Grow and manage your cat grooming business with Easy Busy Pets

What cat groomers do
A cat groomer, as the name implies, focuses on grooming for cats, which typically includes:

• Giving them a bath
• Shampooing fur
• Trimming nails
• Ear care, primarily cleaning the ear canal
• Dental care
• Removing matted, dead hair
• Ensure cats are calm and happy throughout the sessions
• Cleaning work area after each session

Owners of long hair cats are more likely to seek professional grooming services, as these cats can become extremely matted, which leads to dry skin, trapped fecal matter, irritation, and potentially infection.

• Marketing to their target audience
• Interacting with leads and current customers for relationship building
• Maintaining client records
• Taking inventory of their supplies

Grow and manage your cat grooming business with Easy Busy Pets

Top resources for cat grooming training
You don't need to go to college to become a cat groomer. However, that doesn't mean you can't benefit from training that'll help you learn the basics, how to handle sticky situations, and the business side of things.

So, let's look at some training courses you can take to become a groomer:

NCGI - The Complete Cat Groomer Training Syllabus

The National Cat Groomers Institute is an organization that helps cat groomers safely and efficiently groom cats. And their training courses prepare you for their Certification Feline Master Groomer (CFMG) certification.

Their Complete Cat Groomer Training Syllabus online course includes cat grooming basics, preparation for the written portion of the CFMG certification, tips based on cat type, how to trim nails, business development, marketing, and much more.

Cat Grooming Training (PPI)

Day of Cat Grooming - Personalized Private Instruction is offered by Cat Naps Cattery. Some of its lessons include private hands-on grooming with up to three cats, training on business discussions, and client interactions.

However, while the training you receive is personalized, you would need to travel to Hamilton, NJ, to participate in it.

Best cat grooming products for your business

When starting your business, you want to make sure that you have some of the best products on the market. Let's check out a few you can purchase today to give cats the best grooming experience.

Bath

Earthbath Natural Oatmeal & Aloe Shampoo

The Earthbath Natural Oatmeal & Aloe Shampoo is an all-natural shampoo that's soap-free and designed for dry, itchy, flaky, and sensitive skin. It's 100% biodegradable and leaves pets fresher, softer, and happier than when they walked in.

Pro Pet Works All Natural Organic Oatmeal Pet Shampoo + Conditioner

The Pro Pet Works All Natural Organic Shampoo and Conditioner helps restore natural oils, relieve dry, itchy skin, conditions and moisturizes, and soothes pets suffering from allergies or skin issues.

Fur

Delomo Pet Grooming Glove

Not all cats enjoy having their fur brushed. Especially if they've never been to a groomer before, but with the Delomo Pet Grooming Glove, you can gently brush away dirt and loose hair. And with its flexible design, you can also get into hard to reach places without scratching their fur or painfully removing it. It's also easy-to-clean since all shedding sticks to the glove.

Hertzko Self Cleaning Slicker Brush

The Hertzko Self Cleaning Slicker Brush can help you get rid of matted hair, eliminate tangles, remove loose hair and trapped dirt on cats of all shapes and sizes. The fine bent wire bristles will help you brush deep into their coats without scratching them. It also massages their skin and increases circulation.

Plus, with its one-click button, you can easily remove all cat hair by wiping it off after retracting the bristles.

Hertzko Electric Professional Pet Nail Grinder

The Hertzko Pet Nail Grinder is an automatic nail grinder manufactured with Diamond Bit Grinder, which is safer and more effective than nail clippers. It prevents you from cutting the cats' nails too short with three-port sizes that are based on their nail size.

It's designed with low noise, low vibration motor that prevents pets from becoming scared of it.

Pet Republique Cat Nail Clippers

These professional nail clippers are better suited to small cats and kittens. The Pet Republique Cat Nail Clippers is made from thick stainless steel and comes with a 90-day money-back guarantee and a 4-year warranty.

Top customer concerns when visiting a cat groomer for the first time

While customers will undoubtedly have other questions, these two are the top concerns:

Will you sedate my cat?

You can explain to your customers that even if they believe their cat is difficult to groom, they should first consult their veterinarian. If it's necessary to sedate them, their cat's vet will recommend what medication is best for them. And the vet or cat owner would provide any medication that their cat may need.

