Why You Should Follow Your Dreams: Helen's Grooming Adventure

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Welcome to the Pet Grooming Business podcast with me, Bill Betts, where we give practical business advice to help you grow your pet grooming business. This podcast is sponsored by Low Pay, the low rate payment app that gives you more. So without further ado, let's get going.

Hi then. Bye, everyone. Welcome to Helen from Love to Paws. It's nice to have you on the, on the group and onto the podcast and we're going to be talking all about your. Your journey into pet grooming. How are you today? Yeah, I'm good, thank you. You had a busy day? It'd be good. Yeah. Good. So tell us, you're based in Seven Oaks and Kent, aren't you? Yeah. And how, how's it down there? It's a bit wet and windy. Miserable, but yeah, fine.

We've not been flooded there, so we have to be grateful. Yeah. To be fair, I do live in Noah's Ark though, so I mean, it's. Yeah. At some point also. Anything behind that name? No, probably just a lot of water at some point, I would imagine.

So I brought you onto the podcast because I wanted to examine like your journey into pet grooming over the last sort of three. It's been three months since you started. Yeah, so I started part time July, August, and then full time from September. Nice. Okay, so. But this hasn't been your, Your, your job for a long time, so you were a teacher, weren't you? And you, you're 15 years, you say? Yes, 15 years. Wow. So did you ever think only be working with animals or was teaching like your, this is it, I'm going to do my career and retire as a teacher.

Teaching wasn't even my first thing to be femme. I worked overseas, did stuff overseas, stuff. Started training as a midwife and then went into teaching. I'd hoped teaching might take me quite a long way, but I think there was also an element of. I kind of wasn't sure whether it would be that part time and then family, etc. Etc. But no, it wasn't always forever. But then, you don't know. I always loved animals, but no, I hadn't always thought about kind of working with animals either. I think I kind of got into teaching.

It worked. You got the holidays. It was nice, it was great. But things change. Yeah. Nice long holidays. Everyone sort of say to you, why are you giving up your holidays? Because everyone thinks you, you have six weeks off in the summer and stuff is nice and relaxing, but it's not like that. You have no life in town time. And then it's just bonkers and you're ill in the holidays and it's a very, very different way of life. So hats off to people who are still doing it.

But actually this has given me so much more freedom, so much, so much more happiness that it's. You don't even notice in the sense of the holidays. It's great. Yeah. So what. What started making you think, there must be a. Is there more to life than this? Or what made you start thinking, I've got to get out of the teacher grind. I need to spend a good couple of years and I just wasn't happy. I was becoming more miserable. I didn't feel like I was really living.

I was existing. During term time, I kept getting ill. There was more and more pressure. Anyone in the teaching industry will know that it just being became more about paperwork and expectations and all of that, rather than actual teaching and being with the kids. And I just got fed up with it and I just was. I wanted more for myself. Covid obviously happened. There was different things in the family. My dad was poorly and then my best friend's mum was poorly and just all those things just kept making me think, life's too short, there's got to be something else and I've got to try.

I'm kind of. I'm terrible in the sense of if I get an idea, I've got to go with it. What was the worst that's going to happen? They didn't work and then I could go back to teaching or try something else. But I just got to a point when I thought, I've got to try, there's no other option here. I think that's a really important point as well, actually. And it's something that my mentor said to me when I wanted to leave the police. He was kind of like, well, what's the worst that's going to happen?

Because me and you left occupations where they're always desperate for. For workers, aren't they? So my mentor sort of said to me was, if it doesn't work, you can go back. That was a challenge. I was like, no, I'm not going back. Well, that's mine as well. I got things worse right now. But at the same time, it's always an option. You could supply, you could tutor, you could do something else if you needed extra pennies. You're never going to lose the skills. So, you know, but hopefully that won't come to that.

But we should. We shall see. It won't come to that. I know it won't. Come to that, what made you. What sparked the interest in dog grooming? Had you known about dog grooming whilst being a teacher? I remember when my wife became a dog groom, I was like, I haven't got a clue what they do. I think not initially, when I got my dog back in 2021, so she's a Cava Pouchon, so she needs a lot, you know, grooming every six to eight weeks. So I didn't know a lot pre her, I have to say.

Obviously, then I went down the wrong route with the groomer. I took people's opinions. Send them here, send them here. I don't know, something must have happened at some point and she just. It was awful. And I kind of. As time went on, I kind of thought to myself, this isn't right. Like, I don't want her to have this fear. There's got to be a better way. And I also wanted that for other dogs. I didn't want them to have that kind of experience, even right at the beginning, because it just sets them up for life and it's something they never Forget.

So about two 18 months ago, really, I just was at appointment. I was like, ryan needs to do something else. Sat down with my brother, he's an entrepreneur, he's got his own business. And he just said to me, what do you want to do? And I said, what do you mean financially viable or what I want to do? And he was like, no, no, no. Literally, what do you want to do? And I'd have been thinking about it for a while, but I was like, I just want to be a.

Like a dog groomer and do pet sitting on the side as well. Work from home, have my own salon. And actually he turned around and went, just do it. I was quite surprised at that point and kind of from that minute on, the next day, my middle niece is animal mad. She spent all day researching names, was on board, and it's just rolled from there. And it's literally just. I was excited for the first time in a really long time, and I didn't really know what I was doing.

