Starting a business - is it worth the risk?

Marcon

llcooljayne1 said:

So in short for YEARS I have wanted to start my own dog grooming business. My plan is to open a grooming salon with an added coffee shop to entice owners to stay for a coffee/bite to eat whilst they wait therefore increasing on site spend.

I have written a business plan, and have looked into costings of leasing a commercial property, utilities, insurances etc but am concerned about how I will pay myself at the start as I have a mortgage and bills I still need to pay (as we all do!)

I have had mixed responses from people who have businesses, some saying you may not be able to pay yourself anything whilst starting up and others saying you absolutely have to as it shows dedication to making the business work as not paying yourself (unless loaded) is not viable.
 So question is, is it possible to get a bit extra out on a business loan to start up to help pay myself something whilst I build my business and generate a decent profit?

any advice would be extremely helpful! Thankyou 😊

Ask yourself 3 questions:

• why haven't I done so if it's something I've wanted for YEARS?
• why now - what has changed if I've wanted this for YEARS but done nothing to make it a reality?
• if I'm so wedded to the idea, why is my thread headed 'Starting a business - is it worth the risk?'

They aren't meant nastily or unkindly, but if you can answer them honestly (to yourself rather than us!), it might give you a rather more realistic take on things. Anyone can write a business plan and 'look into' costings, but that's a million miles from coming up with a viable plan which a lender would support.

Other key questions for you are how will you fund the start up, including your training (and looking online at courses, they seem to be several thousand pounds at least); fund it while you try to build a business; and - crucially - where are your customers coming from? Unless you are well qualified and experienced, why would anyone come to you?

As to the cafe...plenty of others have already given sensible feedback on that idea. Although it's admirable you are trying to think of ways to increase customer spend, the reality is that you will only be grooming one dog at a time, so will only have a maximum of two 'ready made' visiting customers (the one whose dog you are about to finish grooming, and the next customer). Unless you are going to run it as a proper cafe and attract far more business, it's going to be a major loss leader.

Starting a new business is almost always a risk. Whether it's worth it is entirely down to how much you want to do it, how well you can mitigate the risks and how realistic you are about pretty much everything.

If my answers seriously deters you, then maybe you have your answer? But on the other hand, if it acts as a spur...

sheramber

What qualifications do you have?

what experience do you have of grooming dogs?

What demand is there locally  and how busy are  other local groomers? 

Is there demand for another?


My dog gets groomed as I am no longer able to get him in the bath to wash him.

The first local one  I used is very popular but had no idea how to scissor cut. The majority of their dogs are cut with clippers which is not apropriate for a long haired breed. .

The second was a chain. Despite claiming to do breed specific grooming the scissoring left a lot to be desired.

Recently, , a mobile groomer has started up. He has a fully equipped van but needs access to  electricity. 

Again he advertised breed specific grooming but  gave details of his training.

My dog was groomed exactly as he should be and I am pleased to have at last found the ‘real thing. ‘

 

Savvy_Sue

I don't know if we've frightened the OP off ... 

But ... 

sheramber said:

What qualifications do you have?

what experience do you have of grooming dogs?

What demand is there locally  and how busy are  other local groomers? 

Is there demand for another?


My dog gets groomed as I am no longer able to get him in the bath to wash him.

The first local one  I used is very popular but had no idea how to scissor cut. The majority of their dogs are cut with clippers which is not apropriate for a long haired breed. .

The second was a chain. Despite claiming to do breed specific grooming the scissoring left a lot to be desired.

Recently, , a mobile groomer has started up. He has a fully equipped van but needs access to  electricity. 

Again he advertised breed specific grooming but  gave details of his training.

My dog was groomed exactly as he should be and I am pleased to have at last found the ‘real thing. ‘ 

The comments from sheramber are important. I have no idea how many different kinds of trims there are, but I have gathered there are quite a few, depending on breeds, and it's important to do the 'right' one, and more important not to do the 'wrong' one. Which means that becoming a 'good' groomer isn't something that happens after 'just' a training course. I can imagine that some groomers might specialise in particular breeds and avoid others - which again goes back to the question of whether there's a market locally for whatever you're offering. 

