06/17/2025
Dear clients,
We are now half way through 2025! It's hard to believe isn't it?
As previously discussed, we promised our clients that we would give the new administration time to adjust before we evaluated the financial impact of tariff's, societal changes, and economic changes that have occurred as a result of the most recent election. We have now had that time and have hired outside sources to help look at our business model and discuss with us ways in which we can ensure that our doors remain open in the future.
1. We must end all discount programs.
This is not a decision we take lightly. We have donated thousands of dollars every year since we opened to certain demographics, events, and organizations. These include seniors, veterans, nurses, teachers, family, The Ox Roast Festival, Blossomtime Festival, Lawrence High School Seniors, Hartford High School Seniors, Christmas ASPCA donations, a driving team sponsorship, and much more. This is something that we have been proud to do in the past - and would be proud to do in the future if we find ourselves able to do so.
2. We will be going mobile in late 2025/early 2026.
We have previously discussed moving to our farm and even started building at our Bangor farm, but we have been met with more government red tape here. This permit, that permit, this hand shake, that hand shake, attend this meeting and that meeting and then come back for 3 more meetings in the months to follow. Submit paperwork, watch it get lost by the government, submit it again and never get a response. We can only pay for the government to lose our paperwork so many times. We try and do the right thing, but time and time again have been met with bureaucratic brick walls. These days, you can hardly even breath as a small business owner without having to file a permit for the air you're breathing. Going mobile doesn't eliminate all permit requirements, but we don't have to rely on any one town's government in order to do business. So far in our career as entrepreneurs, we have had to rely on one small group of part time government employees to essentially decide the fate of our business. Going mobile completely changes this. If a specific town doesn't want us there, we will simply drive down the road to a town that does...And there are several towns around here who do. This also means that our clients will no longer have to drive to us in the winter. For some, this will be hugely beneficial.
3. Our prices will be variable pricing going forward.
This means that Kara will choose the price that every client pays on an individualized basis. This is something that we will discuss with each client directly over the coming weeks, which will give you an opportunity to discuss with us what you can and can't afford, so that we can come to a price agreement that works for everyone involved.
We will send out emails and messages to every client with your updated price in the coming weeks. We want our customers to know that this price may be negotiable. Pricing will be based on the pet's behavior during the groom, the pet's weight, and client integrity. Pet behavior is dictated by whether the dog tries to bite, flail, breaks items, hurts us, etc. Client integrity is defined by how many times the client has no-show/no-called, how many same day cancellations there have been, and if the client arrives on time to their appointments start and end times.
4. If your dog damages property while in our care - you will be billed for that damaged property.
It's tough for us to groom a dog who's owner pays us $15 to $65 a visit, but every other time they visit, Kara get's bit, or we have to replace clippers because the dog jumped on Kara and knocked her over and the clippers fell and broke, or the dog flailed and broke the table. It's not personal, but it's like any other store. If you take your dog or your child somewhere and the dog or child breaks something, you have to pay for it. With this new policy, our hope is that those who's dogs have behavioral concerns, will work with a trainer or a Veterinarian to find the best solution for their pet so that in the future, there will be no worry about the dog biting, or thrashing, jumping, scratching, etc. We understand there might be some kickback, or a client might ask us to file an insurance claim. But, to us, our insurance premiums shouldn't go up because a client does not want to train or medicate their canine properly. Remember - we do offer training and can also refer clients to Veterinarians who can prescribe your pet appropriate medications to ease their aggression or anxiety.
5. No-Call/No Show - We are charging FULL price for No Call-No show's going forward.
Our time is valuable and should be respected. We are booking out 10 weeks in advance and are skilled at what we do. We know our value and those who don't - will be billed in full if they No-Call/No-Show. If we send an invoice and the person doesn't pay - it will be brought to collections at the end of the year. We are taking a hard lined stance on this and it is not negotiable unless the client is incapacitated. Obviously, if we find out you had a medical emergency and couldn't call us - we won't charge you.
We love each and every pet we see and want to help them all, but Kara is very overworked and our profit margins are shrinking by the day with price increases coming from the wars and tarriffs happening right now across our globe. These national and global issues are affecting the world as a whole, and we are no exception. The prices for supplies continues to rise, while our prices have remained the same. We tried to hold off as long as we could, for the benefit of the clients and pet's we care so deeply for. But, we have reached our limit, where change is absolutely necessary.
These changes are all effective immediately.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. Please direct any questions to [email protected], text Kara at 269-364-0419, OR by sending us a DM on Facebook.
