help i need some tipps to running a sucessful grooming parlor? can any one help 

My tips would be go to a recommended grooming school, not a general college that runs a grooming course, for training.
Spend time with each new client and show them how to groom their dogs.
And trim to the breed standards rather than do what the owners' ask and clip the dogs off! :)

im already qualified city and guilds 775 dog grooming i trim most dogs to the breed standards expect the ones that request otherwise but buiness has been a bit slow i would just like to know how other groomers manage tho the winter monthes

I booked all of mine in for an 8 week trim and so I had consistant work all the year round.  It worked extremely well for 16 years.

when u first started out how long did it take u to build up a good client base to keep u busy though out the year?

3 months.

i have found it hard i think because there are two other groomers in my area. do u have any time saving tips

I had 10 other groomers within a 5 mile radius, including Groomer of the Year twice!!  It was quite a highly populated area in parts and plenty of dogs around, but many of mine would travel for an hour or more (one from Devon to Berkshire every 8 weeks) to get their Westie looking like a Westie! ;)  Most clipped everything off and could offer you an appointment tomorrow.  I always trimmed to the breed standard and had a waiting list of clients who wanted an 8 week appointment.
Time saving tips would probably include make sure that you have the right equipment working efficiently, ie a blaster as well as a reliable dryer.  And organise your parlour so that everything is at the right height and in the right position so that you are able to work efficiently all the time.
How long have you been working?  Because the more experienced you are, the faster you will work, and STILL find time to talk and fuss the dog!

i have been grooming for nearly 4 years i can do a westie in a proper westie cut in bout hour and 10 mins not rushing thats everything including the bath.

Make sure that you groom a breed the way that it should be, not the way that youwould like it to be.  I can't tell you how many SWD's I've seen with Poodle or Bedlington Terrier clips.  Oh and I wdn't. like to say what the groomers said about me at a grooming convention when I clipped my breed the way it should be clipped which is all off.  They were disgusted that I didn't clip it like a Poodle and boy did they show their disgust.  I've never been invited again :d

i have spoke to a breeder of spainsh water dogs and they said it should be all shaved short bout half an ich long a couple of times a year is that right

That's OK.  I may be able to 10 minutes off of that, but the thing that is different is that I would call it a Westie trim and you call it a cut.  By having a dog in every 8 weeks, then it really is a trim, as opposed to having a long hairy dog come in and a short dog going out! :)  A regular trim saves you time and the dog's discomfort!
Do you call it a Westie cut when you clip?  I've found that every C&G groomer that I've met will whack clippers on Westies.  I can count on one hand how many Westies that I've clipped.  Most I would strip.  Thin, silky, incorrect coats I would trim with thinners, although even those can be improved with stripping.  Most owners will ask for them to be clipped because they don't realise that they are asking to remove the dog's weather protection!
PS a clipped woolly coat takes longer to dry! ;)

i do clip most westies because most of my clients like a short pet trim i usally use a 5f on a westies backs and trim the legs head tail i mostly stripp the cairns that come in for grooming tho. i live in brighton most people around here who have little dogs will get them coats. i dont find that it takes any longer to dry a clipped coat than a handstripped 

Why do they need coats if they have a good coat they shouldn't need one especially tough little dogs like Cairns & Westies

Cairns should normally just be "tidied"up shouldn't they Val I know my friends who've had Cairns never clippered them & they always looked smart & were out in all weathers without dogcoats

i live in brighton what do u expect

:D :D :D

Cairns should normally just be "tidied"up shouldn't they Val
Yep.  They're a very natural breed.  I would just roll their coat every 8 weeks.

people dont tho do they most owners will leave cairns for ages between stripping and then it takes hours to get it back to how it should be
it becomes uncomftable so it easier to clip
val do u still stripp if the dog has been castrated or spayed?

It just shows that we have completely different ways of running a grooming parlour! 
Once I had explained why it was not in the dog and owner's best interest to have the dog clipped, most understood.  To those who didn't I would just say that it was not my type of work and give them the phone number of the sheep shearer down the road, who always had an appointment available.  I had plenty of groomers around me who would clip dogs because that was what the owner wanted. .
Each to their own.

my clients are happy with the grooming that i do i dont have a busy parlor because we only opened in may i only wanted some tipps on how to build up a client base not a war on weather clipping or handstripping is better thanks for your help

I thought that we were discussing "i need some tipps to running a sucessful grooming parlor"?

If you are happy with what you're doing, why ask?

