Dog Grooming: How To Set Competitive Rates For Your Pet Business

Are you thinking of starting your own dog grooming business? If you’re a passionate dog owner, it’s a wonderful service to offer locally from your home or from a local shop.

For many people, it’s a dream opportunity to work with dogs and their owners. Dog grooming is a great small business opportunity that provides an important service and establishes solid customer relationships. But one of the most important aspects of opening a pet grooming business is how much to charge for your services. 

When you consider becoming a pet care professional, you’ll need to assess the cost of your operations, including renting a pet grooming salon space, grooming kit supplies, equipment, training, pet grooming software for scheduling appointments, and staff. 

Once you know the cost of operating a pet grooming service, you can develop a fee structure for dog owners to include basic and specialized treatments for their pets.

How to Create a Dog Grooming Plan With a Pricing Structure

As a new pet grooming business owner, you’ll need to make many decisions about the structure of your business, the types of grooming services you provide, and the products offered in your shop, if any. 

While starting your own business can be overwhelming and hard work, it’s a rewarding experience that can lead to a steady income and success. As you begin to design your business plan, it’s crucial to consider the following:

• Are you offering pet grooming services exclusively, or will you also provide pet boarding, dog walking, and other services for clients? What are the services you plan to offer for your dog grooming business?
• What will the start-up costs for equipment such as scissors, clippers, brushes, shampoo, nail clippers, treatments, and setting up a salon look like?
• How saturated is the local market of pet businesses and the level of competition in the pet grooming industry?
• What's the cost of renting a space for your dog grooming salon, employee wages, and travel costs? Or will you offer mobile pet grooming services?
• Will you need to pay someone to design a logo, to manage your company’s website, social media, and local advertising?

You can save money on many of these start-up costs, including website development and marketing with the help of the Book Your Pet app. Through the app, you’ll be able to offer multiple services with intuitive pricing, and advertise them through a unique profile that operates as a store-front - so no need for a website! 

Researching Dog Grooming Business Licensing Requirements, Setting Dog Grooming Business Rates

Once established, you may also consider joining a professional association such as the National Dog Groomers Association or the American Pet Products Association, donating to a local pet shelter for rescued animals, and considering other expenses that may arise due to the cost of running your business. It’s also imperative to research certification and dog grooming business license requirements for your state and area.

While it’s important to determine all the costs involved, it’s crucial to begin your price range at a point that’s sufficient to earn a profit while covering all the expenses for your business.

The Book Your Pet app has been designed to help you consider your pricing and allows you to vary fees depending on factors such as dog size, weight, and length of coat. 

Starting Your Business as a Mobile Dog Groomer

Once you have an idea of what you’ll need to get started, you might want to start as a mobile dog groomer, which entails visiting pet owners and providing pet grooming services at their homes or office. 

How Much Does a Dog Grooming Business Make? Keeping Dog Grooming Business Rates Low as a Mobile Groomer

Mobile groomers have significant advantages, which may be worthwhile considering, especially if you’re starting your business with a small budget. When you keep the costs of your business lower, especially when you begin, you’ll maximize your earnings:

• You can avoid the cost of renting a space for your pet grooming salon and paying for additional costs, such as utilities and hiring staff to work on-site.
• You’re bringing a valuable service directly to each pet parent, whether they’re a new customer or a referral from one of the local veterinarian clinics. 
• When your clients schedule an appointment, they can request specific products and treatments, so you’ll know exactly what to bring to your next visit.
• You can partner with other businesses in the pet industry, which is an excellent opportunity to expand your customer base when you work with dog trainers, pet stores, and pet daycare or boarding services, where you’ll find potential clients.

Once you become established as a mobile pet groomer, you may decide to set up a salon as a long-term investment in your company. You’ll need some basic equipment to set up your shop, including grooming tables, bathtubs or sinks, cleaning supplies, dog hair accessories, pet cages, clippers and scissors, de-shedding tools, shampoo, and nail clippers. 

When you partner with another dog grooming professional or join a local organization, you may enjoy discounts or bulk orders when setting up your business.

Establishing a Dog Grooming Business Plan

When you have all the equipment, supplies, and a general plan for setting up your pet grooming business, the next step is to invest in a quality dog grooming software program (like Book Your Pet). This valuable resource offers everything you need to stay organized, which is vital once you open your shop. 

The Book Your Pet app features a Book Now button and a synced calendar to schedule appointments, track payments and collections from clients and prepare financial reports to review your progress and other digital processes that improve the productivity of your business.

There are several components involved in setting up a business plan, even a high overview of what you want to achieve, including:

• Researching the pet industry and dog grooming businesses to understand what to expect regarding expenses, revenue, and time commitment.
• Developing a strategy for marketing and advertising your business through various online and social media platforms.
• Create a description of your company and its goal.
• Determine your management style and business size, whether you want to operate as a sole proprietor or hire staff.
• Create financial and management reports to track your monthly progress, then analyze where you can improve or grow your income.

It’s also essential to engage frequently with your customers, even in between visits, to inquire about their impression of your business and ask for feedback, suggestions, and ideas.

HINT: Book Your Pet can also help with this by enabling you to send automated follow-ups and direct messages to your clients.

Projecting Your Company’s Performance

While a new dog grooming business may look promising initially, it’s essential to make realistic projections on the cost of running your company, the number of clients you expect to acquire, repeat business, and net profits. 

It’s best to review your progress regularly and identify areas of concern, such as overspending on certain products, switching to a different location with a less costly lease, and the pros and cons of working from home, travelling as a mobile pet groomer, or setting up your salon.

Summary

Setting up a pet grooming business is a worthwhile goal, and it is one of the best career paths for dog lovers and other professionals in the pet industry. With regular financial reviews, customer feedback, and implementing improvements, such as cutting unnecessary costs, you’ll find a rewarding career in the dog grooming industry. 

Learn more about how Book Your Pet can support your small business and help get you started on the path to success.