Welcome to the Brilliant Pet Accountant Podcast with me, Vicky, where I will give you practical business and finance advice to help you grow a sustainable pet business.

This podcast is sponsored by Low Pay, the low rate payment platform that gives you more let's get cracking.

Welcome to those of you who listen every week and welcome to those who may not and it may be your first time.

And if you don't know who I am, I'm Ricky from the Pet Accountant and on this sort of podcast live I tend to talk about various different business topics and also anything sort of finance accountancy related.

Before I get cracking on the goal setting side, just a bit of admin updates.

For those of you going to Crofts.

We're only like what, a week tomorrow before Christmas starts.

As some of you may know, we've been there every year for the last five years and we will be there this year.

Hall 1 stands 72.

So come and say hello, even if you are feeling a bit shy, just come over, say hello, have a glass of fizz, have some sweets and then we can have a chat.

And obviously clients come and say hello also because it's the main place where we get to see all of your clients as well in Under One Roof.

So if you want to come and see us across Hall 1 stand 72, I'll be there, Tegan will be there, Lee will be there, Nicola will be there and Georgie will be there.

So you've got nearly half of your pet accounting team, plus Romany the financial advisor will be there on Thursday.

Yeah, Thursday.

So if you want to see her, if you've got pension questions, income protection questions, stuff like that, and she is your gal to speak to on Thursday, obviously we've got the Pepper Expo coming up in October.

There's a few tickets left, so make sure you grab those and don't wait till near the time because they sold out last time, so don't hesitate and grab that ticket.

And also on that, we will be launching our new website very soon, hopefully in the next couple of days.

So very, very exciting stuff and we will post that everywhere to the point where you're getting sick of seeing it.

But I'm very proud of it, it's an amazing website, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

And also for those of you listening in Ireland, we are looking into bringing the Expo over to Ireland as well after a lot of people have been messaging me to try and get it over there.

So if you are listening from Ireland and you want to attend, keep your eyes peeled because we're looking to do one in sunny Belfast.

So that's news.

So everyone's like, vicky, just get on with it and stop rabbiting on.

So you'll see me looking down.

It's just because I'm pressing the button to make sure that everyone knows that we're here.

Because these have been really good, actually.

I've probably had more phone calls in February than I've ever had before off the back of all of these podcasts.

So thank you guys for actually listening to them and also implementing the tools and strategies that were being given you along the way.

And a lot of people have seen massive increases in their profit, got better clients, and it's all coming together.

So well done to those of you who are actually implementing the stuff from the podcast.

And thank you guys just for listening in general.

So we're gonna do goal setting today.

And I think this is something that Maybe it's a 50, 50 thing of where people do and don't do it and maybe don't know the importance or see the importance of doing it.

For those of you that are watching, can you just give me like a thumbs up or a thumbs down as to whether you actually set goals in your business?

Whether that be weekly, monthly, yearly, five yearly goals, just to give me an idea of who actually does it.

So just a cheeky little thumbs up or thumbs down, if you wouldn't mind.

Because I feel like we set goals as a pet accountant every year.

So me and Lee disappear on a little business trip at the beginning of April and go through all of our goals.

So we will review the ones that we made last year, see which ones we've hit, see which ones we haven't, what tweaks we need to make, and then we'll make another list of things for the next 12 months.

And it gives us something to focus on and gives us something to drive towards.

And I think I even.

We have them, unlike I might even have it here, we have them in like a bridge format like that.

So we'll have all of the different sections of business and all the different goals that we want to achieve in the next 12 months.

You know, monthly goals as well, just to keep us on track.

So I find if we don't have them, then you kind of.

Thanks, Sharon.

Oh, and you want to do the thumbs up.

Great.

Thank you, Sharon.

We've got one person that does goals.

I just think it keeps you on track because I think if you don't have them, like, what are you.

Like what are you aiming for?

Like, what are you measuring yourself against, you know, we have a turnover goal, which is one of them and it just gives us something to aim for.

