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Written by: Carolyn Young
Carolyn Young is a business writer who focuses on entrepreneurial concepts and the business formation. She has over 25 years of experience in business roles, and has authored several entrepreneurship textbooks.
Edited by: David Lepeska
David has been writing and learning about business, finance and globalization for a quarter-century, starting with a small New York consulting firm in the 1990s.
Published on January 19, 2022
Investment range
$3,550 - $10,100
Revenue potential
$65,000 - $170,000 p.a.
Time to build
1 – 3 months
Profit potential
$60,000 - $100,000 p.a.
Industry trend
Growing
Commitment
Flexible
Here is what you need to know before starting your dog grooming business:
Starting a dog grooming business has pros and cons to consider before deciding if it’s right for you.
Trends in the dog grooming industry include:
Some challenges also exist in the dog grooming industry which include:
Startup costs for a dog grooming business range from about $3,500 to $10,000. The main expenses are for equipment and a website. The high end assumes that you will do a mobile service and includes the cost of a down payment on a van to transport your equipment and supplies.
You’ll need a handful of items to successfully launch your dog grooming business, including:
| Start-up Costs | Ballpark Range | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Setting up a business name and corporation | $150 - $200 | $175 |
| Business licenses and permits | $100 - $300 | $200 |
| Insurance | $100-$300 | $200 |
| Business cards and brochures | $200 - $300 | $250 |
| Website setup | $1,000 - $3,000 | $2,000 |
| Dog grooming supplies and equipment | $2,000 - $3,000 | $2,500 |
| Van to transport equipment - down payment | $0 - $3,000 | $1,500 |
| Total | $3,550 - $10,100 | $6,825 |
A full grooming package that includes nail clipping and ear cleaning costs between $100 and $150. Add-on services such as a facial can add $15 to $20 more. Working by yourself from home, your profit margin should be about 90%.
In your first year or two, you could work from home and do 10 groomings a week at $130, bringing in over $65,000 in annual revenue. This would mean over $60,000 in profit, assuming that 90% margin. As your brand gains recognition, sales could climb to 25 groomings a week. You might hire a helper at this stage, reducing your profit margin to about 60%. With expected annual revenue of nearly $170,000, you would make just over $100,000.
There are a few barriers to entry for a dog grooming business. Your biggest challenges will be:
Now that you know what’s involved in starting a dog grooming business, it’s a good idea to hone your concept in preparation to enter a competitive market.
Market research will give you the upper hand, even if you’re already positive that you have a perfect product or service. Conducting market research is important, because it can help you understand your customers better, who your competitors are, and your business landscape.
Research dog grooming businesses in your area to examine their services, price points, and customer reviews. You’re looking for a market gap to fill. For instance, maybe the local market is missing a mobile dog grooming business.
You might consider targeting a niche market by specializing in a certain aspect of your industry such as spa-like treatments.
This could jumpstart your word-of-mouth marketing and attract clients right away.
Determine what grooming services you want to offer. You could offer things like:
Prices for a dog grooming package range from $100 to $150. Baths-only cost about $30. For add-on services, you can expect to charge about $15 to $20 each. Your expenses should be limited to shampoos or other supplies, plus fuel, so you should aim for a profit margin of about 90%.
Once you know your costs, you can use this Step By Step profit margin calculator to determine your mark-up and final price point. Remember, the price you use at launch should be subject to change if warranted by the market.
Your target market is a broad one – dog owners. However, the people who can pay for dog grooming are going to be more established people, so you can find them on sites like Facebook or LinkedIn. You can also distribute flyers at pet stores that do not offer dog grooming.
In the early stages, you may want to run your business from home to keep costs low, and it’s likely that you will continue to do so. But if you really want to expand, you might want to rent a dog grooming facility. Find commercial space to rent in your area on sites such as Craigslist, Crexi, and Instant Offices.
When choosing a commercial space, you may want to follow these rules of thumb:
Here are some ideas for brainstorming your business name:
Discover over 360 unique dog grooming business name ideas here. If you want your business name to include specific keywords, you can also use our dog grooming business name generator. Just type in a few keywords and hit “generate” and you’ll have dozens of suggestions at your fingertips.
