The Business Side of Pet Grooming

Worried About Your Bank?

99 banks in 2009 are no more, and some sources say the FDIC has just reached the point of being out of funds, while others say they are desperately close. Either way confidence has been shattered. 

How would you like to know where your bank stands? It's easy. You may be able to a good idea of its status for free, or you can opt for $10 to $20 detailed reports by a reliable source.

Recently I was shopping for a bank. When I interviewd banks I asked how stable they were. I got quite an assortment of looks. I also got plenty of doublespeak and even a few shaky voices. Oh my. I already knew the answers because I had purchased reports from one of the most respected vendors of bank and credit union information. While no one told a lie, there wasn't a whole lotta truth either!

Bauer Financial is an independent source that rates banks with a star system. Earlier this year in our area the nicest looking bank in town, real spiffy property, was surprisingly rated down from 4 stars to  only 2 stars. Two weeks ago they went under and they are listed as a FDIC managed operation today. I am so glad we didn't go there and instead we found a 4 star bank in our town, and in a modest building. Looks can be deceiving. There were no warnings; the newspaper in town is across the street from this bank.

I strongly recommend everyone go to www.bauerfinancial.com now and search for your banks. Most banks are listed. Some banks are not without buying a report. For $10 or even $50 to know the real story about your bank, and again it may even be free, isn't it worth it?

Today I helped 3 groomers find 4 and 5 star banks in their areas. I was able to do this FREE. I advised them of the option to pay $10 for a highlights report or $20 for a detailed report. What a bargain to better ensure that your money is in a bank not in serious trouble. We recommend 4 or 5 star banks only now. 3 stars can be fine, but keep an eye out. Ratings are updated quarterly.

With the FDIC in critical shape it's time to be even more concerned.

Tomorrow's Pet Salon Lighting is Here, and it's "Green" too!

Are you a professional groomer demanding the best working environment to support your art? Are you a creative stylist working for precision coloring? Whether you are aware or not, lighting plays an essential role in accurate styling and coloring. It can even reduce stress.

Today the large majority of groomers rely on fluorescent lighting. Both "warm" and "cool" fluroescent lights actually color wash your subjects and working environments with colors, on top of the colors of your design, and pet haircoats too. Warm tends to add red and cool adds more green. Neither is flattering to skin tones, your interior design and certainly not pet haircoats. It gets worse. When you work with creative coloring you don't want your lighting to falsely shade your pallette. You want the shades you chose to pop accurately.

Incandescent bulbs are no better, sometimes worse. They tend to add a yellow wash to everything in the space they illuminate and once again the creative groomer's color effects lose impact and accuracy.

Can salon lighting produce a light spectrum like the Sun's so you see true colors? Yes, full spectrum lighting has actually been available for awhile. However there are new systems sporting color accuracy that is unparalled for accuracy. Better yet, the new lighting products are very eco-friendly.

Perhaps the leader in ful spectrum salon lighting is Freestyle Systems. First they brought the hairstyling world free-floating blow drying systems, and now clearly brilliant SpectraLights. According to Freestyle Systems they set out to develop lighting to meet these requirements:

• Produce light with a light spectrum like the sun's so you see true colors.
• Produce a light that doesn't emit excessive heat like your incandescent and halogen lights.
• Produce the most energy-efficient light possible to save electricity.
• Produce a light that creates very little heat to keep your air conditioning costs down.
• Produce a light that lasts 10 to 30 years before it needs replacement.
• Produce a light that really lights up your client so you can see what you're doing.
• Produce a light that helps fight seasonal affective disorder (winter depression).

Based on what we have seen they are a major success. We recently visited a salon (for people) using SpectraLights. Wow! What a difference! Skin and hair tones were spot-on, and the entire color pallette of the interior design was stunning. We closed our eyes and imagined we were in a pet salon spa instead, or the studio of a creative groomer. Yes! Pet grooming needs to move itself in this direction. We work so hard on the art of grooming it's a shame to see it color washed so inaccurately. Who has time to run outside into the Sun with our pet subjects?

SpectraLights must be experienced. As artists your subjective levels of discernment are heightened, we are confident that you would notice the difference.

You can learn more at www.freestylesystems.com. Look in their gallery of installations. There may be one near you. Drop in and ask if you can take a look.

P.S. The free-floating blow-dryers are sure to stimulate ideas too!

  

When Pet Owners Stretch Appointment Frequency

As the U.S. economy sinks deeper grooming business owners can expect some of their clients to stretch the time between grooming appointments. The impact on owners will vary regionally. Unaddressed, owners are likely to find their gross sales of services decline.

There is way for owners to compensate and maintain their gross sales. The answer is to grow the business, add more clientele. How does the owner determine just how many more clients they need to add to their client base?

The math is simple enough. The biggest challenge for most owners is they don’t regularly measure their client base and a couple financial variables like “average service fee.” If that is you, don’t worry, start now. If you are following The Madson Management System in From Problems to Profits, or Pet Grooming Business Plan Helper, the calculations will be easier.

Here’s the most basic sales projection formula every owner should memorize:

# of Clients   (x)  Avg. # of Appts Scheduled Yearly  (x)  Avg. Svc. Fee $  =  Projected Gross Sales $

Note: Advanced users of The Madson Management System should use this formula 3 times, one for each of the client ratings, “A” Clients, “B” Clients and “C” Clients according to the Madson People and Pet Marketing Program (Chapter 12).

