Ongoing Monthly Expenses
These are the recurring costs of running the salon each month. Fixed costs are paid regardless of client volume. Variable costs scale with the number of dogs groomed.
Fixed Monthly Expenses
Status: First-pass estimate populated for review - see Notes column for the assumption behind each number. Nothing here is a real quote yet.
Staffing basis: Sized for a 4-employee team - Kendra + 3 staff groomers - matching the Year-1 target in business-goals-and-milestones (“3 full-time groomers certified… plus Kendra as executive chef”), not the smaller launch-phase team. If “four employees” was meant differently (e.g., one of the four is a front-desk/receptionist rather than a groomer), flag it and this section needs rework.
| Expense | Monthly Cost | Annual Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rent / lease | $2,500 | $30,000 | Working number from Kendra/Jeremy, not tied to a specific lease yet - carried as-is. Re-check against the actual space once a location is under LOI (the 4-station buildout in startup-costs implies ~1,500-2,000 sq ft, which $2,500/mo is plausible for in the Concord, NH area, but this needs a real listing to confirm). |
| Utilities (electric, water, gas) | $650 | $7,800 | Bumped up from a 1-2 person estimate to reflect all 4 stations (per startup-costs: 4 grooming tables, 2 tubs) running most of the day - heavier water heating, dryer, and laundry load. Confirm once square footage and heat type (gas vs. electric) are known. |
| Business insurance (GL + bailee’s) | $175 | $2,100 | Estimated combined premium for a 4-employee pet grooming salon (GL + bailee’s/care-custody-control coverage), spread monthly. Get an actual quote from a pet-industry insurer (e.g., Pethood, BusinessInsurance.org) before finalizing. |
| Workers’ compensation insurance | $506 (hypothetical) | $6,072 | New line, not in the original template - became material once headcount moved to 4 W-2 employees. NH requires WC coverage for any business with employees. Estimated at ~3% of gross payroll (animal-handling classification carries bite/scratch/back-strain risk); get an actual quote before finalizing. |
| Booking software subscription | $120 | $1,440 | Upper mid-tier plan sized for a 4-5 user salon (e.g., MoeGo, Gingr, 123Pet) - these price by staff count/features. |
| POS software / payment processing | 0 base + 2.6% + 0.10/txn | - | Most groomer-specific platforms (MoeGo, Gingr) bundle card processing into the booking software - no separate POS subscription assumed. The per-transaction % is the real variable cost; see Payment Processing section below. |
| Business phone | $45 | $540 | Multi-line VoIP plan (e.g., RingCentral, Ooma) to cover front desk + back room with 4 staff on site. |
| Google Workspace / email | $22 | $264 | 3 seats (Kendra, Jeremy, shared front-desk account) at the Business Starter tier - assumes staff groomers don’t need individual accounts. |
| Website hosting | $25 | $300 | Assumes a hosted site builder (Squarespace/Wix) rather than separate dev + hosting. Not headcount-driven. |
| Kendra (owner / executive chef) salary | $4,000 | $48,000 | Reduced from $5,000, per direct instruction 2026-07-07. Flat salary, not commission-based. |
| Staff groomers (3, commission-based) | $12,870 (hypothetical - see note) | $154,440 | 50% commission (decided by Kendra 2026-07-07). This row assumes 100% of the Year-1 target volume is commissioned - a HYPOTHETICAL reference point, not what actually happens. In reality Kendra keeps grooming a meaningful amount through the buildup (she’s salaried, not commissioned), so real commission cost is lower than this at any given month. See the note below and financial-model.xlsx for the real month-by-month figure. |
| Payroll taxes (employer portion) | ~$1,291 (hypothetical) | ~$15,486 | 7.65% FICA on the 16,870/mo hypothetical total payroll above (Kendra's 4,000 salary + fully-commissioned staff). Real payroll tax is lower in practice since real commission is lower - see note below. |
| Accountant / bookkeeping | $300 | $3,600 | Bumped up from a 1-2 employee estimate - 4 employees means quarterly 941 filings and more complex payroll to reconcile. |
| Laundry service or supplies | $135 | $1,620 | Scaled up with dog volume (396/mo at 4-groomer capacity vs. 176/mo at launch) - in-house laundry, washer/dryer already budgeted as a one-time cost in startup-costs. |
| Loan repayment | N/A | N/A | Not applicable - the business is privately funded by Jeremy and Courtney as equal partners/investors (see startup-costs Funding Sources) rather than financed with a bank/SBA loan. Repayment comes out of profit distributions via the cap-and-sweep policy in financial-model.xlsx, not a fixed monthly obligation, so it doesn’t belong in this operating-expense table. |
| Miscellaneous / buffer | $300 | $3,600 | ~2% buffer on fixed costs for small unplanned expenses. |
Fixed Monthly Total (hypothetical, 100%-commissioned reference case): ~22,939 - down from ~24,050 at the earlier $5,000-salary assumption, but still a hypothetical that overstates real cost (see note below)
⚠️ This whole table is now a reference snapshot, not the real month-by-month picture. As of 2026-07-07, financial-model.xlsx tracks production per groomer (Kendra + up to 3 staff), because Kendra is salaried, not commissioned - only staff production carries the 50% commission cost. She keeps grooming a real, declining-but-nonzero amount throughout the buildup (by design, not by accident - see the spreadsheet’s Read Me tab), so actual commission cost at any given month is lower than the “100% commissioned” figures in this table assume. The spreadsheet is the source of truth for actual monthly figures; this file is best used for understanding the fixed-cost line items themselves (rent, insurance, etc.), which don’t change with the commission question.