Will grooming hurt my cat?

Their pet's safety is a priority for any pet owner, so they'll want to make sure that their pets aren't going to be hurt. You can explain that not grooming their cat can result in matting, skin conditions, painful ingrown nails, fleas in matted hair, blood restriction because of matted hair, etc.

But when they groom their cat every 6 to 8 weeks, their cats feel better, and they can avoid some health issues.

Where customers find cat groomers (and how to use this to inform your marketing)

To know how to market your services, you first need to understand how customers search for cat groomers.

How cat owners find cat grooming services

Here are a few ways that cat owners look for a cat groomer that fit their needs:

• Referrals: Most cat owners have family or friends that also own casts. So, when they're looking for a cat groomer, they'll ask for referrals from people they trust.
• Google search: Aside from asking for referrals, the first place cat owners will go when searching for a local cat grooming specialist is Google. And if you have Google My Business, pet owners can see recommended reviews, your contact information, and pictures of your business.
• Yelp reviews: Most consumers also read Yelp reviews when looking for trustworthy business reviews. 

Create a referral program

As previously mentioned, your current customers will likely know more cat lovers. And if they're satisfied with your services, they'll recommend you to other cat owners they know. So, why not offer them an incentive?

With a referral program, you can offer your customers a free service for a certain amount of leads that purchase from you. The more incentive your customers have, the more likely they are to share and recommend your product. 

Build a website for your business

Some local businesses believe that having a website is pointless because they're in the same community as their target audience. But the opposite is true.

Most consumers prefer to visit a business's website to find out more about them and what they offer versus calling them. Besides lead generation, your website can be used to schedule appointments and educate your audience.

Be sure to SEO optimize your website to increase your chances of ranking in search engines. Target keyphrases like "city name + cat groomer" or "city name + cat grooming."

Find mutual business partnerships
It's likely that cat owners that bring their pets to a veterinarian, have a pet sitter, or visit pet stores would also need a cat groomer. But don't know of any that they've heard of or can trust.

To help bridge that gap, the businesses you partner with can be a good referral source for you. And because cat owners trust the business they're currently working with; they're more likely to trust you as well.

So, to help increase your brand awareness, find other local businesses in your niche, and partner with them. You can leave your brochures or business cards with them, and vice versa for potential leads to find.

Create social media profiles
With social media profiles, you make it easy for your audience to find you, interact with you, and see how you work. Social media is a perfect place to showcase some of your brand's personality to help connect with your audience.       

Keep your web listings active

Regularly update your Google My Business listing, Bing listing, and Yelp listing. Profiles that are kept up-to-date are more likely to be shown to potential customers who are searching for businesses like yours.

Grow and manage your cat grooming business with Easy Busy Pets

How much you can earn as a cat groomer

A cat groomer's salary is dependent on their location and experience. For example, the national average for a cat groomer who has entry-level experience is approximately $18,000. Mid-career groomers make between $21,000 and $30,000, and experienced cat groomers make anywhere between $36,000 and $60,000.

How to make your cat grooming business COVID safe

With COVID-19 active in the United States, some people are still avoiding social interactions and going out in public. On the other hand, most Americans are attempting to pick back up where they left off.

And for those customers, you want to ensure that you're providing the maximal level of safety you can offer them, their cats, and yourself. Here are a few social distancing and safety practices you can implement to limit person-to-person interactions while still providing excellent cat grooming services:

• Wear facial, hand, and shoe coverings during grooming sessions.
• Schedule your appointments with enough time in-between to sanitize your equipment.
• Ask you customers to remain in their car while you come to retrieve their cat. Or help your customers to social distance by placing social distancing lines or signs along the floor inside your business.
• Require your customers to stay home if they're not feeling well.
• You stay home if you're not feeling well.

Being a cat groomer isn't easy. But if you're passionate about working with pets and helping them leave your shop feeling better than when they came in, then it won't be hard to love your career. And with these tips, you'll have a solid foundation and are one step closer to becoming the professional cat groomer of your dreams. 

Grow and manage your cat grooming business with Easy Busy Pets