How Much Does It Cost to Buy a Dog Grooming Business and What an Existing Shop Sells For

An existing US pet grooming business cost a median $150,000 to buy across 2021 to 2025, based on closed BizBuySell sales, on median revenue of $314,016 and median owner earnings of $81,687. Financed with an SBA 7(a) loan at 10 percent down, the cash you bring to that purchase is about $17,295 for the equity injection and the SBA guaranty fee, plus the lease deposit, supplies and a few weeks of payroll. At the median price the loan leaves room for an owner draw of about $54,363 a year, roughly 1.5 times the $35,360 BLS median wage for animal caretakers.

Most pages that answer this question price opening a grooming shop: a build-out, tubs, tables, dryers, a van or a lease, and months of building a client list. Buying a shop is a different purchase. You pay for regulars already on the books, groomers already on the schedule and a fitted space or vehicle with its paperwork. The price is set by earnings. Whether it is a good buy is set by whether the groomers stay and whether the income behind those earnings is on the tax returns. The full sold-price distribution is on our pet grooming business valuation page; this article is the buyer's version, with the cash and the salary worked out.

How much does it cost to buy a dog grooming business?

The median pet grooming business sold for $150,000, which is 1.84 times its $81,687 of seller discretionary earnings and 0.48 times its revenue. The published median multiple is 1.89x earnings, and half of all sales landed between 1.38x and 2.51x. Sellers asked a median $165,000, 10.0 percent above the sale, and sold businesses closed at an average 0.92 of their asking price.

Which column applies depends mostly on size and on how much of the revenue depends on the owner. BizBuySell says low owner involvement, consistent performance and a seller willing to finance earn a multiple at or above the upper quartile, while thin margins, full-time owner involvement and many direct competitors sit at or below the lower. Watch the year, too. The 2025 median sale was $175,000, but the 2025 median asking price was $199,000, and the median time to sell was 193 days, the longest of the five years. If the seller has handed you a profit and loss statement rather than an SDE figure, start with how to calculate SDE.

How much cash do you need to buy a dog grooming business?

About $17,295 at the median price before working capital, on an SBA loan with 10 percent down. On a $150,000 purchase that is a $15,000 equity injection and a $135,000 loan. Loans of $150,000 or less carry an 85 percent SBA guaranty, so the guaranteed portion is $114,750, and the FY2026 upfront guaranty fee on loans that size is 2 percent of it, or $2,295.

The closing statement rarely stops there. Plan for these on top:

• Lease deposit and assignment costs. Most landlords want a new security deposit or a personal guaranty from the buyer, and some charge a fee to consent to the assignment.
• Supplies. Shampoo, blades, disposables and retail product are usually bought at cost on top of the price, counted the day before closing.
• Working capital. Groomers are paid every week or two whether the first month is busy or not. A month of payroll and rent in the bank is a sensible floor.
• Licenses, insurance and legal fees. Business licenses and insurance in your own name, and legal fees for the purchase agreement and the lease review. Rules differ by state and locality, so ask what changes hands with the business and what you apply for yourself.

Can you get an SBA loan to buy a grooming business?

Yes, and the median shop carries the loan comfortably. On a 10 year SBA loan at 10.5 percent, debt service on $135,000 is about $21,859 a year. The median $81,687 of earnings covers that 3.74 times. After the lender's usual 1.25x coverage cushion, the most a buyer can draw at $150,000 is about $54,363 a year. If the loan prices at the SBA cap of prime plus 6 points, 12.75 percent, that falls to about $51,749.

The binding constraint is not the price; it is what the lender can verify. A lender underwrites tax returns and bank deposits. Revenue the seller says was paid in cash but never reached the books is not in the earnings the bank will use, and you should not pay a multiple on it. Because almost every grooming business sells for under $350,000, the lender may value the business in house when buyer and seller are not closely related, so the numbers you bring matter. Our guide to the SBA loan to buy a business covers the down payment rules, seller notes and what the lender will ask for.

Is buying a dog grooming business a good investment?

On the sold record it is a reasonable one for a working groomer, and a thinner one for a buyer who will not groom. The median animal caretaker on payroll earns $35,360 a year (BLS, May 2025, which publishes no separate wage for groomers). A groomer who buys the median shop and keeps working can draw up to about $54,363 while the loan is repaid, and owns the equity at the end.

