Creating a Brand

When it comes to your grooming business, you may think that your state-of-the-art salon, prime spot on a heavily traveled highway or checkbook balance is your most valuable asset, but there is something less tangible and even more important to the success of your business: your brand. 

Think Coca-Cola. Worth $67 billion, the soft drink giant’s brand image evokes a combination of feelings and offers instant recognition around the world.  What’s that got to do with you? For that matter, what exactly is a brand anyway?  The word itself probably resonates as just another buzzword of our time, overused and somewhat fuzzy in meaning; but if you embrace the concept of branding your business, you can grow and flourish to realize the success you have been working so hard to attain.

A brand is a combination of words and images that define a company’s values, the products it provides and the quality of the services it has to offer. In your case, it serves as an important connection to the pet-loving public, the ones who buy what you are selling. It connects you emotionally to the pet owners you need to attract as loyal customers and keeps them coming back.  


What’s in a Name?
The first element of your brand that must be considered is the name of your business. Choose carefully, as this will reflect who you are and what you do. In my not-so-humble opinion, “Pepi’s Poodle Palace” or “Connie’s Cuddly Creatures” are a bit too cutesy for our times and should probably join Speedy, the little Alka-Seltzer elf who sang “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is.” Words that go hand-in-hand with grooming, but call to mind the least desirable aspects of our business like “dirty” or “hairy” should probably not be part of your name either. 

When selecting a moniker, you need to make sure your proposed company name is not already in use so you won’t run into a copyright infringement situation. You can determine if your proposed name is already trademarked by contacting the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) in Washington, D.C., by logging on to its website at www.uspto.gov/web/menu/tm.htm. 

A logo that reflects your image is another important element of your brand. Of course, for those of us who care for pets, it should include dog and cat images. The design should be simple and flexible enough to use on outdoor signage, company vehicles, business cards and stationery. It should also be prominently displayed on your website. Creating your own logo may work if you have artistic ability, or maybe you’re fortunate to have an artist in the family or on your staff. 

If you’re not an artist, you may be able to find a logo design online, as my daughter Missi and her business partner Anne Francis did with their Dog Daze Day Camp logo–a stylized poodle joyriding in a pink and black convertible–-which was purchased on www.vistaprint.com. Other logo vendors can be found at www.business.com. Many offer small business service packages. Also, do-it-yourself software is available at www.target.com and www.amazon.com. Hiring a design firm to create your logo can be costly, so it pays to investigate all your options.

Once you have settled on a name and logo, guard what you have created by registering it as a protected trademark. After all, you have invested a lot of time, effort and money to identify yourself, and you don’t want someone else to come along and capitalize on your good name or negatively impact your business. 


Substance Behind the Style
Of course, branding involves much more than these outer trappings. It’s all about what these words and images stand for.  When people bring their pets to your salon, they are entrusting a beloved family member to your care. This underscores the need for safety and kindness in handling, sanitary conditions, integrity and reliability–each is every bit as important as breed knowledge and grooming skills. 

To establish your reputation and earn that trust, you also need good communication skills. Let pet owners know what is possible for their dog, instruct them on home maintenance between appointments and showcase your knowledge and caring attitude in the process. They need to know that you will never put a dog through arduous dematting that you consider inhumane; that in your establishment, the dog’s safety and comfort always come first.

Becoming your own brand is also about the atmosphere in your shop, the tone set by yourself and your staff, the way you handle customer complaints and even the way you answer the telephone. It’s about the friendly acknowledgement of every person who comes into your space, whether they are browsing or impatiently waiting at the end of a line. It’s about honestly communicating any health issues you may uncover while grooming a pet or any injuries that may occur despite the high level of care your salon provides. Knowing your customers, both four-legged and two-legged, also helps convey a warm personal relationship, another key to brand-building.   

Your brand should also embody a presence in your community. Working for humane causes like area animal shelters, sponsoring youth sports teams, making your shop a clearinghouse for pet-related resources and having a presence at community fairs or trade shows boosts your image and helps you network among other business people in your own hometown.  In my community, Tom Dugdale, owner of the First Sandwich Shop, is a good example of this. When my husband David passed away several years ago, Tom contributed the food for a gathering after his funeral, something he does routinely and without fanfare when tragedy strikes a local family. His restaraunt has a pre-historic theme with dinosaurs and cavemen everywhere, but he also collects fossils and dinosaur models and is so knowledgeable about prehistoric man and his environment that his visits to local schools with a trailer full of materials are a learning experience and fun event for local children.

The same qualities that keep customers coming back to buy a BMW, eat Ben & Jerry’s ice cream or shop at L.L. Bean will work for you as well. Whether its expert engineering, a delicious dessert or quality outerwear, these brands fulfill their promise to their loyal consumers, and you can too–every time they bring a shaggy pooch in for a beauty makeover, buy a bag of premium food or accept your recommendation for a doggie treat you feed your own dog.


Kathy Salzberg is a Certified Master Groomer and writer. She and her daughter, Missi Salzberg, own The Village Groomer and Pet Supply in Walpole, Mass., one of New England’s busiest grooming salons. The winner of two Cardinal Crystal Achievement Awards, Kathy has written extensively on pet care for magazines and authored books on dogs and pet care careers--How to Start a Home-Based Pet Care Career (Globe Pequot Press, 2001 & 2006) and The Everything Small Dogs Book (Adams Media, 2006).