The Barkroom Chat

Ep 30 - How to Cut Down Waste in Your Grooming Business (Without Increasing Costs)

• Linda • Episode 30

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0:00 | 13:18

Running a home-based grooming business comes with its own set of challenges—tight margins, limited space, and the constant pressure to stay organised.

But one thing that often goes unnoticed?

Waste.

In this episode, we’re breaking down simple, practical ways to reduce waste in your grooming business—without spending more money or overcomplicating your setup.

Because small changes can make a big difference to your profits, your workflow, and your overall peace of mind.

🐶 What You’ll Learn in This Episode

  •  How overusing products is quietly costing you money (and how to fix it) 
  • Why wasted time is just as expensive as wasted supplies 
  • Simple ways to make your towels last longer and work harder 
  • How to avoid overbuying (even when bulk deals are tempting) 
  • Why simplifying your setup can actually improve your results 
  • Easy swaps to reduce single-use items in your daily routine 
  • How creating systems can naturally eliminate waste in your business

💛 Final Thought

Reducing waste isn’t about being perfect—it’s about being intentional.

And when you get that right?

Everything in your business starts to feel easier.

🔗 Next Steps

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure you subscribe and share it with another dog groomer who’s building a business with heart.

And if you’re ready to create a more polished, professional, and aligned grooming business—keep an eye out for more resources from Glossy Pup Academy 🐾✨