I mean, truthfully, it's, yeah, it's a great idea, but between an idea and fruition, there's quite a long lot in between. But, yeah, and I would. That was in it. And I just was like, right, okay, we're doing it. How did you bridge the gap in your mind or in your mindset of you got your teaching wage, which. I. I don't know exactly, but it'll be around the 40,000pound ish. Yeah, ish. Biggest, bigger teaching wage, 40,000pound ish, which is probably above average for the country. How did you, did you have any fears around that?

Did you, how did you bridge that going from that salary to. Have you been self employed before? No, they never ever literally have never had not an income every month. So I think it still terrifies me now. I'm not gonna lie. It's the big, I think probably one of the biggest things that I probably still struggle with a little bit because it's. You might have a projected but until the end of the month, until everything's happened, you don't know.

I think it's just one of those things and I just thought, but again, I've got to try, like what else maybe can I do? I might have to back it up. I might have to do a day of supply, do a little bit less grooming.

I didn't really know. I mean, to be honest, as much as I had it in the back of my mind, you know, I lived by myself. So all my bills, everything and my sole responsibility, there was nobody else to help me with the mortgage or help me with X, Y and Z. So in a part I just thought, I'm stupid, I'm crazy, what am I doing? But at the same time there was something in the back of my mind that just said, do it. Like, you know, again, what's the worst that's going to happen?

You have to go out and get a job. Yeah, I know that's probably a bit crazy, but I just, yeah, I can't really tell you exactly what it was. I just was like, just do it. So. But yes, there is still a massive fear factor around it going forwards because you are living a little bit at the moment, month to month because it's so new still. And we see that a few times where you come into the WhatsApp group and it's like, where's my bookings? And then we were talking about this today, like life, business life is a bit of a roller coaster at times.

And one member today was like, ah, at 8:00 and then yay, at 5:00, wasn't he? It was like, you just need to try and flatline that out. The roller coaster is like really stressful, isn't it? Absolutely. And I think I'm trying to sort of say to myself, don't panic. And as you said right at the beginning of the program, like, okay, maybe there isn't a busy moment, but use that to prep for Other stuff like, because at some point you are going to be so busy you're not going to have time for that.

So actually don't look at it as a bad moment. It's the time to advertise or return calls or do whatever. So, yeah, that it's, it's kind of changing your mindset completely and utterly to being, you know, not panicking and worrying all the time because you can't change anything. You can't make the phone ring, but just utilizing it in different ways. This podcast is sponsored by Low Pay. Low pay is half the price of. Sum up and zettle. So you keep more the money that you earn. Rate start at 0.79.

Tool opportunity, isn't it? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, for sure. I mean, obviously you had a very supportive brother. He obviously understands it. Being an entrepreneur himself gets, gets it. Did you have friends and family sort of saying, oh, Helen, what are you doing? Are you. Are they all. They were. They all. You know, I've got the most incredible friends and the most incredible family. And I think a lot. They all knew as well how miserable I was within work and how I wasn't in a great pace mentally and emotionally.

And they could see that in me just generally. So. So I think they knew that change needed to happen anyway. And I think as soon as I knew, okay, they were probably as terrified as I was because they didn't really know or understand it. And obviously the whole setup and costs, et cetera, that they have been absolutely incredible. I mean, my friends, my mum and dad are, you know, beyond brilliant. They've helped me to set up and, you know, they're every single step of the way, so I can't fault anyone.

And I mean, obviously now hopefully they're, they're reaping that reward a little bit because they're seeing that hopefully it's all taking off and is a success. They're seeing a different Helen. You know, they see the, the brightness in your, in your eyes when you're, when you're talking about it. And yeah, I. As they would say, Helen is back. Yeah. Excellent, excellent. So tell us about the research that you did around setting up as a pet groomer. What's your current setup that you have? So I have a salon at the bottom of my garden.

So I had a shed already at the bottom of my garden, kind of just my summer house, if you like, but it was just a shed. It had all the tooth that everyone has in their shed and it housed a lot of furniture and stuff over the winter. So I Kind of in my head was like, oh, maybe I can put a shed behind that initially. And then my sister in law was like what are you doing? Like that's a beautiful shed, you could use that. And then put the shed behind it so no one sees it.

So I think initially it was kind of, well the first thing was about training because obviously I didn't have a Scooby Doo and I was like, right, okay, I need to make sure that I do the right training, get the qualification in order then to do it. So that was my priority and obviously ringing round and trying to find the right course and things to do and then obviously the rest of it kind of so much, I mean to learn about from, I don't know, setting up a business in terms of changing the shed, transforming that, what kind of equipment you're going to need, insurances, I mean everything really.

But yeah, the priority was the training and then once obviously I did that, knew I enjoyed it and it was something that I was going to qualify and do then it was the next steps and obviously at the same time I was trying to at the time keep it very stim from work because I didn't want them to know that I was thinking about moving on and doing something different. They might talk you into it or talk you out of it even. No, well I don't know about that.

One but either still it's like transfer season, isn't it? Summer holidays, that's when all the teachers resign and get new jobs and yeah, they must, they must hate that coming around thinking right, who's going this time? Well, I mean I decided all this May 23rd so I spent the summer 23 doing all like majority of my training but as much as I could pack in in the summer holidays as well as try and have a holiday. So I hadn't said anything because I didn't resign until November 24 and didn't leave until summer 24.

