e all know that the pet grooming industry is largely and infamously unregulated. Despite decades of progress with more accessible groomer education, certifications, organizations and programs, there are still people grooming for a living who have had little to no training, especially in important areas like animal dermatology, safety, care and sanitation.

When you compare us to other similar trade businesses, such as electricians, plumbers, welders, machinists, carpenters and various service technicians, most have national industry organizations and unionized labor that work together to set high standards that regulate safety, quality and training, and also negotiate pay.

Additionally, there are people who establish a pet grooming business without knowing the first thing about how to run such a specialized service. Well-intended newcomers to our industry will buy or open a grooming shop and sometimes fail at it, often simply because of an inability to understand how to pay grooming staff while also making a profit. And this is where the topic of commission-based pay comes up…

I recently interviewed Scott Burgess, the business manager at The Groom Room in Richmond, Virginia. The good groomers Scott worked to recruit for this new salon insisted upon what they told him was “industry-standard” pay for groomers—a 50% commission. And on top of that, Scott employed bathing and reception staff and paid them as W2 employees.

Needless to say, the business began losing money with those groomers. So, Scott did the math, and they are currently re-evaluating the unsustainable pay structure and moving to hourly wages across the board.

“Commission-based pay is not scalable for any grooming business, especially at 50%,” Scott explains. “I pay at least 12% or more for every employee in payroll taxes and expenses, and on top of that, any benefiting.”

He also said that Virginia requires two hours of paid time off (PTO) earned for every 80 hours worked. Every employer needs to check their own state laws, as this trend toward regulation of required employee benefits is growing nationwide.

Scott plans to transition the pay to hourly by taking the total number of hours his full-time staff work and dividing the pre-tip pay average over a year by the number of hours they could work. The absolute minimum starting wage for any untrained staff will be $15/hour.

So where did this unworkable tradition of a 50% commission come from?

It was a common “old-school” practice when grooming was still largely an underground economy with most groomers working in small salons for cash. The owner/boss and groomer/staff would split the profit 50-50 because the math was easy. And, as contract employees, it was assumed that the groomers would pay their own taxes. However, both owners and staff groomers would often knowingly dodge reporting income.

The only businesses that have been able to offer 50% commission to groomers while still staying profitable are those with another source of income that makes up for the loss in grooming. A veterinary hospital or boarding facility, for example, can offer grooming services as a perk to draw in clients, but from which they do not expect to make money.

Industry icon Teri DiMarino says that business owners need to do the math in order to be profitable. “People on social media are stuck on these 50% commissions,” she laments. “To them, I say, ‘50% of what?! Give me a dollar amount. Tell me how much you need to make.’

“Grooming businesses that struggle with this issue need to have a ‘come to Jesus meeting’ with all players and explain that it costs the business approximately 15% more than the wage the groomer earns to cover all the associated costs of having an employee,” Teri adds.

Based on a salon’s cost per hour of being open, Teri recommends keeping one-third of the gross income to cover the expenses of running the business, one-third for payroll and one-third for the salon costs. However, she advises re-checking your business math every single year, as things change. Then and only then is when one should raise prices—not by flat rates at set times or pre-set amounts across the board.

One way to preserve stable finances for a business is to offer an hourly wage. Teri recommends also creating an incentive structure for the groomers with “production bonuses” that can be negotiated with employees. These can create incentives for efficiency and grooming more dogs, and can be calculated based on what would be needed to maintain profitability for the business.

Hollus Gessler, owner of Wigglyville in Chicago, suggests also considering profit-sharing as an incentive. “Today more grooming salons are closing, and blaming the lack of trained groomers only goes so far,” she says. “In many instances it is money management and unrealistic expectations that hurt businesses, which then results in less employment opportunities.”

Profit-sharing calculates incentives that can function, as with commissions, in a way that rewards better-quality work. GainSharing.com describes profit-sharing as a way to give employees more “skin in the game.”

“The old model of commission-only is just plain archaic and unrealistic to allow for everyone from the business owner to the employees to make at least a middle-class income,” Hollus adds. “Today, brick-and-mortar businesses have high overhead. Insurance, utilities, and rent are skyrocketing, to name just a small portion of operational expenses. If an owner is lucky, they are making a living wage just like their employees.”

Hollus suggests one model that merges the incentives of commission-based pay with the stability and predictability of an hourly wage. “Using a guaranteed W2 wage with a smaller commission allows for better planning, more realistic expectations, and provides opportunities for employees to make more money based on their skills,” she explains. “Efficient, streamlined skills allow for better multitasking and increases the number of clients per day without sacrificing safety.”

She also encourages business owners to remind groomers of their need to exercise good customer relations skills, soft-selling and other points of customer communication that include the groomer in on the responsibility to work to make the business as profitable as possible. “Groomers should learn to embrace client service and soft sales because it improves client relationships and tips,” Hollus adds.

When it comes to calculating the paychecks, Bill Jenkins, the business manager of Love Fur Dogs, says, “Everyone must be able to see and understand the system. Don’t make it difficult to record payroll information accurately. Ultimately, all that grooming information has to be compiled into a number that is their pay.

“You don’t want disagreements with your staff about whether or not they are being paid according to the schedule that has been established,” he continues. “They have to be able to trust that their payroll is accurate, understandable, simple, transparent, and honest. And hopefully not make it too complicated for the person doing payroll.”

Transparency and effective communication on everyone’s part helps because we are all in this together. Business owners need competent, reliable, caring staff. And groomers that do not work for themselves should be looking to the interests and profitability of their employers so they are ensured a stable job going forward. The old legacy “magic number” of 50% commission is no longer industry standard, and it never should have been.