Career in Pet Grooming: Pet Salons are the New Craze!
Sanjeev Kumar, Professional groomer, animal welfare worker and owner of Pet Bytes and Scoopy Scrub, has handled queries from Nepal too.
Does Delhi have a market for pet salons?
It was not easy to establish (a business) as pet grooming was a totally new concept in India. We had to go over a lot of hurdles to be able to truly see it settle down after almost two years of hard work and constant push. Still, today we can say that pet owners are now definitely aware of pet grooming in the metros and major cities as demands for our franchises are pouring in from all parts of India and from cities in Nepal as well.
With the pet industry growing in India each year, pet grooming will definitely make its place in our country. Pet lovers now understand the need for and necessity of keeping pets groomed and clean.
You and your wife trained in Thailand. Is training essential? Where can you train in India?
Yes, we are professionally trained groomers and yes, we do feel the same is essential for providing quality services. To the best of our knowledge, there are only a handful of professional grooming centres in India. Not all outlets or veterinary centres sporting a board claiming to provide grooming services can provide professional work.
We were disappointed a few years back when we were unable to find a single pet grooming training institution in India for ourselves. Then we had decided that once capable, we will offer such training to all pet lovers choosing this profession. We offer courses in India for grooming and training of not only dogs, but cats, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs and to some extent birds as well.
Though we spend a huge sum on our training, the course we offer is hardly comparable to the costly courses abroad.
Can you tell us something about the styles in vogue? What about the equipment you use, is it expensive?
Each breed has a breed specific style, and generally the poodle is the only breed which can be given various kinds of clips/styles and we feel it is a groomer's delight. The ‘lion' look for dogs and cats, colouring and streaking are currently in vogue. We import all equipment from professional clippers, clipping blades, trimmers, scissors, tables, bathtubs, dryers, blowers from reputable manufacturers in the US.
Author: Ayesha Banerjee (HT Horizons)
Date: 31st December, 2010
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