So it was kind of just, I'm not saying a pipeline dream but it was kind of my way out, do you know what I mean? Like I had to have a plan, I couldn't just say I'm going. So but obviously I didn't want to say something either in case I didn't like it, in case it wasn't for me. So yeah, so that was quite hard trying to, you know, you've got friends and family but you've also got colleagues and stuff who you see outside of work and they're, oh, what are you doing over the holidays?

Ah, nothing, you Know, kind of thing. Oh yeah, your eyes are sparkling because you got a pet. Exactly. What your training, I think you went down to Ashford was quite a. Quite a journey, wasn't it? So, yeah, about an hour or so each way. How did you find the training where you just like absolutely chattered on the way home kind of things? Yeah, there was a lot to take in. It was a obviously full on days. I didn't do like five solid days a week. I interspersed them so maybe one or two days a week, sometimes three.

And tried to get a break in between because one for, you know, like the break and the drive. But also there was always quite a lot of, like I say, paperwork afterwards. But I always wanted to give myself a chance to keep up with it. And if you did so much back to back, I just, there was so much to take in and whatever. That kind of like was a bit correct. Blown by it all. But no, I mean the course was great. You know, it was busy.

There was a lot of, you know, a lot of help and things with it. So. But I truly think though, until you start, you don't. You learn so much more on the job than you'll ever learn on a course. It's your basic course, isn't it? Your get, you get you started, then it's the experience that comes from actually doing. Yeah. And then truthfully I finished my training October last year and I didn't open till July. So apart from doing my own dog who hates being groomed, so is a challenge anyway and a few friends, dogs, I didn't do anything in between.

So I mean, some people would say I was mad, but I. You just had to trust the process and, you know, and go with it really. So leading up to opening your, your salon, you've got your things I shared, you got your salon at home. We don't use the word shed, do we? Salon for your clients. You. When, when we first started working together, you came across as though you had very strong boundaries. You knew what you wanted to, you know, you kind of knew who you wanted to work with.

You had your, your meet and greet sort of system all sorted. Was that just research that you'd done like, or you listen to the podcast and stuff like that, or you just realized, this is how I want to run my business and this is what's going to happen? I think. I mean, I'm very lucky in the area that I live. You know, obviously there are other groomers around, but it's quite a nice area. I'm not going to lie But I've, I think with my history of working overseas in customer service, even within teaching, like, I like face to face contact with people.

I wanted a personal touch. I wanted that customer service side. I wanted people to see what they were getting and feel what they were getting as well. And for me, the, the dogs are important, but they should. They owners are as important, if not more at the end of the day and I need them to buy into what I'm offering and promoting. So I think there was that massive element for me of I know having taken my dog to the groom, when they take them off them at the gate, they weren't allowed into the salon.

Like all of that is not to me enough people need to know where their dogs are going to go and they need to, as I said, feel that. So I think when I spoke to you at the beginning, I did have quite a strong idea in my head of, of what I wanted. I wanted it to feel like a family. They were part of that, that they could ask questions, they could contact me, we would speak on the phone, not constantly via text or email. I wanted a personal touch from the beginning and I wanted almost that to make me stand out from quite a lot of other groomers who you can't even get through to on the phone.

You know, those kind of things. It just, it was just what I wanted as my usp. Yeah. And it's working. Yeah, it's working. It's working. Again, you had a different approach, you know, when I was speaking to you, you're a brand new groomer, but again you had lots of, a lot of your ducks in a row. Your, your Facebook, your branding, your, your website was all sort of up and running and sorted and well branded and good looking. Where did you get that sort of advice again?

Was it stuff that you designed or did you reach out to people to, to sort that out? I mean, I'm quite a perfectionist in my own way. So there was, in, again, in my head there was a bit of a, a vision of what I wanted. So initially when it came to my logo, again, I had loads of ideas. So I reached out to Shantay Tierra Design, had quite a lot of chats with Shantay. So she designed my logo for me and I did think about going down the route in terms of getting someone to do my branding.

But ultimately we all know setups, it's expensive, so I had some time. So I invested in Canva and just thought, you know what, I've got creative skills, et cetera. I'm going to have a play, see what happens. And obviously at the beginning it was a bit of a disaster, but I've just learned more and more and I really enjoyed doing it myself. So then, because it gave me complete control, which probably, like with the teaching, you couldn't always have because you always had someone vetoing this or vetoing that.

And that's what I wanted my own business for. So I went down that route, did all my business cards, etc. Sort of started to do all of those things. Knew what I wanted in terms of colors for the branding. As I said, I had that vision in my head when it came to the website initially, my friend was going to help me, so that was all in the cards. And months and months we've been talking about it. Kind of got to about a month before I wanted to open and I was like, how are we doing?

And she's like, I can't do anymore. Like, oh, okay, thank you very much. So again, I was like, right, fine, save the money, I'll just do it myself. And I loved it, absolutely loved doing it. And I actually now love the fact that I can just tweak it, change it, do whatever I want to it without having to, you know, outsource it and whatever. So in that sense, the majority of I did it, I did do it myself. That was kind of the way that I went.

But I can totally appreciate that people might not want to go that route. It is quite a lot of work, but once it's set up, it's fine. Um, and I mean, in other ways, I reached out because I didn't know about the financial side. I didn't really know even about running a business. So I did. Obviously I spoke to you, but I also spoke to the pet accountant and they've got a new business, like course that you can download and do. So I did that and that helped massively with bank accounts and how to register and.

