Today I did 6 grooms (normally don't work Tuesdays but was gone all last week to help my daughter with our new grandson, so I have to make up missed grooms), and didn't make a cent.
When we opened 10 years ago we started offering deep discounts (9 grooms, 10th free) to bring people in because we are in a small town and were unknown to the people in the area. It worked, but too well. We were seriously trying to quietly discontinue it about 3 years ago, but the competition that moved in lowered their prices so drastically that we had to keep the discount. They still do an average small dog full groom for $20, newfies for $30. We're about double that.
We knew this would happen sooner or later: of the 6 grooms today, 4 were free. The income from the other 2 grooms paid for our kennel assistant's wages and that was it.
It really is starting to impact the bottom line. Not sure what the solution is, but I think we'll try doing a half price 10th groom and see how many customers we lose. Oh, and we haven't raised prices in 2 years.
This is just a warning to others to be careful about what type of discounts you offer. Truthfully, we thought it would be a good idea...it wasn't. I don't want others to make the same mistake.
When we opened 10 years ago we started offering deep discounts (9 grooms, 10th free) to bring people in because we are in a small town and were unknown to the people in the area. It worked, but too well. We were seriously trying to quietly discontinue it about 3 years ago, but the competition that moved in lowered their prices so drastically that we had to keep the discount. They still do an average small dog full groom for $20, newfies for $30. We're about double that.
We knew this would happen sooner or later: of the 6 grooms today, 4 were free. The income from the other 2 grooms paid for our kennel assistant's wages and that was it.
It really is starting to impact the bottom line. Not sure what the solution is, but I think we'll try doing a half price 10th groom and see how many customers we lose. Oh, and we haven't raised prices in 2 years.
This is just a warning to others to be careful about what type of discounts you offer. Truthfully, we thought it would be a good idea...it wasn't. I don't want others to make the same mistake.
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