and most other search engines easily. I am still trying to figure out how to come up in the search results of Bing. For some reason the Bing search engine eludes me.
Most recently one of my clients posted a note about me on "Building Link" - a website for her condo building and this resulted in 2 new clients within a month's time. I am now asking other clients if their residences have similar websites and if they would post a recommendation of my services.
One client mentioned a newsletter for her building and said she will put a recommendation of my services in the newsletter.
Getting new clients in buildings that I already work in is something I've been thinking about for months. I was looking into bulk mailings but everything to do with mailings always end up being expensive. I was also thinking of just standing in front of the building at key walking times and talking to the dog owners about my services. The down side of this is that some dogs don't go outside and others are walked by dog-walkers. Also, standing in front of buildings in time consuming. (I have put up flyers on bulletin boards in the past and have gotten no clients in response to that effort.)
I have put many business cards in vet offices and pet supply stores and from all that effort I've gotten 2 clients. If I owned a dog I'm sure I could have a better relationship with a vet and a pet supply store. I think I need to borrow a dog for the pet supply store at least.
And of course, I have spoken to many, many people on the streets and at dog runs. This has resulted in clients but I can't say how many people I spoke to and I can only recall 2 clients that resulted from this effort. The nerve it takes for me to bother people on the street is more than I'd like but I will talk to people on the street again when the weather is nice because it gives me the best odds of finding clients in my neighborhood.
Merchant Circle is a website that a client told me about. She has her own hair extensions business called VIP Lifestyle Hair. I created a page on Merchant Circle for free and am now creating a network of neighboring businesses. I don't know how much this website is used by New Yorkers to find services in Manhattan but it can only help to have more presence on the internet. I will try to take more advantage of Merchant Circle in the near future.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Rotator Cuff Injury
Pain in my shoulders. Rotator cuff injury. Loss of strength, inability to raise arm. Maybe from repetitive motion maybe from carrying the backpack. Maybe from using the PC. I had this problem a couple of years ago. I thought it was from holding my arm at shoulder height while grooming. While brushing , combing, dematting, clipping. I tried to keep my arm lower and use my left arm as much as my right arm. I also went to a doctor and went to physical therapy for weeks.
My shoulders were OK when I was going to Long Island twice a week to do mobile grooming. I stopped doing that 4 weeks ago. I guess I need to go back to doctor and get Rx for PT. Or maybe try acupuncture. It's both shoulders this time, the left is worse than the right.
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My shoulders were OK when I was going to Long Island twice a week to do mobile grooming. I stopped doing that 4 weeks ago. I guess I need to go back to doctor and get Rx for PT. Or maybe try acupuncture. It's both shoulders this time, the left is worse than the right.
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