And all these things. So I spent a lot of time researching, doing, and almost investing a little bit before to make sure I had the key things because I didn't want to open. Not really knowing what I was doing or being ready with branding and, you know, business cards and flyers and that kind of thing, because I thought, well, it's all good and while we're saying things, but if I don't have stuff to advertise it, then there's no point. So again, with the social media, that again, took quite a lot of time.

I'd sort of started, but then I joined the group So a lot tweaked and changed. And as you know, I'm part of the canine social marketing group as well with Charlotte, so that's massively helped. All the information I've learned from that too. So I've had to invest quite a lot in terms of doing it right and getting the support, but that has completely skyrocketed me to hopefully where I am today as opposed to had I not done any of that in the first place. It's a difficult balance, isn't it?

Because a lot of what you've done is, you know, it's all fantastic and I love it because you're designing your own branding, you're doing your website, you're breathing and living it. You're really sort of getting involved in it, aren't you? You're really sort of like it's becoming part of you. So there's a lot of investment in time and there is a lot of investment in money and a lot of people might not see the need, want to do that because they just see the money rather than the actual investment and how it's going to.

How it's going to pay off. Yeah, I will totally get that. Yeah. How do you see that investment now? Well, I mean, it's. It's difficult because obviously I haven't done it another way, so I can't do a direct comparison. And I think, you know, I've always been that kind of person. That is. I'm going to do it right from the beginning, you know, I don't want to start and then mess it up and then be trying to pick up the pieces. When I was in teaching, it was that same thing almost at the beginning with a pension.

And I was like, do I pay in now? Do I not pay in now? And then it was like, just do it now because you won't notice the difference. And I think that was the saying with starting the business. I kind of thought, it's worth the investment now. And, okay, you've got various things that you're paying into the accountant and the group and all the different bits, but the advice and the Support and the WhatsApp messages, the fact that people are at your fingertips, the mentorship and all these things that are just incredible and they just make you think differently every single day.

And, you know, I mean, I wouldn't be charging what I'm charging had it not been for the group and that support behind it and all of that. My social media wouldn't be where it was without, you know, all the group and the other groups that I'm in, and I'd spent a lot of time looking at other groups and, you know, the feedback that comes through on Facebook, can we do this for a price? And I just thought, I don't want to be like that. I kind of just want to have a support around me.

And I think also, like, I'm obviously working from home. I don't have, as I said, anyone else at home. So it could be quite lonely. And I think having that support network, I don't ever feel lonely anymore because I know that if I need help, whatever it is, I can just ask and it's always there. Tell us about the pricing then. As you're coming up to opening your as you're coming up to opening your business. So sort of three, two to three months out. Were you like burning other groomers up secretly?

Were you checking out the prices on Facebook groups? How are you starting to come up with your. Your pricing structure for your business? I didn't know where to start, truthfully. And I've got obviously some groomers that I trained with, so they were already working and they were charging X, Y and Z. Yeah, I tried to ring all the local groomers and I mean, barely any of them picked up the phone, to be honest. So that didn't help.

So it was a really hard one because obviously I was new, so I was like, I don't want to be too much, but I also know that what I'm offering is different to other groomers. And I wanted to. Didn't want to make myself cheap because I didn't want to undersell myself. And also, I kind of. I know my overheads. And with all due respect, I also was like, I'm going to charge my worth. Like, I'm doing this. I'm taking two and a bit hours on a dog, whatever.

So therefore I am one to one. I can only do a certain number of dogs in a day, so I've got to be able to make what I need in order to live. So I went round and round and round in house the houses. And I'd arranged all these meet and greets. I don't know if you remember, but I had a literal panic moment when I couldn't pick up the phone and I literally couldn't speak to anybody. But anyway, I put my big girl pants on, got the meet and greets in, and I think the first one was the hardest because I was like, I knew in my head what I wanted to charge.

I knew what we say STFU when you've said it. And I just was like, you've got to do it. Just say it. What's the worst they're going to say is no? And ultimately I've gone from there and I've just got a bit. Most of the time I'm okay, but I get a bit cheeky at times and I'm like, yeah, well, that's. The guys in the group. Just try it. It's fine. Just push it. Why not? What are they going to say? And it's working. It's working. Is there for those that are listening and think, what's TFU is a little bit over.

It's a little bit of sales training that we do on the program, isn't it, to help you. Help you talk to customers and perhaps not explain the price, but get the price home. I'm not going to say the words because it's rude.

You have to join the program to find out. Yeah, that's it. Secret. But this is another thing that I really liked when you first came onto the program is that you had your numbers. Like, you just said you knew how much you like your spreadsheets, don't you? I love spreadsheets. You knew. And this really surprises me because I speak to a lot of pet groomers that are in business or going into business and I say, how much do you want to earn? And they just laugh or giggle or they just like, I don't know.

I don't know how much you want to earn. But you came to us with the. You knew what your overheads were going to be. You knew vaguely that you wanted to replace your teaching wage. I don't know if we're there yet, but, you know, well, I'm not paying. Tax at the moment, but when I start playing that it might be, we're not there yet, but we're not far off and doing a few extra bits, you know, elsewhere as well, for a few extra pennies. So, yeah, but we know what to aim for, don't we?

So that really. That must have really helped you with you when it came to setting your prices and setting your targets. Yeah, and I think that was the point. Like, at the end of the day, there was only one way it was going to work for me, and that's if I earned enough. And I know that kind of comes down to basics, but ultimately it wasn't going to work if I didn't. So I had to sort of put myself out there and say, right, okay, it can't be less than this.

