Practical guides on pricing, operations, staffing and growth — written for people who actually run grooming businesses.
Grooming can raise a dog's stress or lower it, and handling approach measurably changes which. What the evidence shows, and how to work with a frightened dog.
Read articleThe fee is not what clients argue about. The shave-down is. Here is how to explain matting so the decision is made with you, not defended at pickup.
Read articleEnding a client relationship badly costs you a review. Here are the scripts for the three ways to do it, and how to decide which one this client has earned.
Read articleCulture in a grooming salon is not values on a wall. It is who handles the angry client, whether you bought the lift table, and whether time off is actually possible.
Read articleRenting a table and paying on a 1099 does not make a groomer a contractor. Here is the test the IRS actually applies, and what misclassification costs when it fails.
Read articleThe best groomers are already employed and never see your job ad. Here is where working groomers actually look, and how to test one before you hire them.
Read articleAlmost every argument at pickup was caused by something skipped at drop-off. Here is the eight-minute check-in that prevents most of them, step by step.
Read articleA deposit policy stops some cancellations. It never fills the hole one leaves. Here is the operational routine that recovers a same-day slot instead of losing it.
Read articleFour to eight is the usual answer, and it hides everything that matters. Here is how to work out your own number from coat mix, drying capacity and a career you can finish.
Read articleA full grooming calendar can still lose money. Revenue per chair-hour is the metric that shows you which appointments are quietly funding the rest of your week.
Read articleSalary sites say dog groomers earn $23-26 an hour. BLS says the median is $17. Here is why both are wrong for you, and how to work out the number you should target.
Read articleMobile grooming costs more to deliver than salon grooming, but not for the reason most price lists assume. Here is how to price drive time from your real cost per mile.
Read articleSenior and special-needs grooms take two to three hours and cap your day. Here is how to price the constraint rather than the haircut, and why these clients pay best.
Read articleDoodles and matted coats break a standard price list. Here are the three de-matting fee models groomers actually use, and how to charge without the argument.
Read articleKate Bonny loaned out a leash to catch a stray husky and came home with a dog. That husky taught her to groom, and led to a nonprofit for shelter animals.
Read articleNew dog groomers underprice because they misread the market. Here is how to position your grooming business so premium pricing stops being a fight.
Read articleWe asked working groomers what they wish someone had told them before opening. Their answers were about pricing, their bodies, boundaries and hiring.
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