Fleet of Vans

[Guest]

Do any of you have more than 1 vehicle? How do you work the set-up? Do you have one port-of-call and all vehicles are stored there or do you allow your employees to take it home? Who sets up the appointments, answer calls, etc?

[Kim in SD]

As long as your not going to open up around here..lol..
I have only one vehicle, just opened up this yr. But, before this I used to work for someone that had 6vans and 2 buses. She had a "yard" for parking the vehicles, centrally located, a building with a drop safe fax machine and laundry room. Everyone returned the vehicles did a daily report and dropped the money, she would come once a week and pick up drops. We got 50%. She set up all the appointments and faxed us a copy each day. Hope this helps some.

[furrybestjob]

I don't have more than one van, but I used to work for someone who did. Her vans were kept right at her house, along with everything else. She used standard appointment books and each employee had their own. At the end of the day we were responsible for emptying the vacuum and garbage, cleaning up the van, bringing in the wet towels to throw in the was and set up the heaters in the winter. She returned all the calls and set up all the appointments.

[kari]

Hi I currently have two vans.I rent one out to my sister in law.We share in the phone work.She sets up her own scedule and hours.I park them at my home.

[bow_wow_wheels]

I don't have a fleet and really don't want one because of the headaches involved. I do know several people who do have more than one van on the road. Most of the smaller operations keep the vans at their house; the bigger operations have to find commercial space to park because the yard got too small The phone is central to the owner and the owner makes the appointments for the smaller operations. The bigger ones have everything from a single receptionist with a cell phone and appointment books to a call center where all appointments are made. The bigger operations also have someone on staff to clean and resupply the vans at night and keep the exterior washed and waxed. Why not come to Atlanta in March for the Atlanta Pet Fair? There will be a lot of mobile operators there from single van operations to large scale, big city operations and all the variations in between

[katydid]

Two trucks here, hubby's and mine. We work different schedules and hours. The trucks are kept here at home and we share the afterwork jobs.

I think a multiple truck unrelated employee situation would be best served by the business owner scheduling appts, taking in and depositing the take every day and having possession of the trucks overnight.

[Gracy Rose]

Fleet

I am planning on coming to Atlanta. My reason is... we opened our mobile buz in Sept. and we are now booked and people are having to book appt. weeks out. Mobile has such a higher profit margin than my salons.

[Pawsitively Purrfect]

[QUOTE=bow_wow_wheels;5707]I don't have a fleet and really don't want one because of the headaches involved.QUOTE]

My thoughts exactly. Why not refer some of those clients to someone new starting out in mobile grooming. It's nice to give back once you have reached sucess. Good Karma and all that. I've given away some clients when I was overbooked, to a few girls I know and I can tell you how nice it is to hear from them later and know how much they appreciate the opportunity to get their feet wet like we once did. Plenty of pets to go around.

[Gracy Rose]

fleet

Paws, you are CORRECT there are plenty of pets to go around. I don't feel as though it is greedy to have more than one van and I refer to other Mobile groomers frequently especially since we have a small area we cover. The area in which I live has few mobile groomers and a LARGE number of residents.

I understand those who don't want the headache but some of find it enjoyable... I am one of those crazy people:-)

Lastly, concerning the word success, I don't measure my success by how large my business is but by the impression I leave on others.

[Mary Pawpins]

Paws, I don't find Gracys question to be unacceptable. If you truly feel that there are plenty of pets to go around then why not encourage instead of tear down?

[kari]

Hi I agree with you why not get two vans if you can afford them and don't mind the extra stress.It's definitely not for everyone it has been a learning exsperience.I do continue to refer dogs to other groomers if I can't accomadate them.I'm sure a lot of mobiles are just happy having one van.I saw the oppertunity and took it.I will see how things go.I know of one lady at the Burbank show who is running three vans and she does not groom anymore.I think that is sure something.I would love to only work when I want to a few days a week would be nice.

[HoundLover]

more than one business

personally i feel it is up to the owner of the business if they want to own/operate more than one mobile business/salon. yes there are plenty of pets to go around...but sometimes people wish to expand their salon into another town/state/city etc...i know my boss wants to expand her business and have someone else run it under her shop name. or do a totally diffrent concept of the business. ie...she owns a shop. 1 groomer 1 bather. soon there will be 2 groomers and a bather (i will be the other groomer). she wants to expand and open another shop that will offer specifically do it yourself dog wash. this is a way to expand her business and offer a totally diffrent aspect of the business.
this is just my honest two cents worth.
Hound

[bluebonbon]

Adding Second Van

My grandson is going to work one van part-time while he goes to college. I will be in the other van. He has built up his own client list of bath only big dogs and he is ready to get on his own. I like to do small easy to handle groom dogs.

[pawsforthought]

Gracy Rose, I think you are amazing! I would love to visit one of your operations. What a business women! If you would like to add teaching a seminar on how to become an over-achiever in this industry I will sign up.
I recommend your tag-line for the title.
What would make me nervous about a fleet of Mobiles is that it is the one type of setup that seems so easy for an employee to steal your customers.

[Gracy Rose]

Paws, you are VERY correct. This is where control comes into play. I think that I will still talk to each client and make the appoiuntments. We all know that the first contact is the contact they remember. I also think loyalty and creating Employee ownership is imperative.