Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Pricing Your Cost Per Wash Correctly = More Profits!

One of the most critical aspects of ensuring a quicker return on your investment of your self-serve dog wash equipment is to price the cost per wash in accordance with the grooming market and your local demographics. It's a fine line with the coin-op self-serve dog wash equipment; you don't want to overcharge when taking into account smaller dogs. However, don't sell your service short by undercharging because of what you have seen going on in the car wash market, for example. We highly suggest a price of $10 for 10 minutes and here is why:

We must examine both the pet and car wash industries:
Pet Industry - In our research throughout the pet industry, most self-serve store-fronts are charging anywhere from $12-$25 based upon the size of the dog. And typically, this does not include higher-end shampoo - which is extra. Oatmeal based is additional, flea & tick is addition, etc. Sometimes, we've seen that self-serve stores will charge for extra time should you need more than the allotted 20 - 30 minutes.
Car Wash Industry - Most of you in the car wash industry or those of you that have seen/used the basic tub-like coin-op self-serve dog wash have probably noticed a price of $5 for 10 or 12 minutes. If you take into account $.50 - $.75 cost per wash, that leaves the dog wash owner with about $4.50 in profit per month. Not a whole lot.

We highly suggest a price of $10 for 10 minutes for the K9000. Period. Charge $1 per additional minute. $10 for 10.

$10 is a very competitive price for using your coin-op self-serve dog wash especially considering the following:

1) Convenience - your dog wash is probably open 24x7 and available when the store-fronts aren't. There is a lot of value in convenience.
2) High-Quality Shampoo Products - not only is your equipment high quality but the high-quality shampoo options are included in the price! And if they need a little more time to dry, so they spend another 2-4 bucks. There is a lot of value in high quality shampoos.
3) Priced For All Dogs - $10 is very competitive for a smaller dog that may use all but 1 or 2 minutes of a 10 minute cycle. Larger dogs will certainly use the full 10 minutes and if the pet owners wants a totally dry dog, they will simply deposit more money to extend the drying time. It's fair all around.

Below is an example of how much time is used for a medium-size (50 lbs.) dog:
2 mins. shampoo
1 mins. flea & tick shampoo
1 mins. conditioner
1 min rinse
remaining 5 mins. + used for drying

The fact is that most dog owners with medium and large size dogs will need to extend the time if they want to get the full benefits of using the coin-op self-serve dog wash. And you know what that means to you - more profit per wash! But at the end of the day, the dog owner is in and out in about 14 minutes - much quicker than if going to a self-serve dog wash store. It's all about convenience for the dog owner and repeat business for you as the dog wash owner.