Commission AND hourly???

[ejmj30]

So, as you all know, I'm looking to hire someone. I've been thinking about how to pay them. I want to do hourly, but can't pay a whole heck of a lot. So I was thinking about doing like $7.50/hr, and then a really low commission, like 10-15%. That way they get the best of both worlds??? Cause I like that commission gives that little extra incentive for staying and doing another dog, but also like that hourly gives steady pay, plus I get more money for that. This way people aren't totally discouraged when they hear the low hourly rate??? Opinions please.

How did you handle your first employee?

Thanks again.

[redbird]

my experience

First job, bather, assitant, a little of everything.
7 an hour, worked to death.
Stayed one month.
Sweatshop to say the least.

Second job, bather, assistant, beginnning groomer.
7 and hour plus 50% of two or three grooms a day, plus tips on my
groom dogs.
Was much happier and stayed a long time.
Place was quiter,(no radio or tv going all the time)
No uncessesary chatter (gabbing about nothing all day long)
Nobody singing off key.
A nice quite working environment where you could focus
on your work, and ask a question and get an answer and a smile.
I think the dogs I took, were dogs they normally would not
have had time for, so their cut was just extra for them.
I also cleaned and did anything they asked me to do.
I liked it there. I never missed a single day, and was never even
one minute late.

[HoundLover]

erin-
are you talking about hiring a bather or a groomer?
with my two diffrent grooming shops i worked at...one i was paid hourly the other i was paid per dog. the one i was paid hourly at was a busy shop...but she paid her other bather per dog. so needless to say the other bather didnt refill the shampoo's for me or clean the cages out anymore than just vaccuuming them. but if she DID clean the owner PAID her for it. she paid her 7 dollars an hr for cleaning. now if i figured it out she made more than i did per day for being paid per dog than i did being paid per hour. now the second shop i worked at...she paid me per dog...then fired me because i didnt do any extra cleaning (ie mopping the floor etc). why should i when im not getting PAID for it? i did what you told me to do...vaccuumed and rinsed the tub, put the grooming table and the dryers back and wiped hair off the wall. thats all i was told to do. cannot complain when you dont tell me to do something. now if your figuring on a bather...maybe give them the option of what they want to go with? but if there are 2 hrs or more between appointments...make sure you have stuff for the person to do otherwise they are just going to be sitting around and your paying them for nothing basically. now if its a groomer...then i really dont know LOL! maybe offer hourly? or offer them commission? figure its a lab...say 40 percent of say...25 dollars...they make 10 dollars while you make 15 dollars off the dog. now if it takes them (if they are washing and drying the dog themselves) an hr and a half to do the dog...they make...10.50 on that dog.
depending on what you are hiring for...maybe give them the option? see what they want to take?
Hound

[rapuzzled]

I am hourly plus commision, and I love it! I would never do straight commission, or straight hourly, or even salary. I like that I can pick up some hours in the slow times, so even when I am only doing two dogs a day I can still help out in the kennel, or up front. Same goes for a busy day. I do ten dogs, and I am ready to go home. It works great for me.

[DAPER DAWG]

Erin - Just an FYI the new minimum wage in Connectiut is $7.65 an hour.

It would depend on whether you wanted to pay some one to hang around and help you when they are done doing their bath dogs (than hourly would be best) cause you can use the (other duties as assigned).

If you expect that they will just go for the day when all their bath dogs are done then commission would be better.

[luckydog]

hourly or commission

I'm mobile now, but when I had employees I only paid hourly, period. You need to look at this as an employer--yes they need to make a fair salary, but are you charging enough on your grooms to make it worth it. You also need to think about the extra money you're putting into it with matching taxes, unemployment insurance, workman's compensation. If I remember right, in From Problems to Profits it did a breakdown of what it actually costs you to groom one average dog. Then you need to figure in the above taxes and insurance, extra time if necessary if they don't groom as fast as you, your profit and then see what is left. If you don't have enough left to pay them an hourly wage, then you need to re-think your pricing structure before hiring anyone. If you are hiring as bather only--then you have to also figure out how many more dogs are you going to be able to finish every day if they are washing and drying. Are you going to make them clean and do customer service also--they're not going to do that if you're only paying commission. And once again--are you going to make enough of a profit at your current prices. Another question. How booked up are you? Do you book 3-4 weeks in advance minimum? If not, how are you going to keep busy when there are all of a sudden a lot more slots to fill each week. The dogs have to be there or either you'll be losing money paying someone to just stand around so they're happy to have a paycheck, or they'll get frustrated being sent home early all the time. Take the time to sit down and run all the numbers. Ask your accountant for help if you need it.

[ejmj30]

Ok, right now, I'm booked a week in advance, and most of my customers are becoming repeat bookings. I don't want to work 40 hrs a wk, I want to get in, get my dogs done, and leave. If that's the case, maybe I should pay comimission? Or tell them it's a part time job and pay hourly?

I'm trying to think of this as an employer, yet make it attractive enough for someone to stay around for awhile. I know I liked being on commission cause it gave me that little bit of drive to do another dog. I'm not sure what to do.

If I'm offering apprenticeship on top of bathing etc, can I use that as a reason for not paying a lot?

[DAPER DAWG]

If your hiring just to be a bather and they want to learn to groom. I would just pay the hourly rate, probably a little above minimum, maybe $8.00 to start. If you are teaching them to groom then I wouldn't give any additional percentage on top of that.

This way they can help you bathe dry your dogs when they finish bathing and or clean or whatever.

At $8.00 an hour you'll still make out much better, because giving percentage of bath dogs they'd make a lot more and bath dogs should be your easy money.

