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How to Start a Mobile Pet Grooming Business

cute dog face with dog groomer hands
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People love their pets and want to care for them the best way they can. Most pet owners know that grooming their pets is essential for quality care and keeping them clean, healthy, and pest free. Grooming is a luxury service that many people don’t have a lot of time or the ability to do on their own. They prefer to turn to a professional with the equipment, skills, and know-how to get their pet groomed while simplifying their lives.

Although pet owners will do whatever it takes to ensure their pets are properly cared for, many don’t have the time take them to the groomer. Pet owners are always looking for services that will come to them. That’s where mobile pet grooming businesses come in.

Mobile pet grooming businesses provide a convenient pet grooming service for pet owners. Professional groomers come to clients’ homes to clean their animals rather than requiring clients to come to them, which is more convenient for the clients.

If you have a passion for animals and want to become a business owner, starting a mobile pet grooming business may be a great business venture for you. Here’s what you should consider before you begin.

Benefits of Owning a Mobile Pet Grooming

Owning a mobile pet grooming business can be both challenging and rewarding. Here are some of the benefits of owning a mobile pet grooming business, can provide:

  • No Exposure to Other Pets or People – Mobile grooming is a safe option for pet owners and dogs. It allows them to avoid interacting with other people and exposing them to other pets. It’s a great option for reactive dogs or puppies who have yet to have their vaccinations. Plus, pets won’t be exposed to ticks, fleas, or other contagious conditions, which is a risk when pets visit a traditional brick-and-mortar grooming salon.
 
  • No Need to Rent a Space – You can save considerably on operation costs by owning a mobile pet grooming salon. The only expense you have is a monthly van payment, or you can choose to own the van outright by paying in all cash. Either way, the monthly payments for a van are much less than renting a space.
 
  • Set Your Own Hours – Running your own business has its advantages with how often and when you work. You get the flexibility to choose your own hours and when you take on clients.
 
  • Happier Clients – People love the convenience of having a service that comes to their homes instead of loading up their pets and driving out of the way to drop them off and pick them up. They are more relaxed knowing they are nearby and happier with the service and the convenience.
dog getting a bath at home

How to Get Started

Starting a mobile pet grooming business can be a fulfilling career choice that requires low overhead costs and can bring you and your client joy. You will need to consider some important things before you start.

Is this the right fit for you?

Before you start any venture, you want to ensure this is the right business for you. You’ll primarily be managing dogs and cats if you decide to take them on, and your interactions with people will be limited. As with any service profession, you’ll need to ensure you have great communication skills. You want to be able to listen to pet owners’ concerns, questions, and needs and clearly convey your services and whether you can meet their expectations. If you’re passionate about working with animals and can communicate well with their owners, you’re on the right track for a profession fit for you.

Figure out your financial situation

Are you financially ready to take on the costs associated with starting a mobile pet grooming business? Sit down and crunch some numbers to make sure you’re in a good spot. If you need financial backing, you could opt to secure a small business loan or approach friends and family. You will need more money upfront to cover some upfront costs like equipment, vehicles, and supplies. A comprehensive business plan can help you come up with an accurate estimate of what you will need so you can be prepared to justify your needs.

Gain Experience

You want to build a reputable mobile pet grooming business by gaining experience and collecting testimonials. You can go through a training course through a training center to earn certifications to boost your reputation. You can also reach out to a groomer for an internship if available. Certification is not always required, but you should check your state’s requirements.

Obtain Important Business Licenses and Meet the Requirements

To start a business, you will need to make sure you obtain the correct business license, insurance, and permits you need for your business per state requirements. Check in with your city to learn what licenses or permits you may need. They can provide helpful resources to help you make sure you check all the boxes on the list.

 Insurance is one of the most important requirements you need to ensure you meet for both your safety and your clients. Opt for a Mobile Pet Groomer Insurance that covers your entire mobile pet grooming business, from your trailer to your services.

Pomeranian getting a haircut

Tools and Equipment Needed

For a mobile pet grooming business, many of the investments will be upfront and only be required one time until you need to purchase replacements.

  • Commercial Vehicle – Choosing the vehicle in which you will run your business is perhaps the biggest decision you will make. You’ll likely want to choose a commercial van or trailer, but you can always start smaller while you build your brand and reputation. Many factors go into choosing the right van for your business. Still, with the equipment you need, you’ll want to ensure your vehicle or trailer is big enough to hold your supplies and allows you to work comfortably.
 
  • Grooming Equipment – A mobile grooming salon requires the same equipment a traditional brick-and-mortar grooming salon needs to operate. You’ll need clippers, sheers, brushes, a grooming table, dryers, and a tub if you offer bathing services. Operating your grooming equipment will require you to have a battery-powered generator, power connections, a water tank with a water heater, and waste disposal containers.
 