Example: The ABC Salon

Step 1: Performance Before Decline

300 Clients  (times)  6 Appts/Year (times)  $40 Avg Svc Fee  =  $72,000 Gross Sales of Services

Step 2: Evidence of Decline by Clients Stretching Appointments

300 Clients  (times)  5 Appts/Year  (times) $40 Avg Svc Fee  =  $60,000 Gross Sales of Services

In the example above, the ABC Salon stands to lose $12,000 in sales of services if 300 clients book 1 less appointment per year. Remember, we are working with averages. Some clients actually cutback to 4 appointments a year while others maintained their appointment frequency at 6 times or more a year.

How can the ABC Salon compensate for the projected loss of income? It’s true the business can raise its prices. In fact we can calculate just how much. During the decline the business is performing 1,500 grooming services a year. If we divide 1,500 into $12,000 we discover the owner must raise the average service fee by $8.00 simply to compensate for the loss of appointments. That’s a steep increase all the more difficult when many pet owners are feeling the effects of a recession.

We endured a major 7 year recession in the 1980 affecting our region in California. We learned that we didn’t have to raise prices to compensate for contractions in appointment frequency. In fact, we only raised prices as a last resort. Price increases were scheduled every 2 years.

People are suffering economically, and unfortunately 2009 offers little hope without drastic change in the U.S. financial system.

For the sake of your valued clientel, always look first for solutions other than raising prices. We found a simple solution to appointment frequency contraction. We grew our business instead of raising prices. While others raised prices, we actually repositioned business away from “competitors” to our business. When pet owners can get the same or better quality for less they may research alternatives. The odds of them making the move increase the longer the recession. Even in the worst of times we found inexpensive ways to market new business.

What if the owner of the ABC Salon grows the business to compensate for the projected loss of $12,000 in sales? We actually have enough information in the formulas above to determine the growth goal and avoid raising prices.

Step 3: Calculate Your Growth Goal

The goal is to attract new clients sufficient to produce $12,000 a year in sales of services. Thereby the contraction in the average appointment frequency from 6 appointments a year to 5 will be compensated, and gross sales maintained.

The first formula is:

$12,000  (divided by)  $40 Avg. Service Fee  =   300 appointments

The second formula is:

300 appointments  (divided by)  5 Appts/Year  =  60 New Clients

Isn’t that simple? Work with a few times. It becomes easier with practice.

The ABC Salon owner should worry less about the contraction in appointment frequency affecting sales and instead set a goal to market 60 new clients. If these 60 clients setup appointment schedules and average 5 appointments per year the business will maintain its sales performance. The financial effect of the contraction in the average appointment frequency due to the recession is now flatlined.

We suggest you add 50% to the new client goal. In this case, the ABC salon owner should adjust the goal from 60 to 90 clients. The increase helps to pay for marketing costs and provides a buffer against possible increases in appointment contraction.

Eight Ways to Survive a Slow Economy, Even Conquer It

Appointment Scheduling Program. If you don't have one at all, now is the time. Every new customer should be informed of its benefits at their first appointment when returning for pet. Your sales message should be in both writing as in a client brochure as well as verbal. Never ask, "Do you want to enroll." Yes or no questions rarely work well in develop sales. Explain the benefits for both owner and pet, and make them feel important and confident. If you already have an appointment program never miss a single opportunity to encourage enrollment. Every client matters now more than ever. Make sure your program has more than one option. Standing appointment option is traditional, and vital, but today's overly busy pet owners sometimes avoid commitments 3 or more weeks in advance. Develop an option that doesn't require a firm commitment like a standing appointment. We suggest the Option B described in the Preferred Client Program in our book From Problems to Profits.

Not Grooming? Then Manage. When your role as groomer is slow, move into the role of manager and create more business. Business demand may be slow, but your workday should remain quite full creating demand. Whether you have 30 minutes or 4 hours free because business is slow, dedicate your working hours to management. Use the slow time invest in your business creating a business plan, a marketing plan and execute them. Discover with certainty why business has slowed, don't guess.

Enhance Your Services or Retail. Are there small changes in your services or retail that will significantly enhance them? Use a client questionnaire, such as the one in illustrated in From Problems to Profits, to create dialogue with your clients. Ask them if there are changes or additional services they desire. Don't settle on being compared to your competition, move beyond comparison. Small changes can be just as powerful as large ones.

Expand Your Market. Sometimes pet grooming business owners focus their marketing on pet owners familar with professional grooming services. Don't assume that every pet owner understands the benefits of professional grooming. Certainly first time pet owners, and they happen all the time, rarely have a clue about the full scope of their pets' grooming needs. Explain the benefits of professional grooming to them from scratch. Do you have solid working relationships with other pet care providers confident they can refer pet owners to you for grooming, and vice versa? Even in slow economy there are pet owners spending as usual and joint working relationships with other professional pet care providers can help to locate them.

More Effective Website. Your website potential will never be realized if you don't do all that you can to get it better noticed by Internet search engines. Enhance your text and tags to improve search engine recognition of what you are selling. List your website in free directories of pet groomers, such as www.findagroomer.com. Start a blog for your clientele.

Public Relations. What is your community recognition level? It's not always about spending money on advertising. Participate in community events. especially those involving animals and pets. Ask local 4-H groups, schools and career counselors if they would allow you to speak about pets, pet care and career opportunities in pet grooming. Distribute your promotional materials at every event. Carry your business cards with you at all times and listen for opportunities to distribute them.

Referral Program. Reward clients that refer new customers to you with a gift. Some groomers choose to offer service discounts but we prefer discounts only on retail sales. You can even avoid discounts entirely and provide a small gift for owners and/or their pets.

Study Your Service Records. Is 75% of your business coming 25% of your clients? It's likely that the 25% will make additional purchases and you should be in contact with them on a regular basis. Be timely with appointment reminders, and be mmore personal than solely relying on a postcard. You want to know why they are not returning and if there are problems, resolve them and maintain their client loyalty.