Jade Georgiou on community dog grooming and building a business with heart

Welcome to Small Business Sessions, brought to you by Enterprise Nation as part of Powering Local Businesses, our collaboration with EDF Small Business and Square.

In this series, we're speaking to founders and entrepreneurs about the real stories behind starting, growing and rebuilding small businesses.

Expect honest conversations, practical lessons and first-hand insight from people who have built businesses with purpose.

In this episode, we're joined by Jade Georgiou, co-founder of Hackney Barkers, the dog grooming business built around community, care and ethical products.

Jade shares how she left her job as a receptionist to train as a dog groomer, later opening her own salon in Hackney after spotting what felt like the perfect sign – an Irish Terrier in the window of the premises.

She talks about the realities of running a physical business, learning to set boundaries with customers, supporting other local dog businesses and building a salon where dogs, owners and staff feel properly looked after.

Topics discussed in the episode:

• Why growing up in an entrepreneurial family made opening a salon feel like a natural next step
• Building the shop with family help and putting personal money, pride and energy into the space
• The early challenge of saying yes to every customer and learning to set proper business rules 
• Taking on the first employee and realising the business needed stronger processes
• Why community is central to Hackney Barkers, from referrals to sharing local businesses' services
• Offering free grooming for unhoused people's dogs and why Jade wants the business to help beyond paying customers
• How Jade chooses local and ethical suppliers that align with Hackney Barkers' ethos

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