Once you’ve got a list of potential names, visit the website of the US Patent and Trademark Office to make sure they are available for registration and check the availability of related domain names using our Domain Name Search tool below. Using “.com” or “.org” sharply increases credibility, so it’s best to focus on these.
Finally, make your choice among the names that pass this screening and go ahead with domain registration and social media account creation. Your business name is one of the key differentiators that sets your business apart. Once you pick your company name, and start with the branding, it is hard to change the business name. Therefore, it’s important to carefully consider your choice before you start a business entity.
Here are the key components of a business plan:
If you’ve never created a business plan, it can be an intimidating task. You might consider finding and hiring a business plan specialist to create a top-notch business plan for you.
Registering your business is an absolutely crucial step — it’s the prerequisite to paying taxes, raising capital, opening a bank account, and other guideposts on the road to getting a business up and running.
Plus, registration is exciting because it makes the entire process official. Once it’s complete, you’ll have your own business!
Your business location is important because it can affect taxes, legal requirements, and revenue. Most people will register their business in the state where they live, but if you’re planning to expand, you might consider looking elsewhere, as some states could offer real advantages when it comes to dog grooming businesses.
If you’re willing to move, you could really maximize your business! Keep in mind, it’s relatively easy to transfer your business to another state.
Business entities come in several varieties, each with its pros and cons. The legal structure you choose for your dog grooming business will shape your taxes, personal liability, and business registration requirements, so choose wisely.
Here are the main options:
We recommend that new business owners choose LLC as it offers liability protection and pass-through taxation while being simpler to form than a corporation. You can form an LLC in as little as five minutes using an online LLC formation service. They will check that your business name is available before filing, submit your articles of organization, and answer any questions you might have.
Choose Your State
The final step before you’re able to pay taxes is getting an Employer Identification Number, or EIN. You can file for your EIN online or by mail or fax: visit the IRS website to learn more. Keep in mind, if you’ve chosen to be a sole proprietorship you can simply use your social security number as your EIN.
Once you have your EIN, you’ll need to choose your tax year. Financially speaking, your business will operate in a calendar year (January–December) or a fiscal year, a 12-month period that can start in any month. This will determine your tax cycle, while your business structure will determine which taxes you’ll pay.
The IRS website also offers a tax-payers checklist, and taxes can be filed online.
It is important to consult an accountant or other professional to help you with your taxes to ensure you’re completing them correctly.
Securing financing is your next step and there are plenty of ways to raise capital:
Bank and SBA loans are probably the best options, other than friends and family, for funding a dog grooming business. You might also try crowdfunding if you have an innovative concept.
Starting a dog grooming business requires obtaining a number of licenses and permits from local, state, and federal governments. Federal regulations, licenses, and permits associated with starting your business include doing business as, health license and permit from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), trademarks, copyrights, patents, and other intellectual properties, as well as industry-specific licenses and permits.
You may also need state-level and local county or city-based licenses and permits. The license requirements and how to obtain them vary, so check the websites of your state, city, and county governments or contact the appropriate person to learn more.
You could also check this SBA guide for your state’s requirements, but we recommend using MyCorporation’s Business License Compliance Package. They will research the exact forms you need for your business and state and provide them to ensure you’re fully compliant.
This is not a step to be taken lightly, as failing to comply with legal requirements can result in hefty penalties.
If you feel overwhelmed by this step or don’t know how to begin, it might be a good idea to hire a professional to help you check all the legal boxes.
Before you start making money, you’ll need a place to keep it, and that requires opening a bank account. Keeping your business finances separate from your personal account makes it easy to file taxes and track your company’s income, so it’s worth doing even if you’re running your dog grooming business as a sole proprietorship.
Opening a business bank account is quite simple, and similar to opening a personal one. Most major banks offer accounts tailored for businesses — just inquire at your preferred bank to learn about their rates and features.
Banks vary in terms of offerings, so it’s a good idea to examine your options and select the best plan for you. Once you choose your bank, bring in your EIN (or Social Security Number if you decide on a sole proprietorship), articles of incorporation, and other legal documents and open your new account.