And there's A lot of people with a lot of dogs. And to be truly honest, I think what has actually worked in my favor is that I'm genuinely getting lovely clients and lovely dogs. I'm not getting, because I'm cheap, those dogs that are really overgrown or people aren't committing to schedules or, you know, I mean, you'll always get a few. But actually I'm genuinely getting lovely, lovely clients so far who are committed to their dogs and therefore willing to pay the price. Yeah. And this is what I love about a really nice thought out customer journey where, you know, you have your processes in place.

If they're stepping outside of that process, well, are they actually someone that you want to start working with? So, you know, if they don't answer the phone or don't give you a phone number, they failed their application and. They kind of thing effectively. That's how you, that's how you design your customers, isn't it? Yeah. And I think you just have to think about what you want. And it's so easy to say that now because at the beginning you're just like, I just need customers. You know, you want to get people in because then you can help to spread the word.

So it's really hard at the beginning because you almost like how I'll take most things and this, that and the other, but it's really paid and especially at the beginning to do meet and greets and actually meet the dogs because otherwise what you'd hear on the phone or how people describe them is not always what comes through the door. And sometimes, you know, I've had a couple and I've been like, no, just because I don't feel right, you know, I'm on my own at the bottom of my garden and if I'm, if I don't feel, I don't mean safe in terms of, with the dog, but I'm just not quite sure then I don't want to spend the two hours worrying about what's going to happen.

That's not why I'm doing it. So, you know, and I'd rather say that they're better off going somewhere where there are maybe more like people around or whatever. That might be a better environment. Yeah, it's managing their expectations. And as you've, with three, three months or so of experience in the grooming world, you're happy to say no, that's beyond my current skills or I'm not quite happy to, to do that with you. You know, find a perhaps finder, another groomer sort of thing. Yeah. I've done it to several and, you know, even some that say they're really anxious, you have to muzzle them.

You know, all of this. And I've just said, do you know what? Then it's not the right fit for me. You know, I appreciate they think that one to one might be better for them, but I just. At the moment, I'm quite happy with doing the dogs that I've got. You know, it might be something later on, but at the moment, you know, I'm allowed to be a little bit fussy and I will do that to make my life happier and enjoy what I'm doing. I don't want to get to a point when I don't enjoy it.

Yeah, many people in the service industry, me included, you know, pet groomers as well, are people pleasers. So are you quite nervous when you say no to someone? What, what's normally their reaction? Are they like, oh, my dog. I mean, quite often it's not on a meet and greet, to be fair, because I've obviously chatted to them on the phone by that point and they've come. So sometimes it's like a message or an email or whatever. So I kind of hide a little bit behind that or, you know, on the odd conversation.

But generally people are like, oh, okay, fair enough. There's not a lot they can say, really. If you said no, you said no. I mean, you know, you. It's just interesting the people you, you. But no, I mean, there's not a lot that they can say. We have had, we have had a customer stand in our waiting room before and demand her an appointment. And we're like, no. And I think Emma had like a half an hour argument with him saying, no, not giving you an appointment again.

But he's like, well, you have to, you must. It's like, no, get out. It's my business. It's my, my business, my rules. Yeah, he. He made a, a comment under his breath about the price or something. And then I was like, all right, that's it. He done. Get out. As he walked out the door, he was like, I shouldn't have said anything now and then. Was like, exactly, go away.

But you get comments about prices at times and I've had a couple going, well, I'll come back to you when your prices go down. They're not going to go down. So, hi.

Is that because they're assuming that because you're new that you'll. You'll drop your prices or something? I think they think, oh, well, I like you know, I've sale for example is like 60 pounds for a cockapoo. They're like, well, how many pain? 35. Okay, well if you want to come to me, you pay 60 and if not jog on back to where you were paying 35 because I'm not going to match 35. And it's just an interesting mentality that they think, you know, shocks me. And some of the prices people tell me that they're paying shocks me anyway.

But anyway, I do wonder if people. Do lie, whether they think if they, they knock a 10 off they might get a, they might help get a reduction. Yeah, probably. But at the end of the day, my price is my price and I always say it starting at. I mean there's not a, it's not, I'm not gonna go backwards. You know, that's a really interesting phrase. It's starting at. Because a lot of people use the phrase it's starting from which when you say you're starting from it, it's like a bit of an elastic band, isn't it?

It could perhaps go like quite, quite elastic. But you're like, no, starting at this, this is the price. Do you have like a minimum charge that you. For everything, like one get out of bed? Well, I mean the lowest I do apart from nails and stuff. I do, I like my little, my wash and fluffs which are like my three week hour appointment or my kind of like Frenchie D shed which is an easy and 45. That's my lowest. And what's your big highest so far? Well, they didn't come, but my giant schnauzer that I booked in 130 but considering they were paying 42 before, I think possibly I pushed my luck.

But they did agree to start with. My jaw did actually hit the desk. And you put into an update into our WhatsApp group that you just created. 130 pounds. There's, I know that there's groomers on the program that really struggle to. There's like a, there's like a mindset battle to get over the hundred pound barrier with a groom. And there's Helen three months in. Yeah, 130. Thank you. 62 kilos. He was a horse. He wasn't even a Shetland pony. He was well overdue. And 52 kilos of dog.

Oh, no way.

