Getting ready to go mobile...am I forgetting anything important??

[Shasti333]

I am pretty excited (and nervous!) since I am about to take the leap from a steady income working at a P-store as a groomer to buying a van and trying to make it on my own as a mobile groomer. The van I am in the process of buying (just waiting on the loan to go through) is an old 1977 Ford Gruumen Step Van that has been rebuilt and outfitted for grooming. Supposedly the motor is rebuilt, transmission rebuilt, new brakes, new tires, new paint...it looks great and I'm taking it to the mechanics for a good check before hopefully getting the paperwork all signed and taking it home next week.

Long winded intro, but down to my actual question...what should I be budgeting for monthly for operating expenses? I know what my loan payment will be, I have an insurance quote (auto and business, including animal coverage) from Gibson Governers, and I have a rough estimate of my monthly shampoo/supplies cost, and a ballpark for gas. I've also got a marketing budget, for business cards, fliers/brochures, and a small website. Is there anything I'm leaving out?

My gas and supplies figues are really just best guesses on my part...they will vary a lot depending on how many dogs and how spread out they are...but it would be a great help if anyone/everyone could chime in with expenses I haven't thought of, or even rough estimates of their own monthly costs for gas, and monthly costs for supplies....thanks in advance for the help!! -Amber p.s. I'll be using a recirculating shampoo bathing system if that helps as far as shampoo costs go...

[Mamabearwith2]

Well...

You probably will need to put some money away for the unexpected repairs like your generator, oil and air/fuel filter changes, tires, ect. Also, you won't be needing a monthly expense for shampoo even if you don't have a recirc. Set alside $ for your quarterly taxes. Much easier to pay quarterly. Your tax person can help you with that.

[celebpet]

You should get go mobile and succeed and read it closely and make notes. You can read it in about 4 hours, so read it about 4 times.

You will have added expenses at home, such as higher water and sewage bill. Additional electric, especially if you live in a cold climate because you will have to run space heaters. You should also budget in a monthly expense for repairs even if you don't use it, continue to build up that fund until it reaches a 1000 and hold it on the side.

You will also have added laundry expense at home, ie detergents, stain remover, etc since you will have to wash and dry towels every night, plus grooming apparell. I use shamwows mainly because you just wash them, and they will air dry overnight. You don't use softener with them either.

Business Licenses, Policy/grooming agreement forms, Client Cards, Appointment book/system. Cellphone and lots of additional minutes. I would also recommend the cheapest phone you can live with, I have busted the screen out of my $600 touch screen phone since april of last year when I started grooming. I fixed it myself, but the screen is $60 a pop. I purchased a unlocked smartphone off of ebay for $70. It has been through the ringer and still works.

Thank you cards, doggie treat/gift bags. I recently started making my own dog biscuits and use cookie cutters to match the season. I just made a batch of heart shaped biscuits for valentines day.

Those are just a few of my thoughts.

[wet noze]

The thing that jumped out at me was electronics. A GPS is really important. It will save you tons of time and paper printing put maps. You can buy a refurbished one on ebay if you're on a tight budget. A PDA comes in handy too. I also have a small hard drive that I back up all my information just in case. Whatever your budget is add another 25%. That how it always seems to go. Start up costs always run higher then you might think because you need everything. I know these would not be monthly expenses but they are something you need to consider.

Thank you for recommending my book celebpet. I did want to mention it but I don't like to be pesky. I think it will really help you. Many groomers here have it and they like it. You want to start the business out right because you don't want to be treading water. The book has lots of things in there you didn't know you needed to know. lol I have gotten a lot of email from groomers who have the book and they read it over and over. Many use a highlighter and take notes. It makes me so happy!

Good luck shasti with your new business. It's so exciting!!!!! I think this is a good time to go mobile. The economy seems to be on the uphill climb.

[mylady]

Yes, get Ellens book! I went mobile with an older grooming van as well, and yes, she has seen my mechanic a fair share of times! She also checked out perfectly by two mechanics when I bought her, so just have an emergency fund set aside for any repairs you may run into.
What about a cell phone? That's all I use for my business. If you decide to list that in the phone book, that will be an extra expense as well. i use Show Seasons shampoo and a recirc and in the beginning, when things were slow, 4 gallons of shampoo lasted me a year, but I am also part time. I now go through about 12 gallons per year with me and my employee, though her grooming part is growing and will probably increase the amount of supplies I will need. Don't forget sharpening and maintenance for your equipment in your budget.
I have a spread sheet that I have shared with others. Hopefully it was helpful to them as it was for me and I'd be happy to share it with you if you'd like to PM me your email. It helped me not only estimate my costs but figure out how much it would cost me to run my rig and how many dogs I would need to cover costs.
If you will have a loan payment, of course make sure that's in there as well.
My biggest suggestion is to write yourself a business plan, if you haven't, just so you have a plan of where you want your business to go. Doesn't mean it will follow it to a T but it will help you set goals and think of things you may not have.
In the begining, don't forget you're going to need to get the van registered, inspected (I'm assuming), taxes (if applicable) to DMV, etc.
I'm thinking as I'm typing so please disregard the jumbled mess this post has become! OH, graphics, you HAVE to budget for graphics on your van. There are a lot of options out there for all different kinds of budgets. You can get cut vinyl that you can apply yourself from sign shops or even Ebay pretty cheap, have someone do them all for you, do a wrap, etc. AS long as you make sure your graphics stand out, they are your best advertisement. I spent $1000 on mine because I HAD to get a wrap, well, a 1/2 wrap. Previous owner had painted, with a PAINT BRUSH on the van and it was the only way to cover it up without repainting the whole thing.
And Ellen is SOOO right about the GPS. I didn't have one in the beginning and then one of the kindest groomers I have ever had the pleasure to know, gave me one as a gift. OMG< it makes life SO much simpler!
if I think of anything else, I'm sure I'll post some more LOL