  • Pet Cleaning Supplies – If you are offering bathing services for your mobile pet grooming business, you’ll want to stock up on quality cleaning supplies. Choose shampoos, conditioners, specialty cleaning supplies for ears and pad care, and other luxury cleaning and care services you want to offer.
cat getting claws cut by woman

Create a Business Plan

Creating a business plan is essential to help you find success. A business plan helps you define your business offerings and prevents you from overspending. Your business plan should include analysis and data of your potential clients and local neighborhoods, marketing materials, cost evaluations, and service schedule and costs. A business plan can help you if you need to secure a business loan, as many banks and capital investors will ask to see a comprehensive business plan.

  • Analyze Your Potential Clients and Market – Get to know your local neighborhoods and the clients who would want to purchase your services. Create a customer profile to understand their needs. It will help you create a marketing plan and choose services that best fit your client base.
 
  • Define Your Services – Clearly define your services and what you plan to offer. Will you be bathing and grooming only? Or will you offer add-on services like nail trims, feal and tick removal, and more? You’ll want to determine what your services will be worth.
 
  • Define Your Service Area – You want to define the area you plan to serve clearly, depending on where you are willing to travel. Remember that many clients may live in apartment buildings or may not have driveways that can fit your vehicle of choice. Be prepared with accommodations for those clients to not cut off services for those who may need them.
 
  • Create a Budget – Prepare a budget by evaluating your estimated monthly expenses and any one-time upfront costs. Keep a list of potential ongoing costs such as:
    • Equipment maintenance like the sharpening of blades and sheers
    • Fuel costs
    • Marketing costs such as ad spending and flyers
    • Supply replenishment
    • Vehicle maintenance like oil changes, tire checks, and air pressure
 

A prepared budget prevents you from overspending and ensures you can earn a healthy income.

woman with cat

Create a Marketing Plan

Your marketing plan is one aspect of your business you want to spend quality time crafting and creating to reflect your values and brand. It’s a step you can work on throughout building your business and is best started once you have a good idea of your customer base and the local area you’ll be serving. You’ll want to develop a marketing plan to get your mobile pet grooming business name in the right hands.

  • Define Your Brand – Your brand defines your values and how you want to be viewed by the public. It can help you stand out with a unique logo, business name, and mission.
 
 
  • Create social media accounts, a website, and flyers to distribute to local businesses like pet shops and veterinarians.
 
  • Social Media Management – Social media is a powerful tool for getting your business name out there. You want to post often and create relevant content that reaches your customers and encourages them to hire you to groom their pets. Facebook and Instagram have built-in marketing tools you can use and collect valuable insights to help you pivot and perfect your marketing plan.
 
  • Build Social Proof and Reputation – When you first start out, you want to build up your reputation. Businesses rely on word-of-mouth recommendations, and when searching for a related business, potential clients will read reviews before moving forward. Reach out to friends and family and offer your services to them for free. They can leave honest reviews and help build your social proof that you are a respected and trusted mobile pet grooming business.
 
  • Visit Pet Stores and Local Veterinarians – Building local partnerships can help you bring more business to your mobile pet grooming business. Contact local vet offices and pet stores and ask if you can advertise or partner with them to get more exposure to your business.
 

The demand for mobile pet grooming services is growing rapidly. There’s no better time to start working for yourself and building your own business in the pet care industry. With a little hard work, determination, and creativity, you can start your journey towards creating your dream mobile pet grooming business that finds success and thrives.

Annual Mobile Pet Groomer Insurance Policy

This policy is for professionals who work in the pet care industry.

Starting at:

$278

or $23.16/month

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Contact Info

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Email: info@petcareins.com

Terms and Conditons

  • 1) No Purchase Necessary:

    No purchase is necessary to enter or win the contest. Purchasing will not increase your chances of winning the contest.

  • 2) Eligibility:

    The contest is open to legal United States residents who are 18 years of age or older at the time of entry. The contest is only open to those who follow the instructions and enter their name and email address on the website landing page

    https://www.petcareins.com/groomer-to-groomer Employees of Pet Care Insurance, their respective affiliates, contractors, subsidiaries, advertising and promotion agencies and partners, suppliers and their immediate family members and/or those living in the same household of each are not eligible to participate in the contest. The contest is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations. Void where prohibited.

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    By participating, you agree to be fully unconditionally bound by these rules, and you represent and warrant that you meet the eligibility requirements set forth herein. In addition, you agree to accept the decisions of Pet Care Insurance (PCI), as final and binding as it relates to the content. The contest is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws.

  • 4) Contest Period:

    Entries will be accepted online starting on or about November 23, 2018 and ending 10:30 AM MST on December 3, 2018. All online entries must be received by December 3, 2018 10:30 AM MST. There will be one winner.

