The desire for adding a
grooming facility to retail pet stores picked up considerable speed at
the beginning of the 1990's. About that time several pet industry
trade magazines began to review the concept, noting that the
service sector of the overall pet industry was increasingly
catching up and becoming about even with the retail sector.
Many pet stores did add
the services to expand their business' revenue base, but they also
learned about the problematic nature of offering grooming
services. Grooming is far more labor intensive than retail sales,
and finding skilled groomers can be difficult.
In the 1990's, the
momentum of adding grooming departments to retail operations
became prominent with the entry of the large retail chains, like
PetSmart, PETCO and others. Before the
1990's the idea of a prolific number of retailers with pet
grooming departments was not a common thought. We remember people
humoring us, truly, when we predicted this evolution in the
business of pet services in the mid-1980's. Now, the prediction is
true indeed. How does that affect the career person? It's a boon
actually. Today there is an abundance of employment opportunities
for new and advanced pet groomers at the major pet store retailers
including employment benefits rarely found in pet grooming
businesses.
If you are a independent
pet store considering adding a grooming department, we have some
important resources for you to make the challenge a success. We
have worked with several independents and most have surpassed
their expectations. Some independents have found it adding the pet
grooming department problematic. You can go as Madson grooming
business consultants say, "from problems to profits"
with their wise advise in setting up and managing a pet grooming
department. We strongly suggest the sources of information below
that have boosted the performance of many retailer grooming
departments.
Adding
the Ancillary Grooming Dept.
"If
it weren't for the ancillary services, I could not afford this
high-quality facility."
Dr. Gordon Davis,
Former president of the Northern Virginia Veterinary
Medical Assn. Excerpt from: Companies
Great and Small Cash in on Pet Care Services by Dawn Kopecki
(1997)
Adding a grooming
department to a retail store can not only boost cash flow, and net
income, but it can also do little or nothing. Why? It's how it is
managed and operated, not just quality, but in cost-efficiency and
compensation. Today many store owners are paying 55% to 60% of the
grooming service fee to their full-charge pet groomer. Well, let's
say the average grooming service fee is $30. Deduct 60%, or $18
for gross wages to the full-charge groomers, and you have $12 left
over. Since groomers are employees, and not independent
contractors (and we can prove that point based on our contact with
the IRS), there are additional employer contributions and
insurance. Today the U.S. national average is about 15% of the
gross wage allocated to employer contributions and insurance like
worker's compensation. In our example, the additional deduction
would be 15% of $18 wage for the one grooming, or $2.70 for
employer contributions. So, let's deduct $2.70 for the $12
subtotal mentioned above, and the result is a subtotal of net
profit $9.30 from the one grooming fee of $30. Okay, not bad.
However, what about operating expenses, or "overhead",
allocated to the grooming department? For example, there should be
a rent allocation, and allocations for grooming supplies, office
supplies, bookkeeping, laundry, repair and maintenance. Further,
grooming is utilities intensive with electric heaters for dryers,
clippers and water heaters. The average allocation of overhead per
grooming service today in a small one person grooming department
is about $7 per grooming service. Therefore, we must deduct $7
from the last subtotal of net profit at $9.30. There you have it!
The retailer earned net income of $2.30 out of a $30 grooming
service fee.
An experienced and
productive pet groomer working alone can groom 7 pets per day.
Therefore, one of these groomers could produce 7 times $2.30 a
day, or $16.10 net income a day for the store owner. Annualized
for a grooming department open 5 days a week, the annual net
income would be $4,186 for the store owner.
What a disappointment
for so much work! Is there a better way? YES! If your business can
grow a department 2 to 3 times larger, or 14-21 pets per day, the
net income can be significantly increased without lowering wage levels. We have proof!
Anyone from the public
can attend the
Becoming the Business Person That Grooms Workshop
(5 Day) or arrange for a private 2 day version. Nearly one full day of the regular
Workshop focuses on Madson Team Trimming Operations which could in
this case be used to create and operate a retail store grooming
department doing up to 21 or more pets a day, and earning net
income of $40,000 to $60,000 a year for the business without
lowering wage levels, and actually boosting safety and quality.
Forget the operation mentioned above that earned only $4,186 a
year for the clinic and really didn't all that much for the
groomer compared to the perks in Madson's Team Trimming Operation
for both employer and groomer. No wonder the pet grooming industry
still has a poor stereotypical image in financial terms. However,
there and wondrous grooming businesses in stores. Often they are
either clients of Find A Groomer, Inc. or readers of its
publications. There are highly-profitable grooming businesses in
urban and yes, RURAL areas. All too often the rural business feels
limited, but there is a way indeed to earn the same performance as
urban counterparts. There are business owners in rural areas using
The Madson Management System in an ingenious way to create $50,000
to $100,000 net incomes before taxes for owners, and yet pay great
wages to groomers. Client and pet satisfaction is ensured, and
most clients will say they never experienced such a professional
grooming operation.
"Impossible!"
"You're kidding!" "Right!" We have heard it
all over the years. But after a few days learning Madson Team
Trimming Operations, salary systems, personnel management and team
work in a grooming department or business, it all comes together.
Madson has made many believers, and several of Madson's clients
have come back with endorsements relating how they remarkably
improved their business financial performance. Indeed, some of
them have come back and asked for a business plan to build their
dream business they never thought possible. They have become
skilled "business persons" effectively managing
innovative ideas, like those in The Madson Management System (From
Problems to Profits and Workshop).
We encourage store
owners that cannot find a groomer to work for them to consider
hiring new career - groomer employee for which they are willing to
pay for their schooling. An attorney can draw up a contract
protecting your investments in training, travel and boarding
costs. For motivated and focused store owners, we encourage them
to send one person for full-charge groomer training, one for
assistant groomer training and one for pet bather training.
Owners or
administrators should attend the Becoming
the Business Person That Grooms Workshop. It's almost like
having a "turnkey" grooming department solution. It's a
revelation never available before in the history of pet care. Now
store owners have a more sound solution to adding profitable
ancillary pet grooming services. Now they can create an extended
professional staff, expand the revenue base of their business,
provide one-stop pet care service convenience to their clients,
and yes, boost their net income. We wish we could tell you there
were other similar complete grooming department management systems
for store owners out there, but the fact is, there isn't. No other
consultants have prepared such a comprehensive program save Madson!
Make use of it!
Stephen, our Webmaster,
was interviewed on this topic but concerning the addition of a pet
grooming department to veterinarian practices instead of retail
stores. You will find that his information is very much adaptable
to retail store grooming as well. We heartily suggest you read his
material posted here.
On the
next
page, you can learn more about
grooming employment opportunities in retail stores.
