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This
Town IS Big Enough For The Both Of Us!
(Self
Service Dog Washes)
© 2003
David A. Grass 2003 All rights reserved
Self-Serve
Dog Washes are being warmly welcomed by the
public in areas where they are available. And
they are becoming available in more and more
places all the time. It is now apparent, as
people are becoming more aware of the concept
and gaining greater access to this type of
service, that this is only the beginning. The
industry is here to stay, and it will continue
to experience significant growth for years to
come. In other words, it is a good time to get
involved.
Published
statistics range from 35% to 45% for U.S.
households with one or more dog. Moreover,
people are taking better care of their pets and
spending more on them, than at any time in the
past. It has been estimated that $25 billion is
being spent on pets each year in the U.S.-and
that figure is rising. There is plenty of room
for self-serve dog washes and full-service
grooming shops to coexist. In fact, an ideal
situation for many is a facility which offers
both. That way there is something to offer
everyone from the "do-it-yourselfers" to the
"I-haven't-the-time-or-the-inclination-to-do-it"
folks.
My
particular facility (now under new ownership)
did not include professional grooming, although
I began offering nail trimming after seeing that
most dogs had overgrown nails, and that many if
not most people fall somewhere between
"uncomfortable" and "terror stricken" when it
comes to the thought of trimming their pets'
nails. (Being amazed by what I saw, I ended up
writing a book titled, "How To Trim Your
Dog's…Nails! And Why You're Probably Dumber Than
Your Dog.")
Soon after
opening my self-serve dog wash, I found that
while many people were intrigued and excited by
the concept, I typically received a few
inquiries each week about full-service grooming.
It became apparent that there are four kinds of
dog caretakers:
1) Those
who have their pets bathed/groomed by a
professional groomer;
2) Those who want to bath/groom their pets
themselves;
3) Those who have their pets professionally
groomed, but do their own bathing and/or minor
grooming between regular visits to the groomer;
4) And unfortunately, those whose pets are
rarely, if ever, bathed or groomed.
The first
group needs professional groomers, the second
group needs self-serve dog wash and groom
facilities, the third group needs both, and the
fourth group needs education!
Since I
did not offer professional grooming, I soon
developed good relationships with a couple of
groomers I felt comfortable with (i.e., had
heard good things about), to whom I referred
prospective customers interested in the services
they provided. Likewise, they referred people
asking about self-service availability to me.
Thus, rather than having adversarial
relationships while vying for the same resources
(customers), our networking benefited each of
us…as networking typically does.
 by
Dave Grass, Author of Start Your Own Self-Serve
Dog Wash, Start Your Own Professional
Pet-Sitting Service, and other books-All
available at
www.dagBOOKS.com.
Dave also
operates
www.SelfServeDogWash.com and can be reached
at:
dave@selfservedogwash.com.
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