[Shasti333]

Thanks for the tips! I am trying to decide between getting a GPS for the van off of e-bay, or trying to figure out a way to mount my laptop in the van and getting GPS software for it. Does anyone else have laptops mounted in the cabs of their vans? Oh, and I can't wait for the book...I ordered a copy last week and am waiting for it to arrive, I've heard good things about it on this forum and on others : ) I was also thinking about taking treat bags to all the local vets offices with a business card or brochure attached to the bags to try to get the ball rolling...I'm not sure how long it will take me to get clients, but I'm guessig the first few months will be slow going. Any other creative low-budget advertising ideas/suggestions?

[mylady]

good advertising that has worked for me.

Well, Craigslist is nice in my area. Got very few price shoppers from there and some great clients, but have found that CL varies from area to area.

Lots of free sites to list on. Yelp, findagroomer, local, superpages, merchant something (can't remember now), etc

hairstylists have been my best advertisers word of mouth wise. I dropped off some cards at my hair salon, who happen to have a Cav in house, and the used me once and now hand my cards out to anyone that mentions they have a dog! (and I still groom the salon Cav LOL) My first client was also a hair stylist and after grooming her Shih Tzu she asked for a whole stack of cards and did the same thing.
My website in the beginning brought me about 70% of my clients. Make sure you have your keywords and metatags done properly so your site comes up easily on the search engines.
Call some of the local papers and tell them about your new business and ask if they'd like to do an article. I had two or three written about mine in the beginning and it was great.
If there are other mobiles in your area make contact. Almost all in my area were full and turning people away, so once they found I was available they started referring people to me. And many lowered weight limits and since I do the larger dogs (up to 70 pounds) some have referred the bigger dogs to me as well. It's great. I have found within the mobile groomers in my area there is a lot less feeling of competition, but there are only about 5 of us compared to the MANY salons out there.

[Jenneversage64]

The only thing I can advise is this:

Be sure you always have an extra set of keys on your person in case you lock yourself out of the rig. I have done it more than once with and without an dog inside. But I have an extra set of keys available, so I am never really locked out. It may be obvious, but eventually you will lock yourself out. Be prepared in advance.

[Smart-n-Pretty]

Definitely get Elin's book.

[Mamabearwith2]

Be sure you always have an extra set of keys on your person in case you lock yourself out of the rig. I have done it more than once with and without an dog inside. But I have an extra set of keys available, so I am never really locked out. It may be obvious, but eventually you will lock yourself out. Be prepared in advance.

Good one! I locked myself out so many times when I first started, I got to know the tow truck driver who bailed me out so good, I had his wife and kids' names memorized!

[groominshuman]

Good luck, with a mobile at that age any number of things could go wrong at any time. Generator issues will be the biggest and next would be the engine of the mobile. If either go down your day goes with it. It is hard to say how much to budget for monthly, could be 0 to 1000.

[Smart-n-Pretty]

You can get a GPS at Target for $100. New & under guarantee.

[kats_melody]

Thanks for the tips! I am trying to decide between getting a GPS for the van off of e-bay, or trying to figure out a way to mount my laptop in the van and getting GPS software for it. Does anyone else have laptops mounted in the cabs of their vans?

We do. We use the same mount that is used in police vehicles. Ram Mount has a mount for nearly every vehicle and every piece of equipment. Our laptop and our printer are on the Ram Mount. Our laptop uses Microsoft Streets and Trips, it comes with a USB GPS receiver and costs about $60 at Staples.

Laura

[celebpet]

One more thing........Website. Don't forget about this. In todays world if you are a business and don't have a website you are missing out. I have picked up a half dozen customers who found my website over the last 4 months.

[kats_melody]

Web site and listings on all of the free YP online sites

YES! Have a web site made, show off some of your work, list your services, where you service, your policies, even a pricing guide.

Have the proper meta tags inserted in the web site code so the search engines can seek you out.

List your business on Yellow Page Online listings like yellowbook.com, dexknows.com. Google Local Business, Yahoo, etc. Lots of people find you through a web search.

Our business leads come from:

Van graphics
Internet web site and search engines
Yellow Page ad
Word of Mouth