Not Yet Mobile

[petmom]

Hi, Just introduced myself on the newbie forum. As this title indicates, I am not yet mobile and researching all avenues before I do so. I am in contact with a few conversion companies. Do any of you have favorites? I'm leaning toward a trailer instead of a van. I'd love to have a van, but I'm leery of wear and tear, breakdown, etc. Also, does anyone have a favorite insurance co?

Mobile grooming is very new to this area, but there are a couple. I live in the country near larger towns and I am looking to expand my home-based grooming business and go mobile. I guess I just want to get all my ducks in a row financially before I get into debt. Does anyone have any preferences to owning/leasing, new/used. Any advice, help, etc. would be greatly appreciated.

One more thing, if anyone can help me by telling me how to convince my husband that the wear/tear on a vehicle is worth it if I can double or even triple my income, especially in this economy, that would be great too.

Thanks for having me.

[charlieB]

My suggestion is if you are going to get a used van, you want to make sure the van is under warranty or you, your husband or someone you know know how to fix commercial vehicles. I recently had a problem with my Sprinter and the closet dealer that deals with the warranty is about 45 minutes away. It would also have been very expensive repairs had I not have a warranty for the engine. If your husband doesn't know much about mechanical stuff, he may not like your mobile idea. My husband still complains about it everyday. He thinks I should eventually open a shop and hire more people to help. He thinks mobile is more work and we don't even park our van outside. Also, if you can find a garage or warehouse to park your van or trailer and you can afford it, you should do that. It save a lot of headache for me. I don't have to worry about everything freezes up at night.

[CurbsideCuties]

I have a trailer, and as many of my past post state... I love it! Mine is a Ambers Mobile Pet Salon.... check out her website, they are offering a big discount to anyone interested in one and having it delivered to Hershey. And NO I DO NOT WORK for Amber... I just really love my trailer!

[wet noze]

Start Reading Up

It might be a good idea and go do a "search" for old threads. There's tons of information there. That's what I did before I went mobile and it was a tremendous help. I read till I was blue in the face. lol

[mylady]

If you are able to, try to get to a show where they will have vans and trailers on display. I originally was planning on a trailer but went with a van because of the amount of snow and how hilly my area is. And I have a few clients where a trailer would not fit in their drive and there is no safe place to park close to them. Not many, but a few. Plus I am too chicken to tow anything and I did not have enough room in my driveway. So I bought a used van, she'll be turning 21 this year LOL. She's given me some problems but she got me started and still cost me less than what a new van payment would have been over the past two years. She was a private conversion and I must say, it was done very well. I haven't really had any problems at all with the grooming area of the van, just mechanical issues with the vehicle. For it's age, I'm impressed at how well it has held up in the grooming area.
If I could buy any conversion it would be a Hanvey. I just really like their set up and know Curtis Hanvey to be a great person (not saying the owners of the others companies aren't, just don't have any personal experience with them )who stands by his products.
A friend of mine is converting a shuttle bus for me right now. Hoping to retire my old gal soon.

[Hello Kitty FTW]

There's also House call.

Some of us on here do House call grooming as either a step towards a grooming van, or as a way to service inhome without any worries of a van. I groom out of my home on some days, then do house call on others and it's a great way for me to get out of the house

I would also do as Mylady suggested and visit a groomer show. There's almost always a gazillion mobile trailers out for display, and you can see for yourself what you like and don't like.

Most of us on here go to Gibson Governor's Insurance, though some of us have private insurance cover our vehicles, too.

Get Wet Noze's book, and get Jodi Murphy's 2 DVDs on mobile grooming also. They focus on routing and some of the other things you don't think of when getting into this aspect of grooming.