So now pricing, we're going to be thinking about that goal in the back, right at the back of our heads, thinking, well actually if we need, if we want to get to there, how are we going to achieve that with the price pricing?

So all interlinks with each other.

And this is why goals are so important and why I've picked that topic today.

So as you know, as the pet accountant, we work with loads and loads and loads of pet businesses as well as food, with the expo as well.

And you all have incredible talent, you care about what you do, you've got incredible work ethic.

But I find that not many people have a clear financial target.

So that is what I want to talk about today is that it's not really an optional thing if you want to be profitable.

We need to be putting these goals in because they do make a massive difference, especially if you're going to have financial goals.

Thank you to Lauren.

Louise.

Putting thumbs down, that's absolutely fine.

This is why listeners, if you can take a little something away from today, then happy days.

If you go through it and I'm talking that you and you're sitting there thinking I do that, do that, then that's again absolutely great.

Maybe you can use it as a refresher.

But definitely keep listening if you haven't got those goals in place because we'll talk through what I think personally are the best ones to have and the ones that we should be doing.

So we need a clear financial target.

And you know, I've said this probably in every one of every podcast I've done over the last few weeks that you know, you don't struggle because you're bad at what you do.

The struggle comes from, well, part of it comes from never really setting those financial goals.

So some people, and this is just going off obviously talking to probably thousands of pet business owners, it might not be for everyone, but general consensus is that people focus on being busy, they focus on getting all of the clients in.

I just need more clients.

They avoid looking at the numbers, so they avoid looking at their profit and they under price out of fear.

Now, pricing is a massive thing.

I mean, I've had probably about five phone calls this week already about pricing and some people's pricing is so low that it honestly, and this is what we need to stop doing, is underpriced and out of fear.

We need to start charging you worth whether you're a Groom or a trainer or walker, whatever it is that you do, you have a specific skill that not everybody has, and that's the way to look at it, is, yes, they could attempt to do their own, but they don't have your skills.

You need to charge for it.

I said to a client the other day that I used to send Frank to a local groomer when I lived down south, and because she was a client, she did lower the price slightly, but he used to just go for a bath and then dry and then she'd do his nails because it's only a smooth hair dashant.

And I think it started off at like, 25 quid and then she put it up to 35 quid.

Then I think it went to 40 quid and she kept apologizing for putting it up.

And I said, like, why are you apologizing?

Because it means it.

If I could do it, I would maybe give it a go, but I can't.

I can't cut his nails.

I don't know how bloody bath a dog.

So I'm paying you to do it.

And she could have charged me 60 quid to bath Frank and cut his nails and I would pay it because I don't have that skill to do it.

So you've got to start pricing your worth.

And I know we hear that phrase all the time in the pet industry, but it is so, so important, otherwise you're gonna burn out and then that'll be the end of that.

So there's a little phrase that people say is turnover is vanity and profit is sanity.

And what that means is someone could say, oh, I'm turning over 120 grand.

But actually, if you look at their profit and everyone's going, Amazing, 120 grand.

He must have a really good business.

But then their Profit is only 12, and then you think, ooh, okay.

So that's why people say that saying turnover as vanity, profit is sanity, is because just on paper, you could say, oh, someone has 120 gram business, but actually what is their profit levels?

And that's what you've got to look at.

And without the goals, we drift and then eventually say we burn out.

So that's why it's so important.

Laura.

We've kept just for people who are listening on the podcast, we've kept our business small and personal.

And I cut down a couple of years ago when my old dog was unwell.

I'm doing a charity fundraiser at the moment and got 70% of my target in seven days.

Wow.

So prove to Myself, I still got it marketing wise.

That's amazing.

You should put it in the group.

If you're doing it for a charity, pop the link in the group.

We all love animals and stuff like that, so it's worth doing and you might hit the rest of your target.

Laura, Tanya, it's all well and good.

If you can get the clients.

What would be.

If you don't mind sharing, Tanya, what would.

What is you finding difficult about getting the clients?

Are you talking in relation to price or marketing, what you've come from?

