Strictly Business - A Non-Groomer’s Take On Running A Grooming Business

Happy Friday Groomers!

Hope you’re all surviving the holiday rush and looking forward to some well-deserved time with your families.

This recent podcast guest is someone outside the grooming world… someone who brings a unique owner’s mindset to our industry coming from the world of multi-unit traditional hair salons.

His name is Greg Thomas.

He got kicked out of high school. Kicked out of Sunday school. Arrested at the mall. At 40 years old he was a bottled-water delivery driver whose boss called him (and his coworkers) “a bunch of knuckle-dragging morons.”

Today?

• 70+ Great Clips hair salons

• A fleet of Smoothie Kings, car washes, and more

• And now: franchisee and franchisor with Salty Dog Pet Grooming, with a goal of 100+ grooming locations

And none of this started with a trust fund or a business degree.

It started with a bad haircut experience and a stack of Post-it notes.

Let’s break down the big lessons from Greg that directly apply to your grooming salon or mobile van.

1. You’re Not in the Dog Business. You’re in the People Business.

Greg is not passionate about hair… or smoothies… or even dogs.

He’s passionate about building businesses that work.

And his view is brutally simple:

When he bought his first distressed Great Clips, he walked in and told the team:

• “I don’t know anything about hair.”

• “I do know what it feels like to be disrespected.”

• “If I treat you well and push customers in the door, and you give them great service, they’ll come back and pay full price. I’ll make money. You’ll make more money. And I’ll keep buying more stores so there’s more opportunity for you.”

His formula for being a good owner:

• Treat people with respect.

  Most stylists/groomers don’t leave companies – they leave bosses.

• Pay better than your competition.

  His mission: “I want my people to make more with me than they can anywhere else.”

• Obsess over turnover.

  Low turnover is the real superpower. Same faces, year after year, means:

  • More loyal clients

  • Higher average ticket

  • Stronger culture

In Great Clips, he takes managers on cruises. In grooming, that might look different, but the principle is the same: people stay where they feel valued and where they can win.

Question for you:

If one of your best groomers got an offer tomorrow, would they emotionally hesitate to leave you? Or would they be gone in a week?

2. Your Groomers Are Artists – You Have to Be the Left Brain

Greg spends a lot of time in cosmetology schools, and what he sees there is almost identical to grooming:

• Groomers and stylists are right-brain, creative, artistic.

• Most are not naturally numbers people. And that’s okay.

Your job as an owner is to be the left brain:

• Understand money

• Understand scheduling

• Understand pricing and payroll math

• And help your team understand what that means for their income

He also gave a really tactical lens for hiring:

Red flags:

• Resumes with 6 months here, 6 months there, 6 months there

  → “That usually means poor work ethic or something’s off.”

Green flags:

• Someone who worked 5–10 years at a place, then took time off for kids, or to care for parents, and is coming back

  → Often incredibly loyal with strong work ethic.

Recruiting ideas you can literally steal tomorrow:

• Signing bonus ($300–400) in your Indeed ads

• Free shears just for interviewing

  • He buys them wholesale for ~$30

  • Retail value looks like $200–300

  • Great pattern interrupt when they’re scrolling job posts

The goal:

By the time someone has spent 30 minutes with your manager, they should walk out thinking,

3. Volume Is the Game. Scrappy Marketing Wins.

Greg built his first salon on zero budget:

• He created a Post-it note coupon:

  • Top: “Great Clips”

  • Bottom: “$5 OFF”

• Printed them double on each note and cut them in half to save money

• From 5–7am, before his water route, he:

  • Drove on the wrong side of the road sticking notes on mailboxes

  • Hopped apartment fences and plastered doors

Within 6 months, that distressed salon became the fastest-growing store in Atlanta.

Now, how does that translate to grooming?

Here are specific ideas Greg is already testing with Salty Dog:

a) Charity “Bounceback” Coupons

Instead of:

He flipped it to:

In Great Clips this structure:

• Turned a local fundraiser from ~$19k → ~$90k

• Eventually scaled into a $1M/year national program

Imagine:

• “Donate $5 to support [local rescue / shelter] and get $5–10 off your next groom.”

You help dogs, you build your list, and you drive repeat visits.

b) Make Noise at Your Location

Greg’s view:

You think “everyone” knows your shop is there.

Reality: maybe 10% of the cars driving by even realize you exist.

