At one time the veterinarian considering the
addition of pet grooming did so with the intention to build a larger business, and to
provide more convenient services to clients, and to increase gross revenue. Today, the
latter has become most important. Ancillary services are key to veterinary clinics in an
effort to boost revenue to pay for expensive modern equipment. Many veterinary
businesses find it mandatory to
add many ancillary services because of their extremely low profit margin on veterinary
services in a state-of-the-art equipped clinic.
Pet grooming is also an important measure to
expand the revenue base of a medical pet care operation. We have worked with several
veterinary clinics implementing some of the sources of pet grooming operations information
below, and they surpassed their projections. Today, we hear from some pet grooming
business owners that the majority of veterinarian clinics have added pet grooming in their
respective areas. That trend is likely to continue, and it will offer more employment for
pet groomers. However, pet grooming business owners may lose business if they do not
continue to add to their more professional environment which apparently attracts them to
move to grooming operations in veterinarian clinics.
For the clinic manager, or managing partners of
a veterinary practice, we strongly suggest the sources of information below that have been
used to establish pet grooming departments, or to boost the performance of an existing
grooming department of veterinary grooming departments.
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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
Adding a grooming department to a veterinarian
clinic or hospital 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 veterinarians 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 grooming business 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 business. Annualized for a
grooming department open 5 days a week, the annual net income would be $4,186 for the
clinic or hospital.
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
Becoming the Business Person
That Grooms Workshop (5 Day) or even arrange for a
private 2 day version through consultation. 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 veterinarian based 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 including veterinarian
clinics and hospitals with grooming departments. 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 veterinarians and their
administrators 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 veterinarians, 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 or better yet, purchase
Pet Grooming Business Helper &
Sampler by the same
production company. One of the
sample business plans is an
expansion of a veterinary clinic
with a grooming department! With
the sample and the included info
Excel spreadsheets. It's almost like having a "turnkey" grooming department solution. It's
a revelation never available before in the history of pet care. Now veterinarians and
management 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 veterinarians out there, but the fact
is, there isn't. No other consultants have prepared such a comprehensive program save
Madson! Make use of it!
On the next page,
you can learn more about veterinarian based grooming departments.
