Sorry to hear you're being made redundant. My friend made this exact choice - in her case she opted for dog walking because the nearest training course for the grooming was too far away. It's been really successful for her. Once she built up a client base and good name for herself, she was up and running.

 

Sorry to hear about your job

What about a mobile dog groomer with a kitted out van? There's a few dog grooming places where I live but a woman who does mobile grooming seems to be the most popular choice for people (especially the elderly).

 

I have thought about mobile dog grooming, but I imagine that a kitted out van would be very expensive on top of the training course, but I haven't really investigated it (or anything really! I'm all over the show!) Good idea though, thank you-I'll add that to the pot!

 

It would be worth having a look at what other people are doing in your area and what the best market gaps are. There are quite a few dog walkers in my area, but the good ones are fully booked (and so are some that I wouldn't touch with a pole or let near my dogs). Talking to some of them could reveal quite a bit of information. Then enquire at groomers about their prices etc, and from how long you'd have to wait for a slot, you can gauge how busy there are.
Whichever you do (or something different) it would be worth doing a short course in running your own business.

 

Some great advice being given ....and as someone who runs their own business I can thoroughly recommend it (so long as you don't mind never switching off completely - I get clients ringing me at 8am in the morning and at 7pm at night )

I think it also may come down to what you see yourself doing in 5 years ....do you see yourself togged up in walking gear, on your feet in all weathers (and it's mighty cold out there today so just to walk my dogs i have thermals on!) and out in the fresh air.

Or would you rather be working individually with a dog indoors (often hot and splashed but never cold!) working to perfect a look or cut for a doggy client.

They are actually quite different skill sets.

My wife had her own grooming salon ...it is hard work (though you choose your hours obviously) but she loved grooming for the artistic pleasure of making a dog look and feel it's best. She would spend time talking to each client (human, not dog obviously ...though actually she did chat to the dog as well ) in order to find out what they wanted. Grooming is a skill that improves with time and experience, too.

Sorry to hear about your redundancy though but ...yup, go for it!

J

 

Thank you all-lots of lovely advice! I'm getting my head round the redundancy now-I think it could be a good thing, but 26 years in one place is a long time! I've got lots to think about. I've been approached about doggy day care 2 days a week-it's not something I had really thought about before-do you have any thoughts on it? Does it mean you have to stay at home all day with the dog? Part of me thinks maybe if the dog needs to go to day care they can't be left on their own, so you would need lots to make it viable, which could be manic!! I know you could obviously take that dog on walks with any you are walking, but I'm just not really sure how it works in practice. Sorry for the stupid questions, it's all just very new to me!

 

No advice on choosing but you might find the range of free starting your business courses offered by future learn useful....

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I would go with dog walking if theres demand and you're prepared to take groups out.
I've had my own mobile dog grooming van for about 3 years now and it absolutely knackers your body !
Also you'd be looking at about 4k for training and then at least 12k to 40k for a van.
I know plenty of dog groomers, but very few dog walkers/petsitters, think theres more of a demand there at least in this area.