Tell Me How to Fix My Pet Grooming Business

I get this question so often. Everyone wants to know, “How do I just fix my pet grooming business?” They want me to just hand them the magical plan to fix everything. I get asked this in Facebook groups, on messenger, an email, or even a strategy call. 

One thing I want you to ask yourself is:

Are you asking the right question?

Some other questions that I get a lot are:

• How do I charge?
• How do I find groomers?
• If I do find these groomers, how much am I going to pay these people?
• How do I get customers to show up on time?
• How do I get them to bring their dogs in more often?
• How do I get them to not let their pets get matted?
• And so much more!
  

As a coach, it’s not a simple answer. I really wish it were. Unfortunately, there is no magic formula or cookie cutter answer. 

Your pet grooming business is unique to you and what you desire. The best way to fix, optimize your business, and have it fit your needs is to work one on one - whether that is first going through something like a masterclass or something else. 

What I love about a masterclass is that it’s not going to give you a cookie cutter answer. It’s going to ask you a lot of questions for you to explore what you value, what you want, the things that you feel are necessary, or things that you feel just don’t work for you. 

You may have heard me mention the stop light, which is red, yellow, and green. Green is yes, this is my magic, this is what I want, I love this. Yellow is I can tolerate this for a time, this is not the long term plan. Red is I can’t tolerate this, or I could not tolerate this for more than a day or a week. I can’t give you advice until you know what these things are for you. 

My masterclasses and workshops are going to ask you to get to know you. What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? If you’ve heard me talk about your zone of genius - Are you an artist? Are you a technician? Are you a leader? Are you a manager? Are you a visionary? Are you an entrepreneur? 

Somebody who identifies as an artist groomer, who is a visionary but not a manager is going to need to run a very different business than someone who is a manager and really loves managing the day to day of their shop. That’s a very different groomer. That’s a very different pet grooming business owner. 

You and I are not the same. We are all different people.

Let’s talk about one of the questions I get asked a lot:

How much do I charge for this groom?

It depends on a lot of factors. I literally created a 6 week course - it is 6 hours long. How much have you invested? How much do you want to earn? What makes you special? How do you want to communicate with clients? How do you deal with angry clients?

If you’ve invested half a million dollars into a daycare, grooming, boarding facility. That’s a very different number from somebody working out of their home. That doesn’t necessarily mean that someone who works out of their home should charge less, but they have less invested. Maybe you’ve invested $100,000 into your home-based salon. Knowing your numbers and knowing how much you want to earn is so important. 

I like earning 6 figures. Why? I want to live life to the fullest. I want to travel the world. I don’t want to worry about money. 

That’s very different from someone who would be happy making $30,000 a year.  

You’re also going to need to know what services you’re going to offer before you can figure out how much you’re going to charge. 

Another question that I hear a lot is:

How do I find groomers?

Well, what kind of groomer are you looking for? Are you looking for an artist or a technician? Do you want somebody to just come in and groom and be happy? For example, this is the recipe, cook the recipe, and go home. That’s a very different person from somebody who wants to compete and grow their skillset.

There’s no wrong answer. 

Who is this person? What do they want in their life? What do they want out of their job? What makes your business special versus working for a corporate salon? Is that sustainable?

How do I pay these people?

First, you have to figure out your pricing, and then how you are actually going to pay them. I always suggest hourly plus bonuses. I tend to deal with technician-based grooming salons. Why? Because it’s really hard to pay art. This is because art is so subjective. 

How do I get a customer to show up on time?

Are you accidentally creating that problem? Is it in your policies? Is it a price driver? Do you take cards on file? Do you take deposits? What is going on there?

If you just get a card on file, then if they don’t show up, charge them for the full grom. 

But perhaps your goal is to stop people from just not showing up for their grooms.

We’ve got to get creative if you don’t want to have credit cards on file or take deposits. 

Sometimes I have a very easy, simple solution and then people don’t want to do it. Which is fine, but can be frustrating for me as a coach. 

Some people just have to do what they want to do. They need that little bit of rebellion. Or they’re afraid that these grooming clients are going to have a problem. 

I can’t give you cookie cutter advice.

I will hear things like: 

“My customers will never stand for that. They’ll all leave me.”

And then on the other side:

“I have a waiting list. I haven’t taken new customers in 2 years.”

You can’t live in both worlds. 

Let’s take a look at how we interact with clients. 

Your business has a unique brand voice. Are you an educator? Are you very matter of fact? Are you warm? Are you nurturing? What is your brand voice? Without knowing that, I can’t help you. 

I will say that I really avoid being the hero or the villain in business branding. You want to be the guide. 

There is no cookie cutter answer for me to give to you. What could I say that works for every single groomer? There is nothing. 

And if someone tells you, “All of my information works for every single person,” that’s bullshit. 

I can ask a series of questions for you to investigate the answer and then help guide you once you have those answers and simplify it. 

But I can’t look in my crystal ball and see what’s going to work for you as an individual as your business grows, without getting to know you, or without you getting to know you.  

Everyone is constantly evolving and changing. Business really is an evolution. All 3 of my businesses were constantly evolving. It wasn’t a one and done thing.

This is because we change. Think about where you were 10 years ago. Everything has changed. 

As your pet grooming business evolves and grows you’re going to want to tweak it to your current needs and wishes. You want there to be a balance. 

It’s also important to know that different seasons of life require different tactics and maybe changing things.