I would tell them it's part-time so they don't get upset when they think there gonna have a full 40 hour week.

The first place I worked I only made 35% of each dog because we had bather/dryers and I had someone working side by side with me for three months, showing me new thing.

[Helly]

If I'm offering apprenticeship on top of bathing etc, can I use that as a reason for not paying a lot?

Most certainly! If they fuss, remind them they are being paid to learn on the job, rather than spending thousands of dollars to go to a school.

Once they get rolling, and you want to change things, you could do what my boss does; hourly OR commission, whichever is highest. That way, I know I have a minimum amount I can count on if things get slow, but I can make way more when things are not slow.

[Chuck]

We are our worst enimies.

Dear ejmj30,

We price our grooms as if we were the customer and were looking for a groomer. We develope our employee wage and comission like we are the ones looking for the job. We are our worst enimies.

Just think about that Baseball, Basketball, or Football player who recieves millions of dollars to play their favorite sport. They love it and would play for free however they are smart enough to know this and send out an agent to represent them and get millions because of it.

How many of you have very low prices for your grooms compared to the rest of us? When I see groomers at the shows I ask "How much do you get for a Hand-Scissor Mini Poodle. When I hear $25-$35 I cringe. I tell them I get $50 which is not high and they say, "Where do you live?" like it matters.,

I tell the I live in "The Land of Making Money" where do you live "In the Land of Giving It Away?" Start high you can always give a discount or drop your prices raising them is harder. If you are going to be able to afford employees you need to have a decent income to do it. How can you pay for employees when you hardly can pay for yourself because your prices are so low?

A good salary with the promise of (participation or sharing in) benifits in 90 days and possible profit sharing is the way to go. But picking the right employee is just as important. If you hire a "single" transient young person they are here today and gone tomorrow.

Try and find a more mature young person that loves pets who is married with house payments and car payments who has to work everyday. Keep them interested by training them to do more. You are not training your competition you are training your replacement, manager, second groomer, etc.

Just my opinion from many years of trial and error.

Chuck

[AuntieM]

Dear ejmj30,

We price our grooms as if we were the customer and were looking for a groomer. We develope our employee wage and comission like we are the ones looking for the job. We are our worst enimies.

Just think about that Baseball, Basketball, or Football player who recieves millions of dollars to play their favorite sport. They love it and would play for free however they are smart enough to know this and send out an agent to represent them and get millions because of it.

How many of you have very low prices for your grooms compared to the rest of us? When I see groomers at the shows I ask "How much do you get for a Hand-Scissor Mini Poodle. When I hear $25-$35 I cringe. I tell them I get $50 which is not high and they say, "Where do you live?" like it matters.,

I tell the I live in "The Land of Making Money" where do you live "In the Land of Giving It Away?" Start high you can always give a discount or drop your prices raising them is harder. If you are going to be able to afford employees you need to have a decent income to do it. How can you pay for employees when you hardly can pay for yourself because your prices are so low?

A good salary with the promise of (participation or sharing in) benifits in 90 days and possible profit sharing is the way to go. But picking the right employee is just as important. If you hire a "single" transient young person they are here today and gone tomorrow.

Try and find a more mature young person that loves pets who is married with house payments and car payments who has to work everyday. Keep them interested by training them to do more. You are not training your competition you are training your replacement, manager, second groomer, etc.

Just my opinion from many years of trial and error.

Chuck

Chuck, I totally agree with everything you said EXCEPT for your second to last paragraph, and I am so glad my new employer didn't read it (or think that way) before hiring me.LOL
I just started a new job this week, I'm a mature "mature" person(I'm 59), single, live in an apartment, and don't have a car payment. However, I do love pets, and definitely have to work every day. I also have over 20 years of experience, and can pretty much handle any pet, large or small, good or bad.
I was at my last job over 5 years, and unless something unforseen happens, am perfectly willing to stay at this job until I retire. I don't consider myself a "diva" or a "prima donna", I keep up on all the latest info in the grooming world, and have no desire to soak up everything I can from my current employer so I can leave in a year or two to start my own business. BTDT.
Maybe I'm the only one out there like this, but I doubt it.

[Chuck]

You are not over the hill yet!

Dear Auntie M,

I am always looking for good groomers and I would have hired you in a flash. You have been there and done that. No BS about you. The key word was "Mature" as opposed to imature dosn't matter young or older.

What I ment was a "Stable" person that is not going anywhere. Being married and haveing debts to pay off makes one stable and long term, not always but mostly.

You could be single and doing what you want and be stable. Just a concept. I did not mean to insult or demean. Just giving food for thought. So I guess what I ment to say was that it is not only what you pay but who you hire and how you keep them interested and long term.

By the way if anyone is in the southern NJ area and is looking for a great place to work please get in touch with me.

Thanks,

Chuck

[AuntieM]

You've got that right!

Thanks Chuck, no offense taken. I just wanted to comment, because just a few days ago, I had a conversation with my sister, in which I was telling her how grateful I was to be in a profession where experience counts for something. I have a neighbor who was laid off two years ago from her corporate position, due to downsizing, and has not been able to find another job in her field, she's now working part time at our local grocery store, has exhausted her 401K and her savings, and is planning on taking her Social Security early this year at the age of 62. Her opinion is that companies would rather hire some young hotshot that they can pay a lesser salary to, than someone with more experience that they'd have to pay more. I think she's right. Too bad she doesnt like dogs .
I love gooming, and I'm pretty sure I've got a few good years left in me yet! What's that quote I've seen on the boards...." Old groomers never die, they just go at a slower clip" I can still turn out 10-12 dogs a day if I have to, although I sure wouldn't want to do it every day.