Post: #1

Hi all,

I’m thinking of starting a pet grooming salon. Looks like it can be done for a $100k initial investment.

Anyone have any experience on this or similar?

Cheers.

Post: #2

I'm no expert, but $100k seems like about 10X too much.

Post: #3

Seems like a high buy-in. And frankly, it seems like a low-status business. But if you've done your financials and have a plan to kill it, then more power to you.

Post: #4

I'm concerned that you think the OP contains enough info for anyone to give you an informed opinion. . . That by itself would suggest its a bad idea for you, and that price seems absurd

Post: #5

Can you elaborate why a $100k investment is necessary to open a pet grooming salon? That seems absurdly high.

Post: #6

(09-30-2018 08:09 PM)jbkunt2 Wrote:  Hi all,

I’m thinking of starting a pet grooming salon. Looks like it can be done for a $100k initial investment.

Anyone have any experience on this or similar?

Cheers.

Post: #7

Way too high. Around here a pet grooming salon is what bored housewives start from their sheds for around £2k

Post: #8

I usually groom my pet myself, but this thread made me curious, so I shopped around at some of the local groomers websites--the prices they charge in my area (lower upper class and above) are absurd.

The average was over $100, some being close to $200. WTF? I had my 2-story house and separate garage power washed for $125! A full service auto detailing is $90. Those two services take HOURS to complete. These people are bloody mad to think I'd pay that for someone to wash my dog.

Post: #9

A lot of people with poodles or other types whose hair grows continuously need to have their pets trimmed. My parents had a Pekinese, and I've seen it looking shaggy before grooming, then coming back with bright white fur, nicely shaped, and a bow in its hair. It would take a lot of skill to achieve the same results yourself, and it's a messy job. However, having the dog look nice is so much better than having it look shaggy. I think this is one of the major markets for this type of service.

Also, places like this would have a self washing facility. We've used this with our dogs. Washing them in the shower or tub is a giant mess. It's worth it to pay the fee to use a nice raised sink that's big enough to fit the dog, then have a nice spray head and scented pet shampoos and conditioners, and a drying area.

The dog wash place we go to has a decent size facility in a shopping center. I can easily see how leasing a place like this, doing the build out for the retail area and cleaning area, and ordering some inventory for dog foods and accessories would run $100K, especially if you set aside money to hire and train new staff, and to cover operating expenses and marketing for a few months while the business gets established.

My wife did a business plan for a business like this for a college class she was taking, based on the place we were already using, plus her ideas of how to optimize the business opportunity.

I have to agree I see this more as a business a woman would own, and it would not be very high prestige for a man. Also, I think it would be risky, and it would be easy to find yourself never reaching the revenue levels needed to be profitable.

Post: #10

For 10K you could purchase a used van and equipment and do a mobile pet grooming business. Save $$$ on paying for a lease.

Post: #11

Most of the cost depends on what commercial real estate goes for in your neck of the woods. In my town you can easily get a storefront in certain parts of town for $400 a month or less. If you're willing to work out of a cheaper industrial area that could drop to $300 or less. So that's $4,800 a year for a lease.

The supplies and equipment won't run you much.

Or do what Alpha Romeo suggests:

Post: #12

(10-01-2018 07:24 AM)Handsome Creepy Eel Wrote:  Can you elaborate why a $100k investment is necessary to open a pet grooming salon? That seems absurdly high.

If you're wanting to open a traditional brick and motor, don't.

You're far better off buying a van and doing a mobile Pet Grooming. DO NOT GET INTO A LEASE. There is absolutely no reason to do it. Mobile is the way to go and you absolutely DO NOT need $100k for this type of biz.

You're obviously going to get shit for wanting to open a "lame" biz but I think this is actually something that would work well given the fact that dog mommery is the new motherhood. This is a very legit biz, depending on where you are.

Post: #13

I'm guessing this is a franchise business.

I actually met two guys who wanted to start a "pet grooming business" and were looking for a business grant.

If I remember correctly they were expecting to obtain around 40/50k (€€€) and had to put forward about 10k of they're own money, which they didn't had.

That put them off, because they thought they would get 100% funding.

Mind you that this was in a very different country.

Their business plan was a litlle flawed, but in this market it could be a very good niche.

Though their numbers seemed very optimistic, I really thought that there was a market for this kind of thing.

As an apart: they were both raving homosexuals of the flamboyant kind.

Not my kind of business partners and I never heard of them again.

Post: #14

You could possibly bang the dog moms.

Post: #15

I’m not about to start grooming dogs.

I meant I would hire experienced groomers. I would do high level admin and marketing only.

$100k to fit out a salon with equipment plus some working capital is not a lot at all. Not at all.

I have researched and this is the figure given by the most credible resources on the subject.