mobile working at a vet

[diamienono]

Do any of you mobile park at a vet and do appts. there?

[Aussheplady]

mobile workin at vet location

I did at first a couple days a week. I hated it. People would not show up, and I would be stuck there with nothing to do until the next appointment showed up. It is great to work with your vet, but you can do so without actually "working" at their location. It might be worth it a few thimes though if the vet is not aware of the quality of grooming you offer in order to encourage them to refer people to you. You might also consider offering a free groom to the vet to show the quality of your grooming.
I had been grooming my vets dogs for 3 years before I went mobile so she had no problem in referring people to me at all.

[OnTheSpot]

I have been parking at the local vet's office since I started my mobile business but January will be my last month. I don't charge the "convenience fee", just the groom and I have to pay cage rent to the vet clinic. I quit the vet's office to start my mobile business and it was very nice of them to let me still groom there. In the beginning I was swamped with my clients, but then the clinic hired a new groomer part time and I'm sure a lot of my clients go to her now. I am quitting because I don't make very much by parking there and it's a pain because people are so used to coming to pick up there dogs when ever they feel like it and I will sometimes be stuck there waiting to get paid. I just didn't like working in the parking lot, but it helped pay the bills in the beginning. I think it can be good in the beginning to build up a business but it just isn't for me long term.

[diamienono]

How would I go about aproaching a vet to do this.

[PAWS]

Go to one that doesn't offer grooming and introduce yourself. Ask if it is a service that would be convenient for their clients. You will likely have to pay some sort of cage use fee, maybe even have to clean them yourself?? I would not charge any less (or not much less), because you would have to pay the clinic something besides your own overhead, but just treat the pets very well and use really top quality products. If they can pick up as soon as the pet is done, then you are ahead of the average shop because they don't sit in a cage all day...think of the way Petsomethings add an "express groom" fee. You still don't use cage dryers, etc, etc, so really, they just are paying for top quality!

[Gracy Rose]

I do for their boarding dogs only, not if they are at the vet. It was actually my vets idea, since then another vet who had received good reviews on us has asked us to help him as well.

[Meesh]

I have done it once a week since I started mobile, just over two and a half years. It's not usually my most profitable day, but I get other bennies, such as a steep discount on my own vet bills. Recently had to put down our elderly cat after a long run of illness (diabetes, kidney failure) and we still have a 14 year old dog as well as a rescued Beagle who is between 4 & 5 and a rescued puppy, 10 mos. so the discount helps a lot.

It is also good for when I get really backed up with my mobile clients and get calls that I cannot fit in for a few weeks. I don't want to lose the potential client since people always move and/or elderly dogs pass on, so I can have them start with me at the vet clinic and then do their next appt mobile.

It's nice having "coworkers" on occasion anf having a holiday party to go to and all.

They book my appts and keep 20%, I get paid through the clinic's payroll company and it's 1099 income.

The vet approached me, he called after he saw my ad running before I even picked up the van. I wasn't even sure I wanted to do it but I am glad I did.

[PAWS]

Meesh...

i read about this on another post. do you charge the same or less? do the dogs stay all day or go home as finished?

[Meesh]

I charge the same, although I am quicker to tack on HTH fees since the dogs I get there are usually AWFUL and the type I have tended to weed out from my mobile biz. And they tend to come in at longer intervals then I like seeing them so I make it clear to the owner that it will be, for example, $75 dollars if brought in 6-8 weeks, $80 dollars for 8-10 weeks, and who knows how much if over three months. That has gotten quite a few people to come in more regularly.

As far as when the dogs go home, some people have to drop off in the morning and pick up in the afternoon. The techs are good about walking the dogs after I leave and/or cleaning them up if accidents should occur. I also call people to let them know I am bringing their dog back into the clinic so they can pick up when they are ready.

Another benefit I just discovered is I can reschedule some of todays grooms that got iced out for Thursday. I called the clinic and so far they only had 4 small dogs on the schedule so I can fit in three of today's dogs that got snowed out. I was only working a half day anyway because I am coming due for my 450 hr genset service. That had to get rescheduled as well but looking ahead I have a slow-ish week mid-February so I can open an afternoon there fairly easily. (My gen place has no enclosed area for a van my size so winter maintenance depends on the weather!).

[Kim in SD]

Have you contacted the vets that don't offer grooming services already? Like when you first started? I went to every vet that didn't do grooming and introduced myself, left colorful brochures with before and after pictures, and cards. As far as offering services, like parking there and grooming, I don't know. I never really thought it would go over well because the animals are sick, have stiches etc. Do you know anyone thats good w/computers? And Yahoo has a website deal for like 10 bucks a month, its easy to do, if you can grasp this board, you could do it. It doesn't have to be much, make it simple, like a brochure. You need a website since u missed the YP. That helps alot.

[luckydog]

Grooming at vets

I only groom the pets of the staff at my vets and this makes my van very visible. I don't charge the service charge though just as a thanks for all the referrals I get from them. I have a full color brochure with photos of the van and my best grooms prominently displayed on their front counter. This gets me plenty of clients. I wouldn't want to groom there all day putting dogs in kennels. The whole idea behind the mobile is faster grooms without stays in a kennel--this is what the clients are willing to pay more money for. I'm willing to slowly build up the clientele to get the ones I really want to groom rather than dropping the price.