People are spending more time away from home now than they ever have before. Between working, socializing, and other commitments, it is not uncommon for some dog owners to be home with their pets less than 10 hours a day, and most of that time is spent sleeping.
Similarly, because they are away from home more now, owners are traveling more with their pets. For these reasons, there has been a large boom in the mobile pet grooming market recently.
Donna Sheehey launched her mobile dog grooming franchise, Zoomin Groomin, in 2004 just outside of Boston, Massachusetts. The company now has 11 units on the road, and although they temporarily suspended franchising last year, they will be re-launching the program this spring with hopes of aggressive growth.
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Mobile pet grooming consists of a professional grooming area that is self-contained in a custom van that arrives wherever you need it to in order to meet your grooming needs. It is becoming more popular with busy pet owners because they don’t have to take their dog anywhere to have their grooming needs met.
Whether owners prefer to have the service show up at their home, office, or doggy daycare, the grooming facility comes to the dog instead of the other way around. New franchisees of the Zoomin Groomin mobile grooming business will operate out of Ford Transit Connects that are completely outfitted with self-contained grooming systems.
Sheehey says that she figured out the layout for the vans through trial and error. They no longer need a separate cab, and they have rear temperature control, comfortable flooring, and plenty of cabinet space. She also says that although they typically only have one groomer, there is enough workspace for two groomers if necessary.
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In order to make her mobile franchise feasible for groomers with an entrepreneurial drive, she made sure the equipment was top notch. The vans are equipped with a 13-gallon Eco-Wash tub that uses 90 percent less water than other similar systems. It is also fitted with a hand-held wand that gently sucks dirt and debris from the dog’s coat and skin.
Groomers for the company are also required to use Pure Oxygen Ultra Shampoo which is nontoxic and doesn’t leave any residue behind. Sheehey says that by the end of the wash the dog is already nearly 70 percent dry which means much less time spent under a dryer.
The franchise only operates in more affluent areas right now. Sheehey knows that it is more of a premium type service, but is hoping to build the company slowly in the near future.
