In this June issue of Total Grooming, we speak with the fantastic Jodie Colton of Colton’s Groomers who tells us all about the brand, the training involved and how to grow your social media following to encourage more business.
Jodie set up her business, Colton’s Groomers, just over 12 months ago and has seen nothing but fantastic results ever since. The growth has been both rapid and positive, even to the point where she has built up a two-month advanced book for pups and clients.
Colton’s groomers is a one-to-one grooming experience for the pooches and Jodie takes immense pride in making the grooms as relaxed, stress-free and comfortable as possible for her furry friends.
Jodie gives us some insight into how her ever-growing social media plays a part in this: “I want to treat them with love, care, and kindness. I try to portray this as much as possible on my social channels so that potential clients can see the ‘behind the scenes’ bits that you can’t always see in the bigger commercial groomers.”
Colton’s Groomers is based within Jodie’s acre, walled country garden towards the rear of her home. This provides the perfect environment for dogs to come, play and explore when paying Jodie a visit.
Being City & Guilds trained, Jodie understands every aspect of the business of grooming, ranging from breeds, individual coat-specific grooming needs, styling and even animal welfare.
“A qualification always gives clients confidence, trust, and reassurance that their furry family members are in the best of hands,” Jodie explains, “I also completed and passed a Canine Care, Behaviour & Welfare course, which allows me to home-board dogs and gave me a greater insight into the health and well-being of animals. Furthermore, I took a canine emergency first aid training course to make sure that I know what to do in the rare case of an emergency.”
Being self-employed, from the comfort of her own home to boot, allows Jodie to devote a lot of time to dogs during their one-to-one visits. She is able to give longer appointments to meet the needs of each individual client, as well as their human counterparts!
Jodie continues: “It is great to be able to chat with people and allow myself time to give good home-grooming tips and advice, that ultimately benefit the dogs and can make follow-up grooms less stressful.
“Dogs receive regular breaks to have a drink and a run around in a very safe environment. I am lucky to have no commute and I don’t have to deal with the hustle and bustle of a busy street location. I wouldn’t want to run my grooming business in any other way, and feel blessed to enjoy my day so much!”
One thing that caught our eye here at Total Grooming is that Jodie is very quickly growing her social media following, particularly through Instagram. She believes that she has achieved this primarily through creating great content, as well as putting in the hard work to develop herself on the platform. By posting regular stories, feed-posts, and video reels, Jodie can stay within people’s visibility. She also tries to be engaging by responding to comments and thanking her followers as often as she can.
As we’ve touched on above, one of the most unique parts of Colton’s is the one-to-one grooms and personal time with clients. This does nothing aside from heighten the experience for everyone involved. A real win-win if you ask us! This, combined with being qualified and trained leaves Jodie the upper hand to offer free advice and tips where necessary.
“Every dog is treated like one of my own, and I also offer home boarding for pooches in a family setting. This is so that owners can relax while they are away, safe in the knowledge that their dogs are with someone that they know.
“My family has been in the pet industry for over 30 years and dog grooming was always something I wanted to do. Having had careers in the makeup industry and recruitment, I knew I had to give my dream a go and it’s the best decision that I ever made. I feel so lucky every day to work with these beautiful animals, building bonds and creating trust. I can honestly say that I love every one of them… even the fidgety ones!” Jodie finishes.
If there’s one thing to take away from Colton’s Groomers, it’s that going the extra mile really does show in your work! Not only will you be able to offer a better service as a whole, but your social media following will grow also, undoubtedly bringing more clientele in the future!
Follow Colton’s Groomers on Instagram: @Coltons_Groomers, Facebook: Colton’s Groomers and TikTok: @Colton’s Groomers