UK Dog Grooming Pricing Health Check

How to use this check

This free health check is designed for UK independent, solo and mobile dog groomers and small grooming salons. It does not use a market-average price, tell you what competitors charge or prescribe one correct price. You can complete it without an account, email address or purchase.

What this health check answers

Do my current grooming prices meet the hourly revenue floor calculated from the business costs, income goal and billable capacity I enter?

It shows: annual business costs based on the monthly costs you enter; annual required revenue based on those costs and your income goal; annual billable hours based on your billable hours per week and working weeks per year; your calculated hourly pricing floor; the effective hourly return from each checked service; the price that would equal the calculated floor for each service duration; and the potential signed gap per hour and per service under your assumptions.

It does not calculate tax, National Insurance, VAT, pension contributions, debt servicing, depreciation, finance costs, cash-flow timing or guaranteed profit.

Before you begin

Enter all figures in the same currency throughout this check.

Have these figures ready:

1. Monthly business costs, with annual or irregular costs converted to a monthly equivalent once.
2. The annual amount you want the grooming business to provide to you.
3. Realistic billable hours per week—not every hour you work or are available.
4. Working weeks per year after planned time away.
5. Current charges and consistent total durations for at least three services.

1. Enter your assumptions

Monthly business costs

Enter a non-negative amount for each applicable category and add a short assumption note where useful.

Cost rows: Premises / rent; Utilities; Insurance; Supplies; Software; Travel / vehicle; Marketing; Other recurring costs.

Do not count the same cost twice. If you convert an annual or irregular cost to a monthly amount, record the assumption.

Annual income goal

Enter the annual amount you want the grooming business to provide to you.

This is a planning input, not calculated after-tax pay and not a guaranteed outcome. Decide whether your own figure needs separate allowances for tax, pension, debt, reinvestment, contingency or other commitments, using appropriate professional advice where needed.

Realistic billable capacity

Enter billable hours per week and working weeks per year. Billable hours are hours expected to generate grooming revenue. They are not automatically the same as opening hours or total working time.

Consider client messages, estimates, cleaning, laundry, setup, ordering, bookkeeping, gaps and—for mobile groomers—travel between clients. Do not use a universal utilisation percentage: use an assumption you can explain and revisit.

2. See your calculated hourly floor

Annual business costs = monthly business costs × 12

Annual required revenue = annual business costs + annual income goal

Annual billable hours = billable hours per week × working weeks per year

Calculated hourly pricing floor = annual required revenue ÷ annual billable hours

The hourly floor is rounded to two decimal places first. That rounded floor is then used for each service comparison.

This health check uses the business costs, income goal, billable capacity, service price and duration you enter. The calculated hourly floor is the average revenue each billable hour would need to bring in under those assumptions. It is not guaranteed profit, after-tax take-home pay, a market-average price or a recommended price for every grooming business.

Test a lower-capacity assumption

Enter a second, lower billable-hours-per-week figure while keeping annual required revenue and working weeks unchanged. Compare the resulting floor with the main result. This sensitivity check shows how an optimistic capacity assumption can lower the calculated floor; it does not establish the correct capacity for another groomer.

3. Check current services

For each service, enter a label, current charge and expected or actual total duration in decimal hours. Use a consistent time scope. If one duration includes cleanup, handover or mobile travel, either handle comparable services consistently or state why that time is covered elsewhere in your capacity or costs.

Effective hourly return = current charge ÷ duration

Price at calculated floor = rounded hourly floor × duration

Gap per hour = effective hourly return − rounded hourly floor

Gap for this service = current charge − price at calculated floor

Show negative and positive gaps with signs. If the per-hour gap is negative, label the row below calculated floor. Otherwise label it at or above calculated floor. In both cases add under your assumptions.

Do not describe a positive gap as profit or a negative gap as a proven loss.

Hypothetical example — not a customer result or market benchmark

Monthly costs are £925. Annual business costs are therefore £11,100. Add a hypothetical £28,000 annual income goal to give annual required revenue of £39,100. At 25 billable hours per week for 46 weeks, annual billable hours are 1,150 and the calculated floor is £34.00 per hour.

A hypothetical Full groom · Cockapoo charged at £70 with a 2.5-hour duration returns £28.00 per hour. Its price at the calculated floor is £85.00. The signed gaps are −£6.00 per hour and −£15.00 for that service. Under only these hypothetical assumptions, it is below the calculated floor. This is not proof of loss and does not prescribe a new market price.

A hypothetical £72 service lasting two hours returns £36.00 per hour. At the same £34.00 floor, its price at floor is £68.00 and the gaps are +£2.00 per hour and +£4.00 for the service. It is above the calculated floor under these assumptions; that is not guaranteed profit.

If annual required revenue remains £39,100 but capacity falls to 20 billable hours per week for 46 weeks, the calculated floor becomes £42.50 per hour. Neither 20 nor 25 hours is presented as correct for another groomer.

All worked examples are hypothetical illustrations. They are not customer results, UK market averages, earnings claims or promises of savings, profit or wider business viability.

Review the result before making a decision

Are billable hours based on actual capacity rather than all working time? Are recurring and irregular costs represented once? Does each service duration use a consistent scope? Which services appear below the calculated floor under these assumptions? Which assumption would most change the result if it proved optimistic? Can actual job durations and records replace estimates over time?

This is a planning comparison, not a verdict on the business. Verify inputs, compare them with records and revisit assumptions periodically.

Method and boundaries

The complete formulas, rounding sequence, non-terminating-division test and reuse conditions appear in the accompanying methodology sheet. Version: UK Grooming Pricing Health Check v1.0 — 2026-09-27.

This is a practical planning aid, not accounting, tax, legal or financial advice, and it does not replace an accountant or other appropriate adviser.

Keep all figures in the same currency throughout this check.

Optional: repeat the method in GroomPrice

Prefer to repeat these checks in a browser and keep a local job history? GroomPrice (/groomprice) uses the same business-cost, income-goal and billable-capacity method to set an hourly pricing floor and compare individual job prices and durations. GroomPrice is optional; this free health check remains complete without it. £4.99 one-time in GBP for UK customers, no subscription.

GroomPrice is a pricing aid and does not replace an accountant or other appropriate adviser.