Do you have a closed book mindset? How this can harm your Dog Grooming Business.

How a full diary can cost you money

Having run my Facebook group now for nearly a year a common comment I see about is “I have closed my books”

So to me this means that the Groomer in question is up to capacity and can no longer take on any new customers. But what does that mean for the business and income?

Well firstly I believe once people find a Groomer they like and trust they will stay with that Groomer for the foreseeable, so they are maybe a customer with you many years.

If you service 1000 clients every year and your average price is £35 you will turn over £35,000 a year.

Now how brave are you with your price increases? Lets say you add £2 to your prices this year taking your average price to £37. Your now going to turn over £37,000 for the year.

BUT HOW MUCH MORE IS IT COSTING YOU TO OPERATE AND LIVE? 

Now lets look at your mindset. You have closed your books; your too busy and just can’t take on any more dogs or cats. So each time the phone rings with a new enquiry you apologise and say you are not taking any more on and recommend someone else nearby.

How do we resolve this issue?

We need to make some space don’t we? Firstly, we can put through a larger price increase to our existing customers (I am sure your tummy just did a summersault)

Well by putting through a larger increase we will probably lose some customers. However, this is good. These are the price driven customers not the clients that we desire.

Next, we need to start talking to new people and giving them a higher price for our services. These people have never used your services before and therefore have not had exposure to your prices before. These new customers will start to replace the ones who have left due to the price increase.

You can even charge the new customers more than your existing customers. Talking to new customers enables us to test our prices. But you cant give up on the first rejection. There must be a constant no from new customers before you give up on the higher price.

If you get a consistent YES then push the price up again!

Now another way you can move away from your closed book mindset is to expand. Why are you doing all the dog washing and prep work. Why not consider an apprentice? This is a cost-effective way to get an employee into your business.

This will free up more time in your diary as you will have a helper, and this means there will be space for new clients which you can test your higher prices on.

I want you to be rewarded for the hard work that you do. We are going through a time where the cost of living is going up and if we don’t open up our mindset you are going to be earning less year after year and will start resenting your business.

If you need help with your business why not look at my 121 mentorship. You can book a call in here. 

Or have a look at my mentorship page https://petpassiontoprofit.com/one-to-one/