I'm gonna put money on the fact that they are going to be coming to you at some point. Well, we'll see. I mean I'll put money in with you, but we'll see. I'VE got no space now anyway, so it's fine. No, because, you know, I think. And this is some of the issues that we have as pet groomers, isn't it? Is competing with price. But they say that again, this. The horse pruned for 45 pounds and that might be the case. And the issue that we have is, like, what you try and do is to show them why you're valuable, why, you know, it's better to come and pay more money.

It's hard, isn't it? I think so. And I mean, to be fair, they came from meet and greet. Well, they came the first time and were late. So then I had to. I couldn't do it because I had another dog. And then they came again. But the husband was really up for it and many said to me, I said it was 42 pounds. And I like, I don't even do a wash and fluff for 42 pounds. But he was like, no, you have to charge your prices that I can see, you know, with the salon.

Charge your worth. You know, I totally get it. So I don't think it was. Yeah, I don't know. But ultimately, yeah, you. I just think it's so easy to have gone, oh, well, you paid 42, I'll do it for 60. But it's like, I mean, 52 kilos, that's. It's huge. It was huge. So I'm not going to do it for that. I'm. It's going to take, what, three hours probably, at least. I don't work for £20 an hour. Sorry. That's good, isn't it? Yeah, it was good.

But anyway, it didn't come, so that's fine. But I filled their spots three times over, so it's okay. So what other services are you currently offering for your customers? So at the moment, I mean, obviously I do pet sitting, sort of cat sitting and small pet sitting on the side, mainly dog grooms, wash and fluff. Stee sheds. Her nails tend to be. I've done a couple. I've gone out as well to sort of older people in the village and done their dog's nails too for them because they can't get to me.

So that tends to be it. I've started a few teeth trials. It's my confidence rather than anything else on that one. But that's something I do want to do more of in the new year. I've got again, I've got mud, like mud to add D shed extras, but I've not done that. And obviously at the moment I'm running my Christmas spa package on top of dog grooming. So that's kind of my main. At the moment. I've. I don't. As much as there's so many ways you can branch out.

I kind of, I'm sure at the moment I want to get the customers on board. I want to give them really good service and then be happy with the groom so that they're happy and want to come back. And then I'll. I can push a little bit more going forwards, but I think I can't do all at once and I need to be consistent and solid in what I'm doing and happy with what I'm doing and confident that I can and then kind of move forwards from there.

Yeah. And we're hoping for a longevity of career as well, aren't we? So. And what's your Christmas offer? What's your Christmas spa offer? My Twinkle Paws spa package is an add on. So it's very much like a lot of people's with a cologne spritz and a shampoo, doggy treat bag, Christmas bow or bandana. I do sell on pictures anyway, so they get one of those plus I email them a second one but it's not logoed so that they can use that for something. And then I've teamed up with my local dog photographer who I do a lot with with my puppy package.

So they also get entered into a free prize draw and if they win, they win a photo shoot with her and 100, 150 pounds worth of wall art as a prize too. So that kind of is kind of a nice incentive on the package too. So that's 12.50 add on 1257.

I was waiting for that. I thought it was going to be a bit. No. Well, I wanted to, but I was like, it's my first year, come on, you know, like, let's just, you know, reel it in a bit.

So let's talk about your experience of the, the business program that you're on. So you're now pet groomer business program. What. Where did you find out about it? What sparked your interest in that? I think initially, obviously when I was thinking about doing grooming, I wanted to find a support network. I needed to find people, as I said, I had friends who I'd done some grooming with, but I needed more. I needed people who had experience part of quite a few groups on Facebook. There's a lot there for different reasons.

Then obviously fell upon this group in terms of the main live Facebook Group. So I was kind of on there for quite a while, and I'd seen your name sort of popped up in quite a few places and talking about the program, and I just. I like the feet, like, the vibe of it, and I'd. You know, when you're looking online and you spot kind of groomers that catch your eye. So for me, it was Jem with the House Adapt dogs. It was Nissa with Cloud Canine Grooming.

I loved what they did. I loved the way that they presented themselves. And I kind of. I didn't necessarily know they were part of the group, but a couple of times I think I'd had insta messages and they had mentioned that was kind of the support network. And I just thought to myself, do you know, I wanted to find out more? And obviously then I had that long chat with you, and we went through everything, and it just gave me kind of. And sounds really cheesy, but a really, like, warm sense inside.

Like, I just knew that it was the right thing. And financially, I was like, oh, gosh, you know, like, that's a. Not initially the beginning, but I love the fact that actually now, I mean, yeah, it's still every month, but I am making more than I probably would because, you know, like, dare I say, dreamed of three months in, and that is entirely because of the group. And I think had I not. I don't know where I'd be had I not done it. And then I was really lucky as well.

So I had the opportunity. Like, I got a couple of free weeks. You know, there was, like, an app thing from Gemma at the beginning, so that kind of gave me an idea how getting a feel of it and getting some of the advice and the support and being part of the WhatsApp group and. And even just being on their sort of online portal and all the advice and support and listening to some of the mentors, you know, Robin and Louise and all of those kind of things, and it was just huge.

And I just thought, you know what? I want to do it, right? I want to go for it. And I've really got one chance to start, you know, like, I don't know, down the line, you could, you know, rebrand or whatever, but I just thought, I'm just gonna go for it now. And. Yeah, well, I wouldn't be where I am without you guys. So, thanks. Welcome. And what. What do you, like? Is there anything you particularly, like, enjoy about it? Are you saying, like, the live Zoom calls or the community is the one thing that sort of sticks out?