If you don't mind sharing, if you don't want to share, it's absolutely fine.

But are you talking about price wise or marketing wise?

And if you've got a struggle, then just pop it in the chat and we'll, we'll go through it.

So remember that phrase, turnover is vanity, profit is sanity.

And it doesn't always, because it looks good on paper doesn't necessarily mean that that person's bringing in all of the profit.

And profit is the main thing.

So it's not just about numbers.

Okay?

We're not just talking about numbers.

It's the emotional side of the goals as well.

So it's about your lifestyle.

You could say, right, sit down with yourself and say, right, did you start the business for freedom?

Did you start the business for flexibility?

Did you start the business for control of your own time?

And sometimes I've asked those questions and I did it in the workshop for the expo and I said, you know, is that why you saw, why did you start your business?

Like, let me know.

And a lot of people said those things, time, freedom, flexibility.

Yet a lot of the people said they feel trapped by it.

And that is where the goal setting comes in.

Because if we don't have the goals, you're going to overwork yourself, you're going to undercharge, you're going to tolerate bad habits and you're going to have constant stress.

So when you don't decide what you want your business to pay you, you subconsciously accept whatever it gives.

So if you, like I said to you, I think it was maybe an episode or two ago about paying yourself, you know, you need to give yourself a set wage and not just take what's left over.

Otherwise that just becomes the norm.

And this is why having a goal resets that.

And you think, right, that is my goal.

How am I going to do that?

And ultimately, if it's monetary, it's going to come down to pricing, but it also comes down to your quality of clients.

And Like I said before, it's not saying the horrible people, it's just maybe they're not aligned to your client base and what you're wanting.

Right, guys, I'm just gonna interrupt the podcast for a quick second.

As an accountant, we're always trying to find ways of saving you guys some money, which is why we have teamed up with the brilliant Low pay who are half the price of summer.

So make sure you guys click the link in the bio and save those pennies.

Let's get back to the podcast.

Fabulous.

So I'll just read it out.

Laura's put I budget to buy new vans with cash, etc, so possibly I have goals.

Yeah, I don't really do monetary goals.

I know the mint.

I need to have a life so that maybe that's a goal without thinking.

Yeah, probably, Louise.

Probably a subconscious goal that you've got in the back of your head that that's what you want to do.

So you're doing it without thinking, but maybe try and do some monetary goals.

And again, like, your goals are going to depend on your situation.

Some people might have monetary goals, some people might have lifestyle goals.

And it all depends on your situation and what it is that you want to work towards.

I have business goals and I set personal goals as well.

So every January I'll sit down and go, these are the six things I think team called Bingo Card.

These are the six things that I want to achieve in 2026.

It could be, I don't know, I want to pick up my guitar again, I haven't played for it in years.

Or I want to go shooting again because I haven't picked up a gun for ages.

Legal, by the way, before I panic, Vicky's got a gun.

It's a shotgun and it's fully legal.

I have a license.

Only do clay pigeon shooting just in case anyone worries.

But it could be stuff like that.

And like I said, everyone's goal is going to be different.

And I don't know if Tanya was referring to.

It's all well and good if you can get the clients about pricing, possibly.

But the problem of charging less than what you think you should do is you're going to attract the clients that are coming to you based on lower prices.

And as soon as you try and up those prices, they're going to kick off.

And also by starting low to get all of those clients in, it's going to take you years to get to the point of where, like the average price, we see the average price for a cockapoo 70 quid.

If you're just starting up and you charge 30 pound because you want to get the clients through the door, how long do you think it's going to take to get from 30 pounds, 70 pound with price increases and also that you're attracting the people that only want to pay 30 pound for a cockpit.

So as soon as you start raising your prices to where they should be on a national average, just as a hypothetical situation, then it's going to take you years and years and years to get to that point.

And also, sorry, also the clients are going to kick off because they don't want to pay it.

So I understand that from a business perspective, especially if you knew that you sort of mentally think, oh, well, if I charge 70 quid, I'm never going to get the client.

You will.

It might take a little bit longer, but you will get and you'll attract the right clients.