Marcon

I think it's yet another of these 'always wanted to...' posts, but when asked about how well prepared they are to get on and actually 'do', there's a resounding silence, or a string of flimsy excuses (rarely any reasons).

OP claims this is something they have wanted to do for 'years' - so they've had years to qualify, get experience (whether part time, on a voluntary basis or whatever), get their own dog and build up local contacts with other dog walkers, do some research/learning about the requirements for running your own business...I suspect they can't tick a single one of those boxes, although I'd love to wrong. 

sheramber

If she hasn’t done research into what is required / best practice then it is a big risk.
 There is more to grooming dogs than running a set of clippers over it, or  scissoring the hair. 

You also need to know how to handle dogs. Not all are compliant. 

lincroft1710

Marcon said:

I think it's yet another of these 'always wanted to...' posts, but when asked about how well prepared they are to get on and actually 'do', there's a resounding silence, or a string of flimsy excuses (rarely any reasons).

OP claims this is something they have wanted to do for 'years' - so they've had years to qualify, get experience (whether part time, on a voluntary basis or whatever), get their own dog and build up local contacts with other dog walkers, do some research/learning about the requirements for running your own business...I suspect they can't tick a single one of those boxes, although I'd love to wrong. 

Yes, does appear to be another one with "Lion Tamer Syndrome"

llcooljayne1

Hi all, thank you for all the comments.

firstly the reason for the radio silence is that I’ve actually been on a weeks taster course for dog grooming to see how I find it before venturing into a business myself. I had the best week and am now going to continue to gain my level 3 qualification.

For whoever thinks I am just someone who has a dream to do something but has no idea and probably won’t, I look forward to proving you wrong.

The feedback and advice regarding the coffee shop side of the business made a lot of sense and I have decided to just start with the grooming and maybe consider that part in the future.

llcooljayne1

lincroft1710 said:

Marcon said:

I think it's yet another of these 'always wanted to...' posts, but when asked about how well prepared they are to get on and actually 'do', there's a resounding silence, or a string of flimsy excuses (rarely any reasons).

OP claims this is something they have wanted to do for 'years' - so they've had years to qualify, get experience (whether part time, on a voluntary basis or whatever), get their own dog and build up local contacts with other dog walkers, do some research/learning about the requirements for running your own business...I suspect they can't tick a single one of those boxes, although I'd love to wrong. 

Yes, does appear to be another one with "Lion Tamer Syndrome"

I have two dogs, have been in management for a number of years including dealing with revenue, P&L etc and also qualified in canine behaviour and canine first aid.

DullGreyGuy

llcooljayne1 said:

For whoever thinks I am just someone who has a dream to do something but has no idea and probably won’t, I look forward to proving you wrong.

And most will be happy to hear when you do especially if it all works out. 

Having a dream and not acting on it is ok too; not everyone can afford the risk of starting a business or loss of income to go back to university etc. 

As forum posters it can be frustrating spending time giving considered opinion etc and then either the OP never returns or doesnt like anything that doesnt reconfirm their world view etc but we all know thats a risk when we reply to a thread. 

lincroft1710

llcooljayne1 said:

lincroft1710 said:

Marcon said:

I think it's yet another of these 'always wanted to...' posts, but when asked about how well prepared they are to get on and actually 'do', there's a resounding silence, or a string of flimsy excuses (rarely any reasons).

OP claims this is something they have wanted to do for 'years' - so they've had years to qualify, get experience (whether part time, on a voluntary basis or whatever), get their own dog and build up local contacts with other dog walkers, do some research/learning about the requirements for running your own business...I suspect they can't tick a single one of those boxes, although I'd love to wrong. 

Yes, does appear to be another one with "Lion Tamer Syndrome"

I have two dogs, have been in management for a number of years including dealing with revenue, P&L etc and also qualified in canine behaviour and canine first aid.

All of which should have been mentioned in your opening post.