The numbers change when the owner steps back. Replace the owner at the tub with a hired groomer at the BLS median plus payroll tax, $38,065, and $43,622 of earnings is left: the $150,000 price becomes 3.44 times earnings, above the upper quartile of 2.51x, and still finances with about $16,298 a year for the owner. An experienced groomer with a following will cost more than the median, so the real figure is lower. The risk is not the multiple; it is whether the groomers stay and whether the books are clean.

What should I look for when buying a grooming business?

Start with the groomers and the appointment book, then the books and the lease. A grooming business's value is the people on the floor and the pet owners who rebook with them. These checks take a week of document requests and screen out most of the bad deals.

• Groomer roster. Tenure, pay model, weekly hours and share of revenue for each groomer, and how many left in the last two years. If two people produce most of the revenue, your price depends on them staying.
• Appointment history. The booking export: active clients, visits per client, how many rebook before leaving and how many appointments are already booked for next month. Standing appointments are revenue on the calendar on closing day.
• Deposits against the reports. Twelve months of bank statements against the booking and card reports, month by month. Any gap is revenue the lender will not count.
• Prepaid packages and deposits. Every gift card, prepaid package and booking deposit is service you will deliver for no new cash. Get the outstanding balance and agree a credit at closing.
• The lease, the equipment or the van. For a storefront: remaining term, renewal options, rent as a share of revenue, the assignment clause, and the condition of tubs, dryers and plumbing. For a mobile business: title, condition and maintenance records of the vehicle, since it is the entire operation.
• Franchise terms. BizBuySell notes franchise units are in the data. If the shop is one, read the transfer approval, fees and remodel requirements before you price it.

Should you buy a grooming shop or a dog daycare and boarding business?

Grooming is the cheaper entry, and daycare and boarding is the bigger business. Dog daycare and boarding sold for a median $400,000, 2.67 times the grooming median, on $157,088 of median earnings, which is 2.55 times. At that price with 10 percent down the injection is $40,000 and the loan $360,000, with debt service of about $58,291 a year. The earnings cover it 2.69 times and the most a buyer can draw is about $84,224. It finances, but with less cushion than grooming's 3.74 times, takes longer to sell (a median 187 days against 170) and needs a team for the whole day.

BizBuySell's dog daycare page shows two sets of numbers: a headline box with 2025 only figures (a 4.40x earnings multiple and $211,933 of earnings) and a service comparison table with the five-year figures. We use the five-year ones, which agree with the $400,000 median sale. The comparison of the two trades side by side is in section 08 of our pet grooming business valuation page.

Should you buy the company or just its assets?

For most grooming businesses, an asset purchase is the safer structure. In an asset purchase you buy the equipment, the lease, the name and the goodwill, and the seller's company keeps its own history, including claims for work done before closing. In a stock or membership interest purchase, you buy the company and everything it owes, known or not. SBA lenders finance both, and an asset purchase can cost more in lease and license paperwork, but leaving past liabilities with the seller is usually worth it. Put an indemnity for pre-closing claims in the purchase agreement, and hold part of the price back in a seller note or escrow so the indemnity has money behind it.

What happens after you close?

The first ninety days decide whether the regulars stay. Introduce yourself to the clients with the longest history, keep the groomers' schedules and pay unchanged until you understand them, and change one thing at a time. Keep the booking system, the phone number and the name. The first tax season is also a new job: many single-owner shops report their income and expenses on a Schedule C with the owner's personal return (ask your accountant which structure you have), and software can prepare a Schedule C return and find the self-employed deductions from your 1099s and expense records. Keep the shop's bank account separate from your own from day one, so the second year's lender or buyer can verify the books as easily as you did.

How do you know if the asking price is fair?

Compare the asking price with three numbers: the multiple of owner earnings it implies, the sold range for shops of that size, and what an SBA loan will cover at the salary you need. A shop asking 2.7 times earnings on $80,000 of SDE is asking $216,000, above the upper quartile of what sold. Current listings ask a median 2.67 times earnings against 1.89 times paid, and they report earnings only 2.1 percent below the shops that sold, so most asking prices have room to come down.

Before you sign a letter of intent, run the shop's revenue and owner earnings through the estimator on our pet grooming business valuation page. It returns a value range against what pet grooming businesses actually sold for and shows how much of it an SBA loan will cover at the salary you need, so you go into the negotiation with a number you can defend. If you are weighing a grooming shop against a salon trade, the nail salon valuation page runs the same numbers for that business.