If you start low, low, low, then all you're going to do is attract the low paying clients who are going to kick off when you try and put it up.

So it's just something to think about.

Obviously there's going to be other factors that factor into all of this stuff.

I'm not, you know, saying it's going to be easy, but if you start off at the right level, then it'll be a lot easier in the future.

So the financial education that people don't get, and this is the bit nobody teaches and what I mentioned before, if you turn over 120k and this again is just a hypothetical figure, and you keep 10% of that as a profit, that's only 12 grand.

So like I said to you before, on paper it looks great, but actually when you look down at the profit, not so great.

So revenue means nothing really without the profit margin.

And that's what we need to be looking at is the profit margin, not just revenue, because like I said, 120 grand on paper.

But if you're only taking 12 grand, then there's something not right.

So you must know what your break even point is.

And this is something that we discussed at the Expo actually is a break even point.

So if your fixed monthly costs are, for example, four grand and your average service, depending on what you do, is 50 pound, you're going to need 80 appointments just to be level.

Okay?

So everything above that is profit and everything below that, we're in danger zone.

So you could look at it as simply as that.

Look what your fixed monthly costs are.

Look at your average price of your service and how many Appointments you need just to cover those costs and then you can work on stuff from then again, this is where pricing comes into it.

All of these podcasts are all going to be interlinked.

The clients, the pricing, the goal setting, diary, like, everything, boundaries are all going to be linked together and going to help.

So you know, you can't just do one without doing the others.

It's all interlinked.

So we've got to look at everything.

And if you're listening to this and you haven't heard the previous podcasts, please go back and have a look because we've done one that they all sort of link together in a loose way.

Mel did two seven pound increases since our call yesterday afternoon.

Fabulous.

And Mel, if you don't mind sharing with this lovely group, how did the clients take it?

So just to give a bit of context, we had a chat yesterday about loads of things, but primarily pricing.

And Mel was saying, oh, you know, I've increased it by this much.

And I said, how have you got that figure?

And she was like, I don't know.

So I was like, come on Mel, let's discuss it.

And we went through it and I said, well actually after the discussion you should probably increase that to £7.

And obviously I'm not going to go into all of the details, but she's done it.

So we've done two at £7, so let us know how we go.

Mel, did the clients grumble?

Did they just take it on the chin?

How did it go?

Because I think when people see other people increasing it, it does, it's a mindset thing and I think if one few people do it and say, oh no, it was fine, it'll give people the confidence to, to do it again and for them to go and do it.

And also I said to her, you know, all in the, on the Facebook groups, which I love and hate, at the same time, everybody has a price increase of 3 to 5 pounds.

Where has this 3 to 5 pound come from?

Please someone tell me where 3 and 5 pound has come from.

Because everyone, especially groomers, only do it three to five pounds.

That's all I've seen on social media is I've increased it by three pound.

I've increased my five pound.

Where are people getting these figures from?

One was no comment, even after me explaining why others said, no problem, fabulous.

50, 50.

Planning on two ten pound ones a day or you go mild now, Mel.

Fabulous.

And the thing I said to Mel is, and we're going slightly off topic here is if you if you have 10 people call you up regardless what service you do, and you give them a price and all 10 say yes, that is a signal that you are too cheap.

Every person you spoke to said yes, so you're too cheap.

So I would then increase the price by however much you want to increase it by and then do the next 10 at the new price.

If eight say yes and two say no, it's still too cheap.

You know, we don't want a 10 out of 10.

That's bad.

I know it sounds counterproductive, but it is bad.

We need like, I don't know, five out of 10, even a four out of 10 because those four that are paying the extra extra amount are going to cover the other six that that didn't want to.

And then you do in four jobs instead of 10.

And you've got four clients that value what you do because they're prepared to pay the higher price.

So that's the way that you've got to look at it.

So test your price and if you're not sure and you can't work it out using your figures and you think, right, I'm going to go from 55 pound to 60 pound.

Just trial it out until someone says no.

