rocshani Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 I'm after any advice on starting up a grooming practice at a vets. I've only ever worked in salons or for myself and have no idea on how this arrangement would work. Would you supply all your equipment ,rates of pay and any pros or cons. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
becks Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 What are the vets offering? Have you asked them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocshani Posted October 6, 2012 Author Share Posted October 6, 2012 What are the vets offering? Have you asked them? This is purely hypothetical at this stage, just wanted to get some info from those who have knowledge on this subject. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shantiah Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 I have worked for several different vets. First was some 20 odd years ago. I was paid a straight wage and thye provided everything Second was 15yrs ago. I owned the business and rented the premises off them. Everything in it was mine but htey provided an after hours drop off/;pick up service Third is my current job. I am employed as a subcontractor. Vet provides premises, cages, dryers, clippers, blades etc ( although some stuff is my own) He also provided maintenance on all equipment incl sharpening and all utility bills. Pay has changed several times over the past few years. Started off as wage, has also been hourly rate and is currently 50% of all grooms. He sets the price of all services and decided when there will be a rate change, although I have had a fair amount of input into pricing. It really depends on the vet you are working for / in conjunction with. I have found in general most vets tend to skew things financially in their interest but if you are lucky you will find one you can negotiate with Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crisovar Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 Each Vet Practice has a different set up in mind, you need to have some lengthy discussions and reach an arrangement that suits you both. Personally I run my own business from their premises and it works exceptionally well for us both. Both businesses enhance each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocshani Posted October 7, 2012 Author Share Posted October 7, 2012 Thanks for your input Shantiah and Crisovar , after running my own business for over 12 years I like being in control of what goes on. If this does happen I guess some longs talks are to occur . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crisovar Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 I couldn't go back to working for someone else. I have total control of my appointments, pricing, etc and am lucky that I work in an environment that allows me to do so, and they respect that I am the Groomer and I know my job. Good Luck, I hope you can sort it so it works as well for you :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clyde Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 (edited) The hardest thing I found working at a vet was not booking the dogs in myself. I like to speak to the client myself to gauge how long it will be, I also like to speak to the client at drop off to find out exactly what they want. I found this very frustrating and reception would often over book and not get a clear idea of what the owner wanted. Edited October 7, 2012 by Clyde Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WreckitWhippet Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 I'd never do it again. Limited control over the appointments and if you didn't get to see and assess the dog first hand you could find yourself stuck with a matted to the skin 4 hours job and over booked. You can also find yourself limited by their opening hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smooch Posted October 8, 2012 Share Posted October 8, 2012 My daughter works for a vet as a vet nurse 3 & 1/2 days and as a groomer 2 days. She is on wages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Everythings Shiny Posted October 8, 2012 Share Posted October 8, 2012 My daughter works for a vet as a vet nurse 3 & 1/2 days and as a groomer 2 days. She is on wages. That's me :) At the company I work for I've been asked to take on an extra day a week specifically as a groomer (my other grooming days contain nursing as well). I would get 55% of the grooming fee (including sedation etc) which for me would work well as I can pump out a decent number a day to make it worth my while. Here the grooming nurse for the day recieves all the grooms in the morning and anyone can book in the amount of grooms for the day. I've always said how many I'm happy to do a day and the others a pretty good at following that. If you were to work in with a vet, talk to that specific vet about what you would like/expect and go from there. That's what I have done and it has worked well. Our receptionists used to admit grooming dogs and sometimes it just didn't work. The receptionists do bring out my regular dogs if it is a "SALT" clip (Same as last time) to help me out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crisovar Posted October 8, 2012 Share Posted October 8, 2012 I have always handled my own appointments, the dogs are all greeted by me and mostly discharged by me. As I said earlier I run my own business from Vet premises, and it works wonderfully well, the opening hours do not worry me, I no longer groom of a weekend except for a few saturdays leading up to Xmas. Finding a Vet who can see the benefits of having a Groomer available and does not want to control it is not impossible I have Groomer friends who have the same arrangement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thung Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 Crisovar, may I know what kind of arrangement you have with your vet? Do you pay a weekly rent or give a percentage of your earnings? If you don't mind me asking... What about if a client is not happy about a groom? Does the vet interfere with that at all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crisovar Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 I simply rent my space. The Vets do not interfere in my business at all, they are happy to stick to what they do best and leave the Grooming to me. Having a Groomer on site is beneficial to them, I also do the cat grooms and the tick shave downs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Daisy Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 I simply rent my space. The Vets do not interfere in my business at all, they are happy to stick to what they do best and leave the Grooming to me. Having a Groomer on site is beneficial to them, I also do the cat grooms and the tick shave downs. This is what I did when I moved to Brisbane from Sydney. I started in the local vets, they gave out my business cards and the clients rang me directly and I called the vet two days before to tell them how many dogs I was doing and at what times and they made a space available for me. I gave the vet 10% so on a $50 groom they got $5. It was beneficial for the vet as I was able to recommend the grooming client see the vet if there were any problems I noticed. It works well for both parties as I brought in clients from word of mouth of my grooming and they gave me new clients from in clinic referrals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rysup Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 We rent the space at the vets, so totally separate businesses. We take our own bookings, provide all our own equipment etc etc. I prefer it this way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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