  • 5) How To Enter:

    To enter the contest, one must enter their first name, last name, and email address into the contact form located exclusively on https://www.petcareins.com/groomer-to-groomer. You may enter only once. You may not enter more times than indicated by using multiple email addresses, identities, or devices in an attempt to circumvent the rules. If you use fraudulent methods or otherwise attempt to circumvent the rules, your submission may be removed from eligibility at the sole discretion of Pet Care Insurance (PCI). All disputes will be resolved at the sole discretion of Pet Care Insurance (PCI). In the event the entry collection mechanism suffers a technical failure, Sponsor may elect to randomly select another email subscriber to designate the winner of this giveaway. [Note: If you would like to remove yourself from consideration for this giveaway, please email Pet Care Insurance (PCI) at marketing1@petcareins.com with the subject line “Opt-Out – Attn: Ryan Muir”]

  • 6) Prize:

    here will be 1 (one) winner who will receive 1 (one) Amazon Gift Card. The Approximate retail price of the Amazon Gift Card is = $100 USD. At the discretion of PCI, the gift card may be delivered either electronically or by means of free standard shipping to the United States.PCI reserves the right to substitute an item of equal or greater value if any items listed above are out of stock or otherwise unavailable. Actual/appraised value may differ at the time of prize award. The specifics of the prize shall be solely determined by the Sponsor. No cash or other prize substitution permitted except at Sponsor’s discretion. The prize is non-transferable. Any and all prize related expenses, including without limitation any and all federal, state, and/or local taxes shall be the sole responsibility of the winner. No substitution of a prize or transfer/assignment of a prize to others or request for the cash equivalent by winners is permitted. Acceptance of prize constitutes permission for PCI to use winner’s name, likeness, and entry for purposes of advertising and trade without further compensation, unless prohibited by law.

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    The odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received. One entry per person/email address.

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    Winners of the contest will be selected based on content quality under the supervision of the Sponsor. Winner will be notified via message to the email address that they used or phone number they submitted to enter the contest within five (5) days following the winner selection. PCI shall have no liability for a winner’s failure to receive notices due to winners’ spam, junk e-mail or other security settings or for winners’ provision of incorrect or otherwise non-functioning contact information. If the selected winner cannot be contacted, is ineligible, fails to claim the prize within 15 days of the time award notification was sent, or fails to timely return a completed and executed declaration and releases as required, the prize may be forfeited and an alternate winner selected.

    The receipt by winner of the prize offered in this contest is conditioned upon compliance with any and all federal and state laws and regulations. ANY VIOLATION OF THESE OFFICIAL RULES BY ANY WINNER (AT SPONSOR’S SOLE DISCRETION) WILL RESULT IN SUCH WINNER’S DISQUALIFICATION AS WINNER OF THE CONTEST AND ALL PRIVILEGES AS WINNER WILL BE IMMEDIATELY TERMINATED.

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    Pet Care Insurance reserves the right, in its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the contest should (in its sole discretion) a virus, bugs, non-authorized human intervention, fraud or other causes beyond its control corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness or proper conduct of the contest. In such case, Pet Care Insurance may select the recipients from all eligible entries received prior to and/or after (if appropriate) the action taken by Pet Care Insurance. Pet Care Insurance reserves the right at its sole discretion to disqualify any individual who tampers or attempts to tamper with the entry process or the operation of the contest or website or violates these Terms & Conditions.

    Pet Care Insurance has the right, in its sole discretion, to maintain the integrity of the contest, to void votes for any reason, including, but not limited to; multiple entries from the same user from different IP addresses; multiple entries from the same computer in excess of that allowed by contest rules; or the use of bots, macros or scripts or other technical means for entering. Any attempt by an entrant to deliberately damage any web site or undermine the legitimate operation of the contest may be a violation of criminal and civil laws and should such an attempt be made, Pet Care Insurance reserves the right to seek damages from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law.

By entering the contest you agree to receive emails periodically from Pet Care Insurance and to receive a phone call from Pet Care Insurance. You can opt-out of receiving this communication at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in the email.

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    By entering you agree to release and hold harmless Pet Care Insurance and its subsidiaries, affiliates, advertising and promotion agencies, partners, representatives, agents, successors, assigns, employees, officers and directors from any liability, illness, injury, death, loss, litigation, claim or damage that may occur, directly or indirectly, whether caused by negligence or not, from (i) such entrant’s participation in the contest and/or his/her acceptance, possession, use, or misuse of any prize or any portion thereof, (ii) technical failures of any kind, including but not limited to the malfunctioning of any computer, cable, network, hardware or software; (iii) the unavailability or inaccessibility of any transmissions or telephone or Internet service; (iv) unauthorized human intervention in any part of the entry process or the Promotion; (v) electronic or human error which may occur in the administration of the Promotion or the processing of entries.

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    260 South 2500 West Suite #303

    Pleasant Grove, UT 84062

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Comparing Employee Dishonesty Coverage & Bonding

PCI’s employee dishonesty coverage is similar to a bond, but there may be some key differences to consider.

Employee dishonesty coverage:

  • Can be purchased in the same transaction
  • Doesn’t run credit checks
  • Provides $10,000 per occurrence and $25,000 aggregate coverage

Bonds may differ from our dishonesty coverage by:

  • Checking your credit during the application process
  • Having a “Conviction Claus;” Often bonds won’t pay on claims unless there is a conviction
  • Many require you to reimbursement the bonding company after a claim is paid