If the next five people at £60 say yes, try £65 for the next five.

If they say yes, go up to 70 until you start getting the nose.

Then you find your sweet spot.

And that's obviously what Mel's trying there.

She might do those two 10 pound ones and they go, oh, come on, Mel, I take the piss.

You know, they might say no.

Then she knows that 7's fine, but 10's too high.

So then she can adjust it accordingly.

But then if she's got two pin ten happy days.

If the other two don't want it, then it doesn't matter because you're still making more money with less effort.

So we need to work smarter, not harder.

I know that phrase gets run around all the time.

So just remember, do the simple maths.

You fix the cost, the average price, how many points you need to break even, and then you can see where you need to go from there.

If you haven't increased your prices in over two years, okay, And I know there's a lot of people out there that haven't, because I speak to a lot of people all the time.

Inflation alone will have given you a pay cut.

If you have not increased your prices in the last two years, you will have had a pay cut guaranteed because everything else has gone up.

And you've stayed the same.

So actually you're earning less money, hence the pay cut.

So if you sat there listening to this and the only thing you take away is, I'm going to do a price increase, whether it's by the magical number of three and five pounds, or you look at your figures and go, this is what I need to increase it by, then please, please, please do that, Laura.

I think doing smaller increases seems less daunting.

Clients may not feel the difference too much.

Is it better to do a small increase every six months rather than one big one annually where a daycare, group walk and cat visits again?

I don't think it's a one size fits all, Laura, because everyone's different and everyone's figures are going to be different.

But I would say, I mean, you're going to know by a client if you're going to do it yearly, I would say do it in the same month every year.

So if you're going to do it every January, keep to doing every January.

That way the clients will get used to you increasing your prices in January and then they won't sort of be surprised by it.

I think those that do maybe do January, April, August, then it becomes a bit disjointed and then the clients don't know when the next price increase is coming.

So if you do it in a structured way and do it twice a year, you could do it once in January, once in September, but keep to that system.

Do it January, September, January, September, so that your clients get used to it and you almost won't have to tell them at some point that you're doing a price increase because they'll just expect it.

I think whether you do it once a year and $6 or twice a year and do three and three, I don't think it's going to make that much difference because they'd either get annoyed at the one big increase or they'll get annoyed at multiple increases.

So you'd have to gauge that on what, you know, your clients.

If it was me personally, I would just do one a year and I'd do it on the same month every year.

So the people got used to it.

I put my.

Hi, Leanne, I put my prices up in New Year.

Admittedly not enough, but everyone was fine with it.

Even had a couple say about time.

Now thinking I need to put it up again, but worried I look unprofessional.

Put it up again in the space of three months.

Three months might probably be psychologically too soon.

I think if you're going to do it again, Leanne, then I'll do it at the six month mark rather than just doing it a couple of months after the last one.

Because I know you haven't.

But it might look from the customer's point of view that you've gone to work on and said, yes, I'm going to put it up again.

But if no one's blinked an eye, yeah, I might go back to my early comment of if everyone's saying, yes, you're too cheap.

And this, again, this is where starting off cheap has an implication down the years because then it takes you longer to get to the price that you should have charged initially.

And like you say, you can't just go out and put my prices by 30 quid just because you should have done that, you know, two, three years ago.

And this is where pricing right at the beginning is going to save you a lot less ag.

Moving forward, it might be harder, but in the long run it's going to be easier because you're not going to have to fight for those multiple price increases to get it to the point where it should have been.

So I would do, maybe do it six months.

Leanne would be my advice.

So four types of business goals I think we should be having.

So number one would be a revenue goal, a specific annual number.

So it could be, I don't know, every this year I want to turn over 100,000.

It could be this year I want to hit the VAT threshold.

Not that many people probably have that as a target, knowing people's thoughts on that.

Number two, a profit goal.

Now this is a big one.

You got to look at your profit, okay, and say, I want to make X amount of profit.

And not just the revenues, not just your sales figure.

We need a profit goal as well.

Number three would be an operational goal.