Business insurance is an area that often gets overlooked yet it can be vital to your success as an entrepreneur. Insurance protects you from unexpected events that can have a devastating impact on your business.
Here are some types of insurance to consider:
As opening day nears, prepare for launch by reviewing and improving some key elements of your business.
Being an entrepreneur often means wearing many hats, from marketing to sales to accounting, which can be overwhelming. Fortunately, many websites and digital tools are available to help simplify many business tasks.
You can use industry-specific software, such as DaySmartPet, Pawfinity, or groomsoft, to manage online bookings, appointments, expense tracking, and billing.
Website development is crucial because your site is your online presence and needs to convince prospective clients of your expertise and professionalism.
You can create your own website using website builders. This route is very affordable, but figuring out how to build a website can be time-consuming. If you lack tech-savvy, you can hire a web designer or developer to create a custom website for your business.
They are unlikely to find your website, however, unless you follow Search Engine Optimization (SEO) practices. These are steps that help pages rank higher in the results of top search engines like Google.
Here are some powerful marketing strategies for your future business:
Unique selling propositions, or USPs, are the characteristics of a product or service that sets it apart from the competition. Customers today are inundated with buying options, so you’ll have a real advantage if they are able to quickly grasp how your dog grooming business meets their needs or wishes. It’s wise to do all you can to ensure your USPs stand out on your website and in your marketing and promotional materials, stimulating buyer desire.
Global pizza chain Domino’s is renowned for its USP: “Hot pizza in 30 minutes or less, guaranteed.” Signature USPs for your dog grooming business could be:
You may not like to network or use personal connections for business gain. But your personal and professional networks likely offer considerable untapped business potential. Maybe that Facebook friend you met in college is now running a dog grooming business, or a LinkedIn contact of yours is connected to dozens of potential clients. Maybe your cousin or neighbor has been working in dog grooming for years and can offer invaluable insight and industry connections.
The possibilities are endless, so it’s a good idea to review your personal and professional networks and reach out to those with possible links to or interest in dog grooming. You’ll probably generate new customers or find companies with which you could establish a partnership.
If you’re starting out small from a home office, you may not need any employees. But as your business grows, you will likely need workers to fill various roles. Potential positions for a dog grooming business would include:
At some point, you may need to hire all of these positions or simply a few, depending on the size and needs of your business. You might also hire multiple workers for a single role or a single worker for multiple roles, again depending on need.
Free-of-charge methods to recruit employees include posting ads on popular platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, or Jobs.com. You might also consider a premium recruitment option, such as advertising on Indeed, Glassdoor, or ZipRecruiter. Further, if you have the resources, you could consider hiring a recruitment agency to help you find talent.
People pay a lot of money to take care of their beloved dogs. The total pet industry in the US is worth over $100 billion, with dog grooming taking in $9 billion of that annually. As a dog lover, starting your own dog grooming business will be fun and rewarding, and it will enable you to make a nice living at the same time.
You can run your business from home, and perhaps later expand to have a grooming facility – maybe even more than one! Now that you have groomed your business knowledge, you can continue on the path to entrepreneurship and being a successful business owner.
You can do dog grooming at home as long as there are no zoning restrictions against running a business at home. You also need the proper facilities in your home to do dog grooming.
Mobile dog grooming became popular after the pandemic started, and the demand for mobile grooming shows no sign of slowing down. People enjoy the convenience of it, so the popularity of mobile grooming should continue to increase.
You don’t need a specific license to be a dog groomer. However, you can take a course in safe dog grooming through the American Kennel Association.
You can take courses to learn dog handling, but you may want to refuse clients that have aggressive dogs.
To differentiate your dog grooming business from competitors, focus on delivering excellent services that pet owners can’t resist. Consider offering flexible hours that cater to your clients’ busy schedules to set yourself apart.
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Starting a dog grooming business sounds like a paw-some idea! 🐾 With people treating their pups like family, there’s a big market for keeping them clean and stylish. It’s a flexible gig that lets you hang out with furry friends all day. Just remember to brush up on your skills, handle competition like a pro, and keep those tails wagging with top-notch service!