I Think, I mean, I love the WhatsApp group in terms of people being there, but I think it's, it's more the calls to be fair. Like sometimes I dip in, dip out just because you're busy. But I really enjoy like the Monday call. Often I'm grooming so you can't always hear everything. But it's just nice to know that you're not on your own and that other people are experiencing the same thing as you or someone drops a little idea and you know, and then also with the group, you know, listening back to some of the, like, the, like Robin for example is always sort of got lots of information and Louisa James, not sorry, Fanny with all the money side of it.

And sometimes if you're feeling just that little bit unsure, you can always dip in and there's something there, not necessarily a physical person, but there's information, there's something you can watch, there's something you can learn and it's just gives you that little boost or I can message you and go help or someone else and you know, you guys are always there, you know, you'll be like, I'll call you kind of thing and it just makes a massive difference. Yeah. And the, you know, doing, doing the calls, you have to set a bit of time aside then you to actually sit and do the calls.

But this is all part of working on your business, isn't it? It's all part of, you know, moving your business forward. And something that we talk about a lot is just taking little steps, little steps that really sort of mount up over the time to make sort of big strides, isn't it in your business? It is, absolutely. And sometimes there's a lot of information and there's a lot of experienced groomers in there and I'm not in that same place as they are in, in terms of all the stuff they're doing and you know, the number of dogs they do or whatever they're making.

And I have to remind myself that it's, it is baby steps, it's taking it as you go. But also my business is very different to their business and I have to remember that I don't necessarily, I don't mean I don't want to be them, I don't want a bus sell on, I don't necessarily want loads of staff. I'm quite happy doing what I'm doing at the moment, giving me what I need because that's the life change I decided on. You know, it's, I've done this for me and the Right.

Reasons for me, not because I need to be, I don't sound silly, but the biggest and the best and have a busy, you know, it's not about that. It's about what you want as an individual and picking the info and the, the detail and the information that works for you. Yeah, I like the fact that you've come in and you, everyone, that everyone within the program's got things to offer each other and you've come in and you know your social and your ideas and your blogs and you know, your website and everything.

It's inspired others within the program and who are older groomers, you know, who are just starting out. So it's that sharing of information. I always like that part of coaching is you learn something and then you pass that on to someone else and then you might be passing on to the friends you did your grooming course with, probably telling them to put their prices up always.

So I love the fact that the coaching effect, the, the coaching and mentoring is like a ripple and it goes out and it goes out and even if people aren't on, on the program or they're just using the, the free group here, it ripples out. And you take a lot of action as well, don't you? Yeah, I, I literally, if I'm given a challenge, I'm on it. You know, that's kind of the way that I work. And only because I think, well, why, why not? Like I think the teaching in me, you always had to be on it, you always had to be organized, you had to be ready for the next day.

So I have to be like that all the time. So I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. I don't know what I'm going to need to do tomorrow. So therefore, yeah, if I need to do it. So we talked about yesterday, didn't we, about doing a blog on the importance of booking your early groom slots for 20, 25 and maybe doing two or three at the same time because you're getting busy. And well, I did it and I, within a few hours I was like, what?

There you go. But only because it's in my head, I'll forget it. And I mean, I've got lists everywhere, but there's always so much to do. You know, you do your full day of grooming but then you've got your social media, all the bits to catch up on. I was send photos to customers afterwards to say thank you and with a Google review link, et cetera. But that all takes time. So if I've got a list and I can just check stuff off. I'm like, okay, tomorrow's a new day.

What's next? Yeah, I think we finished the coaching call on Monday morning at 11 and by 2 o'clock I had a. I had a fully written blog about booking your Christmas appointments in. In the inbox. Well, Monday was a paperwork day, so I was all right. I was pinned to the computer, so it was fine. It wouldn't have happened on a normal day, but do it. Smoke coming off your keyboard. We like. Yeah, yeah. So what's your. Obviously three months in, got Christmas coming up. Have you, have you coached with the.

The Christmas bookings and the. Have you seen the Christmas rush that a lot of people have seen. Been seeing? I don't know if there's a Christmas rush. I mean, I'm full up to Christmas. I think I'm very much a person who always gets people to book in any way in advance. So generally they booked their October, November appointment and I was like, would you like to book in for Christmas too? I know that I can still only do and only want to do really three dogs a day.

I can't do more than that. I won't enjoy it. So it's. It's been con, like constant. I've got the odd space where I've sort of squeezed things and move things around. So, yeah, I think people are keen, but I'm hoping that that will roll forward into January too and keep them kind of coming. But I'm always kind of pushing them to book rather than see later and then they let me know later kind of thing, so. But that's again, been one of my consistencies since I started.

You know, don't leave until you've booked another appointment. Thanks very much. Yeah. And obviously, generally, for us, as a business is generally quite busy, but in February we can sometimes see the little dip. So we're going to have to work. I don't know if you've got any plans for like marketing around January, but we can work to make sure that hopefully February just carries on. Yeah, I mean, I'm hoping obviously to start advertising my spa stuff a bit more obviously. I'm hoping to do some of this website design as well, so I think that's going to help me.

I'm having a week off in February anyway. Just to say, back to Devon again for a week. Yeah. With my friend, she's a teacher. So we're going in half term. So I just. Yeah, I'm hoping, like, because of doing the other stuff on the side as well. I'm hoping to sort of do four days grooming, one day of that a week or tweak it so that when I'm in Devon I'm doing that and you know, various things. So I think it's. I hope so. I mean people are booking.