Variable Monthly Expenses (Per Dog)
Status: First-pass estimate - shampoo/conditioner costs are anchored to the concentrate prices already researched in startup-costs; the rest are rough per-use allocations pending real invoices.
| Expense | Estimated Cost Per Dog | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Shampoo | $1.50 | Based on the $50/gal concentrate in startup-costs, diluted per typical grooming ratios |
| Conditioner | $2.00 | Based on the $120/gal concentrate in startup-costs - pricier concentrate than shampoo |
| Ear cleaning solution | $0.40 | |
| Disposables (gloves, wipes) | $0.60 | |
| Towel laundry allocation | $0.40 | Detergent + utility cost per load, amortized across towels used per dog |
| Bandana / bow | $0.40 | Reusable bandanas would lower this; disposable bows raise it |
| Blade sharpening allocation | $0.30 | ~$8-10/blade sharpened every ~100 uses, amortized |
| Styptic powder / first aid | $0.15 | Small amount per dog, amortized |
Variable Cost Per Dog (estimate): 6-8 (itemized total is $5.75; rounded up to leave room for unlisted consumables like finishing spray)
Monthly Expense Summary
Status: revenue-projections hasn’t had its “dogs/month” assumption filled in yet, so the volume below is borrowed from the Year-1 target in business-goals-and-milestones (18 dogs/day × 22 days = 396 dogs/month) - matching the 4-employee staffing basis used above. Once revenue-projections.md is populated, re-pull this from there instead.
| Category | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|
| Fixed costs (hypothetical, 100%-commissioned) | ~$22,939 |
| Variable costs (at 396 dogs/month, incl. payment processing) | ~$3,380 |
| Total Monthly Expenses (hypothetical) | ~$26,319 |
⚠️ Reconciliation flag - superseded 2026-07-07, keeping for the audit trail. Against the hypothetical 100%-commissioned figure above, 25,740/mo revenue vs. ~26,319/mo expenses is still a small loss (579/mo) - the 4,000 salary cut helps, but doesn’t fully close what was previously a ~1,690/mo gap. **But this hypothetical isn't what actually happens.** Once Kendra's real, continued production is modeled per-groomer instead of assuming she's instantly 100% replaced, Month 12 (the actual Year-1-target month) shows **~3,500/mo operating profit**, not a loss - because a meaningful share of that month’s volume is still her salaried, non-commissioned production. See financial-model.xlsx’s Monthly Model tab for the real figure at any given month, and its Read Me tab for why this matters more than the commission rate did.
The real remaining gap is against the +10,000/mo Year-1 target, not against breakeven: ~3,500/mo at Month 12 is real progress but still ~$6,500 short of that target. Live levers, per the spreadsheet:
- Raise the average ticket - still $65 flat here; breed-pricing-matrix confirmation (question #20) remains the most direct lever on revenue.
- How much Kendra keeps grooming, and for how long - the spreadsheet’s default has her production declining but never reaching zero under current targets (she’s back to a full 8/day by Month 26, just to keep 3 staff-capped-at-8/day teams at the stated 32-dogs/day ceiling). Adjusting her ramp up or down directly moves the profit line - this is now the single biggest lever, bigger than the commission rate ever was.
- Whether a 4th staff groomer (not just Kendra) is the real path to the growth ceiling - see the headline finding in
financial-model.xlsx’s Read Me tab.
Payment Processing
Credit card / digital payment processing is charged as a percentage per transaction (not a flat fee). Track this separately:
| Processor | Rate | Monthly Volume | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| MoeGo (or comparable groomer platform) built-in processing | 2.6% + $0.10 per transaction | 25,740 (396 dogs × 65 avg ticket) | ~$709 |
The $25,740 volume and 396-dog count match the Year-1 revenue target in business-goals-and-milestones - a useful consistency check, but both numbers are still projections, not booked revenue.
Add this to the variable cost column - it scales with revenue.
Annual Capital Expenses
Beyond monthly operating costs, budget for occasional larger expenses:
| Item | Estimated Annual Budget | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Blade and shear sharpening | $700 | Quarterly outsourced sharpening across ~28-32 tools for 4 groomers (up from ~15-20 for 2) |
| Equipment replacement reserve | $1,500 | Sinking fund for clippers, dryers, shears, and tables - heavier use across 4 stations running full-time. See replacement cycles in equipment-list |
| Continuing education / training | $1,400 | Seminars/certifications for Kendra + 3 staff groomers (~$350/person) |
| Marketing (annual campaigns) | $1,200 | Ongoing social content and seasonal promotions, beyond the one-time launch marketing budgeted in startup-costs - not headcount-driven |