By Brooke Norris

Your brand logo serves as the first impression of your business. Potential clients probably see your logo before they walk through your door or meet you in person — whether they’ve driven by your grooming salon or seen your business while researching online on platforms like Google, Yelp, and PawCare. Whether consciously or not, customers judge businesses by the message, professionalism, and even the attitude implied in your logo’s style and colors. 

While there are many things to do when opening your own grooming business, branding shouldn’t take the back burner. Your logo should be a top priority since it will reflect the spirit of your business and show the world (or at least your part of town) that you take their dogs seriously. 

How an Awesome Logo Helps You Win Customers

Having a great logo is key when it comes to standing out from your competitors in online spaces like Yelp, Google, and PawCare. Your average customer doesn’t have time to wade through mediocre business pages. A stellar design encourages them to click on your page and a strong business model hooks them from there.  

A professional logo also unifies your business’s style. This gives you the ability to advertise on the street since potential customers can clearly identify your business across flyers, magazine ads, and other media.

Dog Grooming Logo Ideas: What to Look for (and What to Avoid)

Branding may sound simple. However, you’ll need to distill your business model to find your niche before you can create the perfect logo. When sketching or writing your idea, consider things like: 

1. Your Ideal Clientele

Your target audience is obviously pet parents. But who are your actual customers? For instance, do you find that most of your clientele tends to come from upscale neighborhoods where there is an abundance of small dogs and designer dog breeds? If so, you can imagine the type of places your potential customers shop—dog boutiques, luxury athleticwear shops, and organic grocery stores. The branding for these types of places may feature fancy typesets for chic shops, or use minimalist designs with earthy tones for the younger upper-middle-class hipster folk.  If your average customer tends to belong to the middle class and does their shopping on Chewy, they may like relatable branding with more basic fonts. 

2. Your Skillset

Every groomer washes and trims fur, but not everyone dyes tail fur in pretty pastels or paints nails. Look for subtle ways to highlight special skills in your branding, such as using quirky, exciting colors if dying fur is your specialty rather than traditional or neutral tones.  

3. The Logo Type

There are three general types of logos: logotypes, logomarks, and hybrids. A logotype only uses text. For example, the logo for eBay consists of a single word but relies on the color scheme and font for identification. A logomark is recognized by a symbol, such as the Apple on the back of a Macbook. Finally, a hybrid consists of both words and symbols, such as the logo for Burger King.

4. The Message

When customers see your logo, do you want them to see an illustration of a happy Golden Retriever that exudes warmth and confidence? A grungy charcoal sketch of a Mastiff with sharp shears? A basic word or phrase in bold text? There may not be a right or wrong decision here, but it will depend on your personal preferences and the type of customer you want to attract.

5. Colors

Choose a couple of hues to use across all of your branding. These colors should feature prominently in your logo, or at least complement it.  

6. Consistency

Your logo is a snapshot that should portray your overall branding. You’ll want to make sure to use the same or complimenting colors and themes across the board on your social media and beyond. You might even think of your lobby area as an extended canvas reflecting your company’s logo and branding.  

7. Create Logo Variants 

Whether you hire a graphic designer or create your own logo (which we’ll explore a bit more in the next section), the job doesn’t stop after you’ve created your primary logo. To the point above about consistency, you’ll want a couple of variations of your main graphic to serve different purposes. For example, the small bubble profile picture on your Instagram page may not allow space for your full logo, so you might borrow just the symbol from your primary graphic. 

You’ll also need to create a few variants with different pixels and sizes to fit in different spaces—both online and on print media. Thankfully, graphic design software like Canva typically offers templates so you don’t have to guess what dimensions you need.

DIY vs Hiring a Professional: What to Know

Now that you have an idea of what you want, you might feel challenged to create your own logo. Software like Canva allows you to design logos either from scratch or by starting with a pre-existing template. While it may seem like a tempting shortcut to take, don’t cheat your business out of a professional logo. If you decide to design one yourself, be prepared to invest considerable time to make it look awesome.

How Much Should You Pay for a Logo?

One of the biggest factors that may play into your decision to create your own logo vs. hiring a professional to create it for you is cost. The average cost of a professionally designed logo ranges between $300 and $800, but know that the actual cost may be significantly more or less. For example, if someone charges $50 an hour and only takes a couple of hours to complete the project, you may pay $100 for the logo. On the other hand, it’s common to pay more than $1,000 depending on the artist. 

If you don’t feel confident using Canva or other software, you might want to hire a graphic designer. You also may decide to invest your money instead of your time if you’re extra busy handling other business matters. The decision is up to you and it doesn’t really matter as long as you’re satisfied with the final product.

Final Thoughts

Taking the time to strategize your logo sets your pet grooming business up for long-term success. Once you’ve created your primary logo or received the finished product from a graphic designer, it’s time to make variant logos and share them on your social media, website, and business platform pages, such as PawCare. 

Need help taking your grooming business to the next level? PawCare is more than an online marketplace for groomers. We help our trusted pet care partners with everything from managing customer service to building a stand-out website (you can check out our work for [GROOMER NAME] here). Request a quote today to see what PawCare can do for your business! 

Brooke is a freelance writer, and has created articles for companies like Betterpet, Hepper, and PawCare. Her dog, Tuggles, and her cats give her real-life experience as a pet parent and sometimes appear as guest contributors in her posts. She happily makes her home in the Appalachian foothills where she takes note of the local wildflowers and haunts the neighborhood coffee shops.

Sources

VistaPrint – Logo Design Cost