So that could be taking on staff, it could be a pricing structure, it could be dealing with cancellations, it could be implementing booking systems, for example.

So an operational goal and then a personal goal.

Think about what your business is funding for, okay?

Because if your business isn't going to support your life goals, then you're eventually just going to resent the business.

So we've got to have a personal goal in there as well.

It could be, I want to go to the Maldives for a week, or it could be, I want to go to Disneyland or whatever it might be.

But your business goals should be supporting what you want to do in your personal life as well.

So revenue goal, profit goal, operational goal, Personal goal.

Even if you think to yourself, oh, Vicky, that's too much, I'm not doing all four.

It'll stress myself out.

Like I can only concentrate on one thing.

Then just do one goal.

You could give it a six month time frame and say, right, every six months I'm gonna do a new goal and that's what I'm going to achieve in those six months.

But just make them.

Anyone that you know that you go to school when you're at school.

And Lisa, they used to say, smart, make sure your goals are smart.

And everyone used to go, and you have to write that grid out with smart, like measurable, achievable.

But it goes back to what you used to use at school.

They need to be achievable.

They need to have a time frame.

It can't be, I want to earn x amount in 5 years time.

Because like you're just going to get bored.

So I would do short increments, which is why in the workshop I did do the day, we did 90 day goals.

And that could be, I want to earn this month this much every month the next three months.

Like I say, it could be anything.

But if you get sort of overwhelmed by things or whatever, then just do small little ones that you can measure, but just make sure they are smart goals, otherwise you get bored.

So 90 day strategy.

I'm, I don't do five year plans because I'll just forget.

I get bored and I'll just, it just goes, I'll write them down and I never look at them again probably for five years and I'll go on a five year goal plan.

So that's why I do it in like 90 days.

Okay.

It's good to have those vision boards for like where you see yourself in five years.

But the goals I feel actually have a shorter time frame.

So this is what you guys do and this is what the Expo guys are going to be doing over the next three months and we'll see who gets to achieve them quicker or who does it or who manages to achieve the goal out of the two groups.

So if you're listening, I want you to grab a pen and I want you to write these things down.

So these are your goals for the next 90 days.

And this is what I want you to write.

Increased revenue.

So your sales to X per month.

So I want to increase my revenue to £3,000 per month or whatever your figure might be.

So write that down.

I want to improve my profit margin to X percent.

So if your profit margin is 10%.

I want to increase that to 50%.

So that'll be your next one.

And again, if you just want to pick one of these, that's fine.

Six might be too many.

I want to implement one system improvement.

So that could be getting booking software or save it on your notes.

Yes, as Tegan said, could be booking software, for example.

Make one pricing decision.

So what are we putting more prices up to?

Are we going to offer more services?

We're going to improve the services we've got, we're going to start packages.

It could be anything.

Even if he said, as a dog groom, I want to put nail trims up with fiverr, or as a trainer, I'm going to implement this package and charge X.

So whatever it might be, and then the next one stop one behaviour that is costing profit.

So that could be, for example, if anyone shows up late or cancels without giving me sufficient notice, again, I'm going to start enforcing my terms and conditions and charging that money.

Because if you're not, that is what costs you money.

So by doing like a short term one rather than a long term one, it will create that urgency for you to get it done.

It will build your confidence as you go through and you know you've done it and you've achieved it and it allows time for you to review it and adjust it.

Because if we do a year plan and then we don't look at it between now and 12 months, the same as a self assessment.

If I don't look at your self assessment for a year and then I look at your figures, I can't really do much about what you've done 12 months ago.

Whereas if I'd seen your figures every three months, I'm going to say, oh, hang on a minute, you might want to change X, Y and Z.

Because I can see from your figures here that you're doing this and we can implement and we can change it and we can review it and we can make it better, but if you're looking at it after 12 months and you did something wrong or didn't implement something nine months ago, there's nothing really much we could do about that.

Which is why I always advocate doing the 90 days, because it just works better and we can review it and go, right, that didn't quite work out because of this.

