Many new business owners make very costly mistakes due to lack of knowledge more than lack of effort. Even if they find a "good" deal, buying the wrong equipment cheaply will cost you more in loss of customers than will save you in the price of the goods. Test your equipment and talk to the manufacturers! Travel to see different shops and ask the owners what works and what doesn't. Find an expert and learn from them rather than reinventing the wheel.
Dog Wash Tubs will be one of your biggest investments and rightly so, because this is the heart of your business. This is the product each and every customer will be using. This is equivalent to the "food" in a restaurant - if the food is bad the restaurant fails! Don't install "bad" tubs or you could fail!
Your very first question to ask, to really understand your customer is, why do you come to a self service dog wash? Here are some common answers that you should keep in mind when choosing your equipment.
- Easier on the back - because washing in the tub hurts my back. <-- This is the #1 reason across the country! Make sure your equipment does NOT hurt the customers back!
- Washing is messy and a struggle - because washing the dog means = cleaning the tub, walls, floor, towels, house and fighting with the dog to get in and stay in the tub! It doesn't take rocket science to know this is the #2 reason people use dog washes!
- Supplies are expensive - because shampoo, brushes and towels are purchased with every bath! This is a very low #3, but understanding your customer sees a personal cost in washing the dog at home and will compare that to your prices is an important issue to keep in mind.
EASE THEIR BACK!!! If this is the number one reason people use dog washes, then make sure your equipment actually does this! Go wash 2 to 3 dogs (or one dog multiple times) in a dog wash and see how your back feels. Is it aching? If you answered yes, then ask yourself why? What could be done to prevent the back ache? Some suggestions made where tubs at a higher level, narrower tubs so you didn't lean across to reach the dog, tubs open on 2 sides so you can walk around to the other side of the dog rather than turning him around and lastly a place to rest your elbows to get the weight off your back! If this was all true you'd have happy customers for years! One tub company provides this type of dog wash tub called the K9Spa.
NO MESS and NO STRUGGLE! If this is the number two reason to go to a dog wash, then you're going to need to make sure this is taken care of! This immediately rules out any tubs that don't have an easy entry. It doesn't matter how cute mini bath tubs are, they are not designed to allow a dog to walk into them easily. Shops that use bath tubs "look" cute - most of the time, because there are no customers there to block your view of the cute shop! This also rules out 3 sided tubs because turning a dog around or washing the side next to the wall is at minimum a struggle.
Be careful that your view may be bias, as many people who are dog savvy or even groomers start self service dog washes and just because you can turn a large unhappy dog around in a small tub does not mean your customer can! So instead of forcing them to do this, buy equipment that allows the access to both sides of the dog! The last thing you want is a dog jumping out of a tub, half washed and still tied onto the wall!!!!! This is a liability waiting to happen and in our 10+ years of experience, I can guarantee you it will happen!
Lets talk about mess! Note that a 3 sided tub will contain the water a bit better than a rear entry tub, but in the customers eyes, the mess made by wash in a 3 sided tub vs a walk around tub is the same to them. This is a difficult thing to explain to a new owner, but the more you put yourself in the customers shoes the more you'll see that this is a business that is tailored to making the life of a customer easier. I would rather have double the happy customers and a bit more mess, than frustrated customers and less mess!
Visit the website: www.K9Spa.com to find out more information.