Tactical “make noise” options:

• Sandwich board on the sidewalk

• Balloons or flags outside

• Inflatable “wavy guy” or something playful

• Window clings with clear offers (“New Client Special”, “Walk-In Nail Trims Today”)

You don’t need a marketing agency for this. You need attention.

c) Monthly “Dog Socials”

At Salty Dog they’ve started doing:

• A monthly Dog Social at:

  • A brewery

  • A coffee shop

  • An ice cream place

• They pick up the tab for the first two drinks (or similar)

Results on the first couple:

• ~50 people showed up

• The bar tab? Around $190–200

If you book even 2–3 new recurring clients from that, you’ve more than paid for the event—and now you’ve got:

• 50 people who know your brand

• A bunch of social media posts of people tagging your business

• Photos of dogs at your event for your own marketing

Again: scrappy > perfect.

4. The 20% Rule: Why Most Groomers Are Broke (On Paper)

This was probably the most important “nugget” Greg dropped.

His “Greg Math” for any service franchise:

Examples:

• $300k in sales → should net around $60k

• $500k in sales → around $100k

• $1M in sales → around $200k

He breaks down a typical cost structure like this:

• Labor (all-in) – ~50%

• Rent – ~10%

• Other overhead (utilities, POS, marketing, supplies) – ~10%

• Royalties (if franchised) – ~10%

• Profit left over – ~20%

Now, apply this to grooming:

If you’re paying:

• 60% commission to groomers

• Plus front desk or manager salaries

• Plus rent, tools, shampoo, software, etc.

You can quickly end up at:

• 70%+ labor

• 10% rent

• 10% everything else

You’re already at 90%+ and still haven’t paid yourself properly.

Greg’s belief:

• Most grooming salons, if they did clean P&Ls, are probably only making 7–9% profit.

• That’s not enough to:

  • Weather slow seasons

  • Reinvent your space

  • Invest in your team

  • Or expand to multiple locations

Stop Talking % Commission. Start Talking Effective Hourly Wage.

In his salons, they don’t obsess over “I get X%.”

They obsess over:

• Base pay

• Commission/productivity

• Product commission

• Tips”

Once a groomer knows their true hourly number, the conversation changes from:

to:

• Cut 4–6 minutes off each groom without burning out?

• Increase my tips with better communication, cleanliness, and professionalism?

• Fill my schedule more consistently?”

Those are things you and your team can actually control.

5. The Big Opportunity: Grooming Has No “Great Clips” Yet

In hair:

• Great Clips – ~4,500+ locations

• Supercuts – ~1,900

• Sport Clips – ~1,800

In dogs?

There’s no truly national grooming brand yet.

Plenty of strong regional players. Plenty of early franchise plays. But no “Starbucks of dog grooming.”

Greg’s bet (and honestly, mine too):

The grooming industry is about to explode over the next 10 years.

But it will only explode for owners who:

1. Understand their numbers

2. Build teams that want to stay

3. Learn how to drive consistent volume

Your 20-Minute “Greg Homework”

If you want to actually use this episode, here’s a simple little checklist:

1. Run your real margin.

   • Pull last month’s P&L

   • Divide net profit by total sales

   • Are you closer to 20%… or 7–9%?

2. Add up your total labor %.

   • Groomers + bathers + front desk + managers + payroll tax

   • Divide by sales

   • Is it around 50% or way higher?

3. Map “effective hourly wage” for each groomer.

   • (Total pay + tips) ÷ hours worked

   • Share the number with them

   • Have one conversation: “If you want to make $X/hr, let’s reverse engineer how we get there together.”

4. Pick one scrappy marketing test this month:

   • Bounceback charity coupon

   • Dog Social at a local brewery or coffee shop

   • Free nail grind or free engraved tags day

   • Hand-delivered flyers/Post-it coupons in your best neighborhoods

If you want to hear Greg tell these stories in his own words (including the part about climbing apartment fences at 5am with a stack of coupons 😅), check out this week’s episode of The Daily Groomer Podcast with Greg Thomas of LSGF Management & Salty Dog Pet Grooming.

Treat your people well. Know your numbers. Drive volume.

Do those three things, and you’ll be way ahead of 90% of shops in the country.

But do it in 2026… Don’t work too hard until then.

Merry Christmas!!!!

Alex

That’s all folks! Keep calm and groom on 🐶🤘