I mean I'm kind of nearly full for the first two weeks of January anyway and I've. And that's without December people coming yet and haven't booked in yet. So I don't know. But ultimately I can, I'm hoping that it will, it will pan out and be fine. But yeah, I do want to push a few more spa packages. The teeth cleaning is probably a big one because from what I've learned from the guys in the group it's quite, it's a good money one if you can do that and then get them on, even maintenance on top of a groom.

But yes, I mean I'm wondering as well whether to do like a mini kind of winter January spa add on. So kind of more poor related poor bomb, that kind of thing. Just like a fiverr add on, you know, like nothing huge but just trying to upsell that as well just to you know, look after dog's paws and that kind of thing in the winter and keep that going and advertise that through sort of social media. I do. I've just done another newsletter that I'm going to send out on Sunday to all my customers promoting still a Twinkle Paws spa package but booking in early, et cetera, et cetera.

So you know, so I can do another newsletter in January. Let's test it, let's try it. That's what it's about, isn't it? So where do you think you, where, where do you see yourself this time next year? Oh, I don't know. I mean hopefully it's to be like have a proper, consistent, you know, clientele have them coming back consistently happy, still kind of getting positive comments and reviews. My dream is to be able to do groom four days a week but that be it, you know, to earn enough in four days so that I can work four days a week.

But we'll see. I mean obviously it's going to depend on me with upsells probably price increase at some point next year as well just to kind of help a little bit. I mean obviously if they're doing like the spa add on at Christmas that's kind of a really nice little add on. And you're thinking, oh that's quite nice if that's coming in like on every groom, do you know what I mean? But I just want to be careful as to when I do that because I mean, January, I know people do do it in January, but for me, I think people haven't got any money and I'm still not sure I want to get a consistent base before I whack them with a price increase.

But we'll deal with that limiting belief another day.

It's that sweeping statement you just put in there. We'll deal with that. But yeah, he. Could I interest you in cat grooming? Maybe for. Maybe to be fair, I've got two cats. Yeah. Like I. Yeah, possibly at some point, for sure. But again, it's something that I can branch out into. It's something that I'm not putting, you know, like in a box. But I think at the moment is just. I want possibly six months or so to really have a consistent and be confident in myself and what I'm doing before I start branching out.

Because ultimately again, that's all more or equipment, more everything, more training, which I'm happy to do, but I think I just need to. I don't want to run before I can walk, if that makes sense. Bit of consolidation first. Yeah, exactly. But I know that you guys have your amazing cat grooming course, so at some point I'll be there with bells on. Yeah, it's just another lovely add on to add to your business and diversify your. Your income stream as well, isn't it? Absolutely. I don't think my two will be welcoming that very much and do that now.

That's about it. So if there's someone listening here, that is, you know, they're a teacher, they're coming up to Christmas, it's going to be crazy. They're going to be given a load of socks and gin for Christmas by their. By the kid, by the pupil's parents, not more gin. What are your sort of top five tips for coming into the pet grooming industry? First of all, if you've got a dream, do it. No, life's too short, you know, you'll never know unless you try and you don't want to have any regrets.

I'd say that's probably one of the biggest ones, I think. Don't worry. I don't want to say don't worry financially, but if you want to make it work and you're going to work hard, you can do it. And you can always top it up in ways. I'm doing some magazine distribution for a local advertisement sort of company and I'VE managed to get a free advert in the magazine for it and whatever else, but it's extra pennies at the end of the day that could be fitted around grooming just in December, but that it's brilliant.

So their financials. Don't worry about it. I said no regrets, like, believe in yourself. I know it sounds really silly, but you can do it. But it's your business. So it's your business, your rules. And although that's hard sometimes because you said want to be a people pleaser, then, you know, but you have to stick to it because otherwise it suddenly doesn't become your business anymore and you're led by other people and. Yeah, basically, yeah. I mean, it doesn't matter if you're a teacher or whatever it is, but if you've got a dream, go for it.

Let's do it. And prepare. Join the program. Yeah, join the program, but prepare for it as well and, you know, give some thought to it and you can prepare financially for it. You can start preparing for it with knowledge and information. Can you? Yeah, do the research. Take every opportunity that comes your way. So whether it be a business course with, on like the pet accountant, whatever it is, really invest in it and really research it and get into the nitty gritty because it's so important and it's so worth it and you'll learn so much.

So definitely, definitely. And you know, not just so much with the, you know, with the program, but there's, there's so much other support out there as well with, you know, different things that you can be part of if, you know. I didn't know much about social media, truthfully, I used it, but I had no clue. But it's amazing what you learn and how much you can change to use it to your advantage. And one of the most important things is take action. Oh, for sure, take action.

And, you know, imperfect action beats perfect in action, doesn't it? Yeah. And try it. You don't know it's not, you know, you've got no idea if it's going to work or not. But until you try, you won't know. So. Well, thank you very much. I know you've had a long day, so we'll, we'll leave it there. So if you want to go and check out your, your website because it's fantastic, let us know where they can see it. So my website is lovetopause. Www.lovetopause.co.uk and I'm sure you're happy for.

People to connect with you if they want to. Of course. Any questions, then I'm happy to help. Excellent. Thank you very much for your time. It's been great talking to you. Thank you. Yeah. See you soon. Take care. Bye. I hope you've enjoyed this podcast. Please make sure you give us a like or a review to help people find it. The podcast is sponsored by Low Pay. Head over to www.lowpay.com to find out more about their payment solution.