CCDF instrumental in mobile grooming business’ success
- EFN Staff | November 15, 2018
When Connie Buchanan and her husband Randy started Zoom Zoom Groom in 2006, they had no idea that 12 years later it would grow from a mobile grooming service with one vehicle, to a full-time three-part business.
“I started with one little dog grooming trailer behind my half-ton,” Buchanan said. “I was actually a school teacher for 20 years but I just felt like I always had this insatiable calling to work with animals. So I took a year’s leave off teaching, and that’s when I bought my little trailer. I thought that if it didn’t work out, I could always go back to teaching.”
But Buchanan never went back. Instead, within three months of opening she had full clientele, and today, the business includes both a dog and cat grooming service, two mobile grooming vans, and Apex Academy of Professional Grooming and Animal Arts, which is a registered vocational school.
In 2013, Buchanan wanted to renovate Zoom Zoom Groom to add a new cat division and applied for assistance through the Clarence Campeau Development Fund. The CCDF was established in 1997 by the Government of Saskatchewan to assist economic and development activities of Métis people in the province, and has invested over $40 million into Métis entrepreneurship.
“The [CCDF] has been instrumental. They helped with a business plan and we went step by step, right down to every minute detail,” Buchanan said. “I remember going to the bank initially with my little business plan and estimating grooming so many dogs per week, and the person [there] laughed and said, ‘Well that’s not realistic.’ And today, we’re doing twice as many. [The CCDF is] just so open-minded about new concepts, and it’s just so non-judgemental. They really listen to hear what your ideas are.”
The CCDF offers 10 different programs, including a Women’s Equity Program, and they place a huge emphasis on relationships with their clients.
“They’re just always there if you have a question or an issue and they’re always so accommodating,” Buchanan said. “You can tell that they really want business owners to be successful, and they take as much pride in that as we do.”
Overall, Buchanan’s goal is to better the health and lives of animals with Zoom Zoom Groom.