So the next three months, that's what I'm going to work on and it'll just give you that confidence.

Bark Co.

I've put prices up on individual basis, depending on the client dog's Grooming needs and how long they've been coming.

What's your opinion?

I feel like the client grooming needs could be a fair one.

Like if you've got a really difficult dog who on a normal occasion would take one hour, but because this dog has whatever issue, it takes three hours and obviously you're going to charge more for that.

So that could work.

Doing them all individual for me would stress me out because then I would have to remember what each client is being charged because you don't have like a structured system.

So me personally, that would stress me out, what are they?

What do I charge them?

Again, what do I charge them?

So I would probably.

Individual basis.

I think you should have a set be.

And then if the dog has certain needs, then it's an additional 10 quid, 15 quid, whatever you want it to be.

And that still works in your assessing the individual needs, but not on an extreme basis.

And how long they've been coming.

Do you mean are they on a regular schedule or just the fact that your clients have been with you for a long time?

Again, I probably wouldn't do it on that basis either, because I think you're making it more complicated for yourself.

But a question could be.

I mean, that's just my opinion.

The question can be, are you making a lot of money doing it that way?

Is the system working?

If the system's working, then don't change it.

But from an outsider looking in, I would feel that maybe you're probably adding stress to yourself by having to remember what each dog costs and maybe undercharging for some things.

So maybe just something to think about.

But if the system works, then don't fix it.

But if you're thinking that you're not getting enough money and it's not working, then that might be the reason why.

So hopefully that helps.

Sorry, Mr.

Rouse, chat with replying, just did a £10 increase.

Fluffy cockapoo.

I don't know what FFKM means.

Not down the kids 75 to 85.

And the owner was amazing about it.

Boom, there you go.

So everyone listen to Mel.

10 pound increase right there and then.

Bosch client hasn't battered an eyelid.

And that just goes to show, I think a lot of it is mindset and we just think the clients aren't going to pay it.

We don't know if the client's going to pay it.

Who knows?

And if they don't, it's absolutely fine.

Let them go to a cheaper groomer, let them go to a cheaper dog walker.

You just Try not to let outside influences affect your pricing.

And we've got to get the industry to start charging what they need to charge because like I said, it's not just groomers, it's dog walkers, dog trainers, anything to do with the pet injury find were just too nice.

I should put from just a typo.

I thought it was like a lettuce or something.

10 pound increase and therapist support.

Yeah, exactly.

Sam, how's the new puppy?

Let me know, send me some pictures.

So, yeah, so I think it's a mindset thing.

We all need to get a grip and start charging what we should be charging and not second guess what the client will and won't pay.

If they don't pay, let them jog on.

So 90 days have those as some 90 day targets.

If you don't want to do all of them, just focus on one that maybe would mean more to you and we'll just see how, see how it changes things, See if it changes how you do things in your day to day business.

So it might be that you put in this clear target and everything sort of sharpens up and you subconsciously or consciously stop discounting, stop getting discounts.

You're starting to track your numbers monthly because you want to see whether you've hit that target or not.

You stop saying yes to things that are unprofitable.

Like can you just do this quickly or can you just squeeze this dog in?

No, the answer is no.

And you look at your expenses properly, okay?

And it removes the emotional side from it because you're thinking, right, these are my goals, this is what I need to do.

And it will probably subconsciously force you to look at the numbers, okay?

We've had job rumors, dog walkers, increased prices, 5, 10, 15 pounds per dog, okay?

And you do that, six dogs a day, five days a week.

You're talking a massive chunk in extra revenue from that one decision.

If you take Mel for an example, you know, hair increasing a dog's pound 10, if she does 40 dogs in a month, it's a lot of money extra in Mel's pocket.

So let's say small tweaks can make a huge difference.

So do some homework for this week and just, even if you just do one goal and say by the end of the 90 days I will do a recap.

So I'm going to do it for the export group in their 90 day workshop and then I will come on the day after and we'll see how everyone's got on from here.

But I want you to do it to write them down and also a bit of a reflection point to maybe re hone and get back into the mindset of running the businesses.

