How to Make a Career Change With a Dog Grooming Franchise

Making a career change can seem like a daunting prospect, but with the right preparation and knowledge of what you’ll need in the months ahead, there’s no reason why you can’t make a successful career change with a franchise that is right for you.

---

Dog grooming franchises play an important role in keeping our furry pets looking their best. You’ll be working up close and personal with dogs, keeping their fur pristine and doing whatever else their loving owners think is best. While this kind of franchise business might sound niche, it’s anything but; demand for professional grooming services is higher than ever, meaning that this could be an ideal franchising opportunity for you.

But how best to make a career change with a franchise? Over the course of this article, we’re going to cover all the essentials of how you can make this potential change a reality.

Why start a dog grooming franchise in 2021?

The UK pet industry has become a multi-billion pound business, with pet owners regularly spending large sums on pampering their animals. Pets are often now treated as one of the family, and the range of luxury products and services available for animals reflects this. - Sectors Donut

The UK dog grooming sector is becoming a booming service. With our beloved pets becoming just another extension of the family, owners are sparing no expense when it comes to grooming and maintenance. And while starting your own business is never easy, when you work with a franchise, you know you can look forward to:

• Expert training and support
• Experienced tutors helping to develop both yourself and your business
• An exclusive territorial zone to work in
• Access to nationally-organised marketing strategies
• A pre-existing customer base and reputation
• A network of like minded franchisees

---

>> Read more:

• Ready for a Career Change? Check Out These Five Top Franchise Opportunities in the UK
• Career Change: Start a Fresh Career with a Franchise
• Fed Up With the 9-to-5 Perhaps Starting a Franchise Business Is Your Best Next Career Move

---

How to make a career change with a dog grooming franchise

If you think you’re ready to step right into this competitive service industry, it’s time to start preparing for how you intend to make a dream career change.

1. Market analysis

Step one of starting your own business is identifying where you can excel in ways your competitors can’t. Whether you’re carrying out SWOT analysis, or any other kind of market research, you’ll need to find a space in the market for your franchise.

Start by researching the biggest franchises in the sector. What are their strengths, weaknesses and price advantages? Once you’ve built up a good profile of the franchises that will eventually become your competitors, you will want to start answering the following questions:

• What could your franchise do better?
• How will you attract the right members of staff?
• What services will you be able to upsell?
• How will you grow faster or more efficiently than your competition in the future?
• How will you finance your franchise?
• What kinds of working patterns and schedules will you be wanting to use?

All in all, the key here is to make sure your business is offering something different from what is already out there. You don’t want your very own dog grooming franchise to be an afterthought, so go into this process with the right understanding of the market straight away.

2. Find a franchise

The next step, inevitably, is to find the franchise for you. There are lots of different options open to you, so you need to look at your own criteria and assess which options are right for you. Consider:

• How expensive the initial and ongoing costs of a franchise business are
• What financing options are available to you
• What is the ethos of the business? Do you agree with it?
• Is there varying levels of mentorship and support?

Find the right franchise that fits your needs and you’ll be well on your way to making a profitable and exciting career change.

3. Figure out your marketing

The last thing you want to see, having gone through all the rigors of starting your own business, is zero customers. When it comes to marketing, you need to make sure that all the essential details of your business are visible, accessible and understandable. Speak to your franchisee about what kinds of marketing strategies they will be able to support you with.

4. Due diligence

Due diligence is the process of going through the financial status of a company and ensuring that everything adds up. The unfortunate reality of the current economic climate is that many businesses are in far worse financial shape than two years ago. While it’s rare for franchises to end up in dire economic straits, you always need to be ready for the unexpected.

Go through our definitive due diligence checklist to make sure you’re covering all the bases, and won’t be going into a business opportunity that you will later regret.

5. Brush up your skills

You don’t need to be the most up-skilled franchisee in the world to run your own successful business. After all, your franchisor will most likely be taking the time to help you level up your skills in the future. But ensuring you have some of the following skills will help you hit the ground running once you open your doors:

• Organisation
• Leadership
• Determination
• Proactiveness
• A commitment to building a long-term business opportunity
• Charisma
• Decent business sense
• An eye for recruitment

---

>> Read more:

• A Day in the Life: What It Takes to Run a Dog Sitting Business
• Dog School Franchises in the UK
• Attention Animal Lovers: Here Are 4 Dog Care Franchises You'll Love

---

Make a career change with a dog grooming franchise today

Starting a new career in a different industry never comes without challenges, but when you’ve got a franchisor at your side to help you through all of these challenges, making a career change has never been easier. If you don’t feel like dog grooming is the right industry for you though, consult the UK franchise directory for a full list of available franchising opportunities.