PS No I didn't clip neutered Westies.  But then you're not interested in what I did so I won't tell you.......   I wish you good luck. :)

i am intested in what you have to say but we were getting off then subject and it was turning into a argument which needed not to be
i just wanted to know how other groomers have set up there parlors and not an argument on clipping and handstripping.

But that's exactly the point.  It's one of the things that makes a parlour successful and different to the other groomers in the area!
Owners will travel for hours to have their dog looking like it should and keep a parlour busy throughout the year.
A parlour is only as good as the dog walking around the street.  A correctly trimmed dog makes advertising completely unnecessary as the trim is the advertising.
As I said, I wish you all the best.

>i need some tipps to running a sucessful grooming parlor?

Then Val (who is a successful groomer) is the person who can best advise you. Surely someone who is successful enough to be able to afford to turn away clients knows something of value? ;)

A Friend of mine works in a grooming parlour, most of the clients dont care if the dog looks like it should. They just like the dog clipped short (well it comes to breeds like westies). I would of thought that you might loose buisness if you werent doing what the clients asked. Maybe it just depends on the owners and dogs.
I dont see the point in having a breed with a long coat if your just going to get it totally shaved off.

I tend to do what the owners ask (which is a baldy). I have very rarely been able to get people back in to do the dogs on a regular basis as most owners round here (Cornwall) seem to think that twice a year is OK! Having said that I do have a client base of some 300 dogs and only work 3 days a week!
Becky

are any of you groomers any where near aylesbury buckinhamshire. i have just moved here and still havnt found groomer

thanks for everyones help even tho i have seem to offeneded val because i clip some dogs instead of handstripping.

Not offended at all mollaholland, but I'm hardly going to waste time on this thread when the first thing that I suggest to increase your client base, you dismiss without consideration. :rolleyes:

Remember, if you keep doing what you've always done, you'll keep getting what you've always got.  And in this case it'll be owners who don't want to groom their dogs and just want them clipped off when they think that they need it.  If you work for owners who want their dogs looking tidy all the year round, they'll spread the word around their friends and you'll get more clients who are that way inclined.

I worked at a grooming school before starting my own parlour where part of the training was how to run a successful business, and I've helped many people do just that.  Other groomers have different ideas.  There's no right or wrong, just different.  It just depends what sort of business each individual decides that they want.

I was also taught that grooming is one of the few areas where the customer isn't always right.  Most don't know the right tools to use and only have the brush that ALL petshops sell for all breeds with bristles on one side and knobpins on the other!  About as much use as a chocolate teapot!  If owners are educated and given the time to be shown how good their dog is on a grooming bench when they are not full of knots, then most decide that they want what's best for their dog too.

As I have said, when I started my own parlour, I advertised for 3 months in the local paper.  For the next 16 years my work was my advertising.  My clients would be stopped in the park and asked "Why does your dog look like a Cocker/Westie/Lhasa etc and mine doesn't?"  And in came another client until after 3 months I had a waiting list for a regular slot, which never diminished.

Unfortunately pet people have their dogs clipped not because THEy want it done that way but because that's how certain "groomers" say it should be done!

i offer stripping and clipping i tell them all the pros and cons againest them and let them decide
in my area i am the only groomer that will stripp anyway.

Good groomers who do a correct job don't have problems with loss of clients, Dusty. They also have time to do more dogs because their 'regulars' are properly maintained between visits (thanks to education by the groomer) and so are quicker to do, with healthier skin and coats. People will travel a long way for a quality result.

From a "pet owners" POV, I like my dogs to be groomed to breed standard with the one exception being the trimming of undercarriage and as what was taught to me by my breeder. I would not accept my dogs being sheared, or any other ideas the groomer may have in mind.

I would love to find a groomer that I could trust and use regularly. Knowing what my breed is would be a good start for many of them.  but upon my research so far, I wouldn't go within 10 miles of these groomers with my dogs.

So,  until I move back to where my groomer lives (500 miles away) or I can, by some miracle, find a groomer within a 50 mile radius that understands what I want, then I will just have to carry on doing them myself.

Exactly hairypooch!  I would clip hygiene areas, underarms, under ears etc - areas that didn't show. But the rest was a pet version of the breed standard, but the coat would be correctly handled.

Knowing my luck Val, your location is probably as far from me as can be possible ;)

If not......I'd be round to you like a shot :D

I've moved from Berkshire to Somerset hairypooch to retire.  I'm now a born again teenager, only trimming the oldies, who travel 100 miles each way, every 8 weeks!

I groom in central scotland (Ayrshire) and also know others who would be interested in clipping your briard properly, feel free to message me if you want any numbers