Profitability Analysis: How much does a dog groomer make?

Pet Grooming Industry Overview

In 2021, the pet grooming industry was valued at 5.38 billion dollars and is expected to grow by about 7% each year until 2030. Contributing factors to this growth include an increased number of groomers, pet care companies expanding their services into grooming, and pet humanization, meaning that owners are starting to treat their pets like their kids, wanting the best services for them. Grooming isn’t just about making a dog look great: professional groomers can check ears for signs of infection, remove fleas and ticks if they’re present, and distribute fur’s natural oils by brushing it. And while the standard services like nail trims, washing, and trimming will always be popular, more intense styling procedures have come into vogue like giving dogs highlights, dreadlocks, and stencil designs. All of those fun extras can add up, putting more money in your pocket should you start offering them.

Understanding Pet Grooming Profit Margins

While starting a dog grooming business can be tough on your finances initially, there are multiple revenue streams a groomer can opt into that can balance out these initial costs. Each new service can offer great profits but also requires an investment in the form of time and staffing. You do not need to include every revenue stream to have a profitable business but the following streams could be helpful for you.

Dog Grooming Business Revenue Streams

Standard Dog Grooming Services: Offer haircuts, wash service, blow dry service, nail trims, and anal gland expression.
Special Dog Grooming Services: Offer trend-forward and creative styles for dogs including dreadlocks, hair dye, fur stenciling, fur gems, and nail painting. Make sure to purchase only dog-safe products if you offer these services!
Dog Daycare: Sometimes owners have to go to work or an appointment and want their dogs kept safe for longer than a standard grooming session. You can offer dog daycare to watch their pups while they’re gone.
Dog Boarding: Let dogs stay with you overnight or for weeks and months at a time when you offer dog boarding.
Dog Training: Teach pups obedience, fun tricks, and new skills while their owner is away.
Mobile Dog Grooming: If dog owners live too far away to comfortably drive to your facility, come to them. You can rent a van or truck and drive up to their homes, grooming pets and leaving them at home when they’re done.
Retail: Sell the dog grooming products you use so owners can apply them at home! You can also sell accessories like dog collars and bows, toys, food, branded merch, and specially-baked dog treats to become the one-stop shop for all things dog.

Each new service can be a potential financial boon – and a possible logistical headache. Let PetExec, a premier pet business software, take away some of your worries. Their intuitive software helps you manage inventory, employee schedules, finances, marketing, and so much more.

Dog Grooming Business Start Up Costs

Rent or a mortgage. Starting a grooming business in a densely-populated area can bring in many potential customers – and a high rent or mortgage.
Staff Salaries. Hiring and maintaining skilled staff is a necessity at a groomer’s – you wouldn’t want someone who makes tons of mistakes shaving fur or clipping nails, so expect to pay accordingly for good performance.
Utilities. You’ll pay for electricity, heating, water (think of all the water you’ll need to wash those pups!), and if you are operating a mobile business, gasoline and car repairs as well.
<li> Marketing. What good is a business if no one knows about it? Send postcards to people in your area, advertise on social media and Google, create an incredible website that ranks for local SEO keywords, launch branded merch, create a referral program full of brand evangelists, and send e-mails and texts promoting your business. If some of these tactics sound exhausting, know that a good pet business software like PetExec can help with many marketing angles like email and SMS!
Supplies. If you sell retail products you’ll have a ton of inventory, and you’ll need to purchase grooming equipment as well, like shampoo, conditioner, grooming tables, nail clippers, brushes and combs, and dental supplies.
Insurance. Insurance plans vary in coverage and from location to location, but you’ll need to be protected from any possible liabilities.

Are Dog Groomers Profitable?

The dog grooming sector offers profitability potential, influenced by factors such as location, service excellence, and pricing tactics. In locales with a high concentration of pet owners and a robust customer base, profit margins are often more promising. Efficiency in operations, prudent cost management, and delivering exceptional grooming services play pivotal roles in maximizing profitability within this industry, including the below factors.