Sit and ask yourself and write down, what did my business actually pay me last year?

Go and find out what did my business pay me last year?

Because sometimes these can be eye opening.

What do I want to pay myself this year?

Okay, what do I want my pay to be this year?

Where am I undercharging?

Have a look at your figures and see if there's anything that you know that you're undercharging but you've just not bothered to change what expense is draining profit because again, you might be buying loads of something in and actually no one buys it and it's just training your profit.

And those are the questions that if you just write down sometimes can be a bit of an eye opener with what your answers are.

So just have a look at those few things.

What you paid yourself last year, what you want to pay yourself this year.

Why do you think you undercharging or where are you undercharging and which expense is training that profit that isn't really doing much.

So that's what I want you guys to do because if we don't, the market will set them for you.

And that's where all the disaster happens.

Rising costs, inflation, competition.

You're just going to get stressed.

So we deserve to have a profitable business.

You deserve to pay yourself properly.

And that starts by having those goals and even the most tiniest ones will make a massive difference.

I told my son he will need to pay now I'm self employed.

I've said weekends.

I've told my son he will need to pay now I'm self employed.

I've said weekends are extra for customers.

Yeah, why not?

I said to our friend who's a dog walker, why do you work on a Saturday and Sunday like?

And why you, why are you not charging extra for those days?

Because no one wants to work a Saturday and a Sunday, so charge extra for it.

People are off work, so if they're not walking the dog because they want to go shopping or whatever, then why should you suffer and have to work that Saturday for the same money you charge extra and even a 10 pound supplement for Saturday and Sunday and you have regular customers that want you to do on those days and even that's going to make a massive difference to your back pocket.

So it's just small tweaks.

Lenka.

Hiya.

I really struggled with pricing.

2022 become the most expensive Dark walker in the area, but I can't live my peanuts.

Exactly.

Didn't lose many clients increasing prices from the next tax year just by a little.

Everything else increases.

It's well justified.

Exactly.

And also you don't have to justify a price increase to anybody.

You know, a lot of.

I see a lot of clients going, really sorry I've got to do this.

Well, I'm really sorry we've got to do that.

Take the sorry out of it.

You run into business at the end of the day and your prices do have to go up.

So stop apologizing.

We don't need to apologize to clients for upping the prices.

It's just part and parcel running the business and everyone does it, so why can't you guys do it?

So just start thinking with that mindset of we don't apologise, we put it up, but please look at your numbers to get those increases more relatable to you and your figures and not the magical 2, 3, 5 pound increase that I see floating about.

So yes, that is it for today.

I hope you all enjoyed it.

Thank you so much for participating in the comments.

It does make things a lot easier and a lot more interesting when people are putting real life stories in there and real life scenarios that we can then talk through together.

So thank you so much for those of you who have contributed.

If you listen to this on the replay, please put hashtag replay and let me know how your goals are going.

Let me know if you achieve them.

Just tag, just put something in the group DM me personally make friends with me on Facebook and let me know because I would be interested to see who does it and what has happened in those three months as far as your business is concerned.

So please do that for me.

That would be fabulous.

Hopefully I won't be here or I might be here next week because it's Wednesday just before Crufts and if not I will see you guys at Crufts where they're all week all one stand 72 and come and say hello.

We do have a bit of fizz more introduced and some sweets and things and we may have things to give away, I don't know yet.

We'll see.

So make sure you come and say hello and then I will catch up with you all when I'm back and we'll have a bit of a Clusters debrief.

But yes, have fun and hopefully we'll see you there.

Have a good weekend and get those goals written down over the next few days.

We're going to start the 90 day challenge on the 1st of March, so you've got plenty of time to have a think about what they will be.

This will be going live in the podcast on Monday, so make sure you subscribe to the podcast.

It is easily named Pet Account Podcast with my lovely face on the front.

So yes, please do that and we'll see you at Cross and I'll catch up with you next week everyone.

Bye bye.

Thanks for listening to the podcast.

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See you next week.

Sam.