This is a question that we at Pampered Pupz of St. Johns get asked about a lot. Mobile grooming is a more personalized approach to pet grooming. It’s a one-on-one experience for your pet. There is also the convenience factor where you get to stay in the comfort of your own home for the entire process. You don’t have to worry about loading your pet up into your car, driving to the grooming shop, getting your pet out of the car and then waiting for one to two hours or more while your pet’s grooming is completed. Then you will need to load your pet back into your car and drive back home. The business structure for mobile groomers is different from traditional groomers. Mobile groomers have a higher overhead and therefore will need to charge more for the service. Having a specialized van is the biggest factor. The van itself can cost between $30,000 for a good used one to over $50,000 for a new one. The van must then be converted to include water tanks (both clean and gray water), a water heater, generator, bath tub, and a hydraulic lift table. This conversion process can cost up to $30,000. The van will need to have commercial auto insurance (Think auto accidents). The company itself will need to have a good general liability policy (Think negligence). If the company has employees, it will need to have a good worker’s comp insurance policy (Think dog bites, slips, falls, etc.). This is in addition to paying the salary for a full-time W2 employee, gas for the van, gas for the generator, parking for the van, miscellaneous equipment and tools, towels, laundry service for the towels, water to fill the tank, various shampoos and conditioners, flea/tick bombs for the van, advertising and marketing and various other supplies.
Why is mobile dog grooming more expensive than traditional, non-mobile grooming?