Contributing Factors to Profitability

Accounting & Financial Management. Ensure you’re paying vendors, staff, and your bills on time, and that you’re pulling in enough revenue to cover your overhead costs.
Time Management. While grooming can take a variable amount of time due to the size of the dog, the length of their coat, and their potential resistance to being groomed, groomings must be completed in a timely manner so you can accurately forecast how many appointments you can handle in a day, how many staff members have to come into work that day, and what supplies you’ll need.
Customer Relationship Management. Many groomers ultimately perform very similar services to each other. What will set your brand and facility apart is how you treat your customers. Do you offer treats for coming in? Do you have loyalty cards, where if they purchase nine appointments, the tenth is free? Does your staff shower the dogs with love? And are you employing retention tactics, like sending appointment reminder texts, or contacting owners when their pets are due for another grooming?
Quality of Services. It’s obvious if a groomer forgets to trim a nail, or accidentally leaves a dog with a bald spot, but customers will be able to notice even smaller differences in quality between your facility and others. If their dog seems relaxed after a trip to the groomer instead of wound up, if your facility is warm and inviting… these are all factors that will help owners decide whether they want to return to your business or not.
Operations Management. Ensure your licensing and insurance are up to date. Plan ahead for potential problems with your facility so if an accident occurs, paying for it won’t put you out of business.

Commonly Asked Questions

How to start a dog grooming business?

Perform market research. Understand where your business might fit in in your town or city. How many groomers, dog daycares, and boarding facilities are in your area? What is the rent like in your area? And what is the income range for people living near you? All of these factors will let you know how large of a space to find and how much to charge for appointments.
Create a budget full of fixed and variable costs, as well as one-time costs and monthly costs. Fixed costs can include equipment purchases and variable costs might include your utilities bill. You’ll want to budget for rent, insurance, taxes, car payments if you’re doing mobile grooming, staff salaries, pet business software, marketing expenses, and bank account fees.
If you’re hoping to get acquired one day, you can create a detailed business plan – otherwise it’s just helpful for you to envision the type of business you want to run. The plan will include your plans to grow, scale, and market your business with revenue targets, market research, and potential future offerings.
Purchase equipment: grooming tables, bathing stations with tethers, hair dryers, clippers, scissors, brushes and combs, a range of shampoos and conditioners for various skin conditions, nail clippers, first aid kits, pet business software, pet accessories, and cleaning supplies.
Apply for a business license, tax number, and insurance. Create liability waivers that owners will sign when they sign up for your business.
Make sure you comply with all health and safety requirements for your area, including sanitizing equipment, having staff members with pets at all times, and placing pets in areas where they can at least stand up, turn around, and lay down.
Create a marketing plan detailing how you will advertise your business using flyers, social media, your own website, Google, offering loyalty programs, and offering promos.
Create an operations plan that includes grooming schedules, cleaning schedules,

How much does it cost to become a dog groomer?

Costs can vary based on your area: more densely populated locations will have spaces with higher rents. Some states’ licensing is more expensive than others’. And to make your business stand out, you might want to enroll in dog grooming classes and eventually get certified by the National Dog Groomers Association of America. When you create a business plan you can estimate costs by figuring out fixed costs (rent or mortgage payments, insurance, banking fees) variable costs (utilities, cleaning supplies, marketing spend) and one-time costs (certifications, licenses, and permits).

How to upsell dog grooming services?

Upselling is a business technique that encourages customers to buy add ons or a more expensive version of the service they were going to purchase. For example, you can offer standard shampooing and conditioning, or shampooing and conditioning for sensitive skin, and charge more for the second option. To upsell effectively, you have to tout the benefits of the service so the customer understands the value propositions you’re making (is the shampoo hypoallergenic? Is it gluten-free? Et cetera). It may be helpful to offer tiered pricing so a customer can opt into some services but not others – a customer might want their dogs to be shampooed with vegan shampoo but won’t want their nails painted, for example.

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