HACKENSACK, N.J. — The turning point for Maria Mirti came in March 2004 outside a Ringwood, N.J., grocery store.

Parked in the store's lot that afternoon was a mobile pet-grooming van, exactly the kind Mirti hoped to own herself one day. So she waited.

When the van's owner, Sandy Hanrahan, returned from shopping, Mirti peppered her with questions.

Not only did the two become fast friends, but Mirti had found a mentor.

Fast-forward nearly three years and Mirti, 49, is sole owner of Bones' Bath House Mobile Grooming, with dozens of clients, mostly in northern New Jersey.

Mirti said anyone hoping to emulate her career path should also emulate her chutzpah.

"Don't be afraid," Mirti said. "You have to walk up to people and ask questions."

Ten years with an area printing company had left Mirti yearning for independence. That's when she began pondering ideas for a business she could run by herself, doing work she enjoyed.

"I wasn't happy. I thought, 'There's got to be another way, there's got to be something that I'd like to do but still allows me to pay my mortgage and eat.' I thought, 'I really like animals, so maybe grooming,' " she recalled.

That led her to seek out Hanrahan's advice in the grocery store parking lot.

First, Hanrahan invited Mirti on a ride-along to get a feel for the business. Then she offered to take Mirti to a trade show in Hershey, Pa., for mobile pet groomers.

Mirti, who gratefully accepted both invitations, said she was mildly surprised at the warm reception she received from Hanrahan, who, she acknowledged, could easily have viewed her as potential competition.

It seems, however, that there's plenty of pet-grooming business to go around in the Ringwood area; enough, in fact, that the groomers already in business were happy to help Mirti get up and running.

All she had to do was ask.

There was a lot to learn, though, so in fall 2004 Mirti enrolled in a nine-month course at Nash Academy of Animal Arts in Cliffside Park, N.J., where she learned not only about grooming but also about canine physiology.

Classroom work, most of which she completed online while still working full time at the printing shop, was followed by six weeks of hands-on training.

Mirti graduated from Nash in July 2005 and picked up her newly purchased grooming van, a Ford E350 Super Duty Extended model, the next weekend.

To help finance the van and her school tuition, Mirti took out two loans — a standard bank loan that she paid off in full before it started to accrue interest, and a low-interest home equity loan.

"I found a home equity loan was the most cost-effective way" to borrow money, she said.

Still not ready financially to quit her job, she started out grooming at night and on weekends.

When she did finally quit last February, she took another salaried position as a groomer with Petco, the large pet supplies company. She said she still didn't feel ready to step out on her own.

"I wanted real-world learning experience," Mirti said.

But her own business picked up so quickly that she was able to leave Petco after only a few months, and she's been working for herself since early summer.

Now she works six days a week, Monday through Saturday, and is usually on the road from around 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., when she heads home to take care of administrative work. She said she typically grooms from three to six dogs a day, at anywhere from $65 to more than $100 per dog.

Mirti said she's already paying herself a salary equal to her salary at the press shop. The rest of her income goes into her business account and is used for expenses, notably shampoo and gas.

Alone in her van, she spends her days covering a territory of her own making. Several times a day she is joined by her clients — cocker spaniels, chocolate Labrador retrievers, collies and such.

And that's just the way she likes it. Now out on her own, she can listen to any music she likes — mostly blues and New Age — as loud as she likes. "I can dance with the dogs, sing with the dogs. It's fun," she said.

To keep up with shifting trends in the grooming business, Mirti regularly attends trade shows, where she participates in as many seminars as time allows, a practice she strongly advised for other fledgling entrepreneurs.

Trade shows help business owners keep up with new products and techniques, Mirti said. "And you also get a lot of free samples," she added.

Trade publications are also a big help, Mirti said. For instance, an article in a recent issue of Groomer to Groomer magazine warned business owners against not reporting cash transactions to avoid paying taxes.

Beyond the obvious risks associated with breaking the law, the article pointed out that hiding income can come back to haunt business owners who might one day need a business loan and need to prove past income.

The shady bookkeeping also can penalize business owners when they seek to obtain the maximum Social Security benefits at retirement, according to the article.

Mirti still appreciates being able to reach out to her colleagues/competitors who are also plying the roads of North Jersey, clippers, shampoo and doggie hair dryers in hand.

"It's great. It's made it so much easier for me and helped me succeed. It's kind of like working with a net knowing I can always call them, even in the middle of a grooming," she said.

Not surprisingly, though, the part Mirti likes best about starting her own dog-grooming business is the time she gets to spend with her clients. Laughing, she recently recalled hearing an old saying that goes something like this: "The more people I meet, the more I like my dogs."

Distributed by the McClatchy-Tribune News Service.