What It's Really Like To Run A Mobile Grooming Business 🚐
Watch the replay from our second Mobile Grooming Summit workshop with Tess Oliver
Happy Friday Daily Groomers!
This past Monday we hosted our second session of the Mobile Grooming Summit alongside Wag’N Tails…
…and honestly, there were so many moments when the audience would hurry to write things down.
Our guest Tess Oliver has pretty much seen every version of mobile grooming possible.
She’s:
- groomed out of an apartment
- started with a plastic tub from Amazon
- operated a used van
- bought new vans
- run big vans
- run smaller vans
- scaled to multiple vans with employees
- downsized back to one van
- hired assistants
- managed breakdowns
- financed vans multiple different ways
- and built a fully booked maintenance grooming (every 1-4 weeks) business that hasn’t taken new clients since 2020.
That’s what made this workshop interesting.
Most mobile grooming advice online comes from people who’ve only experienced one version of the business.
Tess has done almost all of them.
One of the biggest takeaways from the workshop was hearing how much her perspective changed over time.
At one point she thought scaling multiple vans was the obvious path.
Then she realized: more vans created more stress, more management headaches, more vehicle problems, and less enjoyment.
So she rebuilt her business around:
- one van
- recurring maintenance clients
- hourly pricing
- assistants
- operational efficiency
- and strict scheduling systems
The result?
A business that’s:
- fully booked
- highly profitable
- lower stress
- and built around the lifestyle she actually wants.
One section people REALLY locked into was her pricing model.
Tess charges hourly pricing for every dog.
Not breed pricing.
Not size pricing.
Not “doodle pricing.”
Hourly.
She broke down exactly how she calculated her rate which you gotta hear!
She also explained:
- how she structures multi-dog households
- why assistants dramatically improve profitability
- how maintenance schedules eliminate difficult dogs
- why she schedules clients for the full year
- and what she’d do differently buying her first van.
There was also a super interesting section comparing van types and manufacturers after operating both extensively over the years.
🎥 Missed The Workshop?
We put together:
- the full replay
- AND a detailed workshop recap + Q&A guide
The guide pulls together the quick hitting notes from the session
If you’re:
- considering going mobile
- currently operating one van
- thinking about scaling
- trying to improve profitability
- or just trying to understand what mobile grooming ACTUALLY looks like operationally…
…it’s absolutely worth going through.
👉 Watch the replay here: What It’s Really Like Running A Mobile Grooming Business
Also, check out the Q&A guide we put together from the event as well!
🚐 Final Session: The Roadmap to Going Mobile: How to Start, Launch, and Grow Your First Van - June 1
Our final workshop in the START Series is going to be a really good one.
The Roadmap to Going Mobile: How to Start, Launch, and Grow Your First Van
Our guest Bailey Hope is going to focus heavily on the early realities of mobile grooming:
- what the first few years actually feel like
- what mistakes to avoid
- financing decisions
- operations
- client growth
- and the day-to-day reality behind the Instagram version of mobile grooming
👉 RSVP for the June 1 workshop here:
Remember these events in are completely free to join but make sure to RSVP early since Zoom has a limit and we want you to get your questions answered live.
These workshops have been awesome because the conversations are all questions from the audience.
The chats at the workshops are buzzing…. just groomers sharing what’s actually worked for them.
Hope to see you there.
Enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend holiday. Stay safe!
Alex
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