Resources

SPEAKER_00

Hey there, welcome to the Barcroop Chat Podcast, the show for women who dream of building a thriving dog grooming business from home. Whether you're just starting out, already seeing clients, or somewhere in between, this is your go-to space for real talk, practical tips, a little bit of gossip, and a whole lot of encouragement. I'm Linda, the founder of Glossy Pop Academy, a former dog groomer, turned business mentor, and your biggest cheerleader. Let's turn your passion for Pops into a profitable, feel-good, successful business that you've always dreamed of. Grab a coppa, get comfy, and let's dive in. Hello and welcome back to the Backroom Chat Podcast. My name is Linda, your host, and today we are sticking to the topic of sustainability, which we have been talking about all month, and this week we're talking about waste. So if you're running a grooming business, you already know that you're juggling a lot, okay? So it's tight margins, limited space, and trying to stay organized while giving every dog a beautiful finish. But today we're talking about something that often goes unnoticed, and it quietly chips away at your profits and your peace of mind, and that is waste. Now don't worry, this isn't about spending more money or completely reinventing your setup. In fact, today I'm going to walk you through some simple practical tweaks that will help save you money, simplify your workflow, and actually create a professional experience for your clients. So let's dive in. So the first thing I want to talk about is being intentional with your product usage. So let's start with one of the biggest culprits, which is product overuse. It's so easy, especially when you're busy or rushing, to add that extra squeeze of shampoo or conditioner just in case. But those little extras they add up fast. Here's what you can do instead. So pre-dilute your shampoo and do that before your appointment. Use pump dispensers so you are getting consistent amounts every time, and start paying attention to how long your products actually last you. Most groomers find they can cut their usage by 20 or 30% without affecting their results at all. Number two, stop throwing away your time. Now, here's something we don't talk about enough. Waste isn't just physical, it's also your time. Every minute you spend looking for your tools, rewashing towels, or repeating steps, it's literally costing you money. So a few quick fixes can be to create a simple grooming routine checklist, keep your tools in the same place every single time, and batch tasks like cleaning and laundry, so on. Less chaos means more efficiency and therefore more income potential. And if you do want help with this, that's exactly why I've created the Glossy Pop blueprint. So I'll leave you a link down below, you can check that out, and it's all about uh creating systems for your grooming business, and they're all pre-made for you, and you can edit them to suit your own business as well. But truly, it is such a lifesaver and streamlines your business for you. Number three is get more life out of those towels. So let's talk about the towels because they are another sneaky source of waste. Washing half loads or consistently replacing worn-out towels can really eat into your profits. So try this instead. Use high absorbency towels so it'll help to dry the dogs faster. Therefore, you're also using less electricity when it comes to the dryers. Create a clear system for clean versus used towels because sometimes you're not quite sure because they're all lumped together, or a wet towel, dirty towel will end up on top of a clean one, then you end up having to wash the both of them again anyway, and air dry them where you can to reduce the wear and tear. Another thing is keep your older towels for messier jobs instead of throwing them away. So you know, um cleaning up your floor if someone has an accident, use the old dirty towels for that, or you can cut them up and use them as rags for cleaning down your table, your equipment, your floors, anything. So try and reuse as much as possible instead of going out and buying new. One thing is you're saving the environment because you're not creating a demand for more fabric and textiles, which obviously we have massive landfills full of at the moment, but also you're saving money because you're not buying new tiles and replacing them as often. Okay, so number four is buy smarter, not more. Bulk buying can feel like a smart move, but only if you actually use everything, otherwise, it just turns into clutter and wasted money. Also, you have to know how your brain works because some people will see all that bulk and they will be really uh good with it and really calculated in how they use it, and other people will be more wasteful because they know there's more there. So, if you know you have like we you know, even with a baby, if you know you have a box of wipes, you're probably going to go through them a lot quicker than if you have one packet of wipes. You're gonna spare that packet. If you can't get to the shop, you're gonna spare that packet of wipes because you know you have no others. But if you have loads, you're gonna use loads. Um, and the train of that I'm actually trying to reduce that. Have been reducing wipes and using more sustainable option at home, but that's completely different. Uh, that's a different topic. But I'm just saying that if you have let's say bulk bought your shampoo, are you gonna use more shampoo because it's there? And you gotta know how your brain works. If if you will do that, then don't bulk buy because it's not actually saving you money because you're actually gonna use more, therefore buy more, therefore spend more. So before you buy anything, ask yourself will I use this in the next three to six months? Do I already have something similar? Is this really solving a problem or is it just tempting me? Because sometimes there are products out there that solve problems that never existed in the first place. Uh, I'll give you an example. I went into a shop and they had this like gadget where it's a clip on a cup holder and I nearly bought it. You can clip it onto tables, you can clip it on to whatever. I nearly bought it, and then I thought to myself, is this a problem that I have? Do I need another cup holder? Can I not just put my cup on the table? It's such a weird problem to solve. I didn't buy it in the end, but it just stuck with me because I was like, that is a problem I didn't know existed. And that's what a lot of these products do. They create problems that never existed in the first place. So just ask yourself, is this actually solving a real problem or just tempting me? Being intentional with your purchases is one of the quickest ways to reduce waste instantly. Number five, simplify your setup. More tools and more products don't mean better results. In fact, they often lead to decision fatigue, duplicate purchases, and things expiring before you even use them. So instead, stick to a core set of products that you trust, keep your workspace simple and functional, and regularly declutter your grooming area. Honestly, it is so hard to work in a cluttered space. And I know when I started out, I would get shiny objects syndrome, and I'd be like, Oh, I have to try that. I have to try that. I bought multiple products I have never used, they are currently in storage because I'm in the process of buying a house. Yes, we're still in that process. Um, hopefully getting the keys soon, fingers crossed. Uh, they're in storage, and as soon as they come out of storage, I will be selling them. I never used them once, and I know that another groomer may actually use them. But I think we all go through this, and the more you can limit that, the more money you'll have, the more space you'll have in your grooming area, and yeah, decision fatigue is not fun, especially when you have a million and one decisions to make anyway because you're already a business owner, you already have a whole grooming salon to run. You do not need to be making extra decisions on top of that with products that just cost you money and take up space. Simple really does equal efficient and profitable. Number six, reduce single-use habits. Take a look at your daily routine for a moment. Where are you using something once and then throwing it away? Now, the common ones would be kitchen roll, disposable wipe, and excess packaging. So instead, try swapping out to reusable cloths, washable grooming accessories, and refillable bottles. These changes are usually way cheaper over time and they're way better for the environment too. And finally, number seven, the real secret to cutting down waste is systems. When you have clear processes in place, you naturally use less product, make fewer mistakes, and avoid overordering. The truth is, so many groomers feel overwhelmed, not because they're doing anything wrong, because they're trying to hold everything in their head, they're trying to remember everything. Your brain is not built to store every single thing that's ever happened in your life. So while we want to hold on to memories of the fun things and our families and friends and moments, we do not need to hold all the data, statistics, and you know, basically just boring stuff of the day-to-day running of your business. So for that, you can put systems in place where you don't have to remember anything ever again. You just look at a list, you just take it off, it's done. You don't make as many mistakes anymore because your systems are in place to counteract that. You don't need to remember everything, okay. In fact, I feel like you're doing your brain a disservice to trying to make your brain to remember every single thing that's ever happened in your life and every single thing that has to happen in your day. It's just not fair. And it's also exhausting. And again, here I'm going to talk about the gossipop blueprint. If you're tired of feeling scattered, overwhelmed, or like you're constantly winging it, this is why I created it. A simple, easy-to-follow SOP checklist that helps you to stay organized, save your time, and deliver consistent, high-quality experience every single time. No guesswork, no chaos, just calm, confident grooming. So do yourself a favor, put those systems in place and streamline your business so that your brain doesn't have to remember everything all of the time, and that's going to cut down so much waste, wasted time, wasted money, wasted stress, wasted anger, wasted feelings. Just be kind to yourself. Remember that you are human and you are trying your best, and that your brain deserves to rest and not deal with that mental load. Generally, as women, we have a higher mental load anyway, with the runnings of our house, the day-to-day of having families and kids or animals, we just tend to be the ones that tend to organize um or remember everything that goes on in our lives. We tend to be the ones that put the events together, we remember things that are happening. And if you are a business owner on top of this and you have that mental load on top of the other mental load, just just help yourself out. Even if you don't get the glassy pop blueprint, look into putting systems in place that work for your business, so it takes the pressure off of your brain and takes that mental load away from you. So there you have it, and here's what I want you to take away from the episode. Cutting down waste doesn't mean being perfect. We always talk about the fact that you don't have to be perfect to have a really successful business. It's all about being intentional. Small, simple changes lead to lower costs, smoother calmer days, and a more professional and polished business. And the best part, you don't have to spend more money to get there. So thank you for listening to this episode today. I really hope that it helped you, sparked some inspiration for you. If it did, please leave me a comment below or let me know what you're doing to cut down waste in your business because we can all help each other out here to grow and have more sustainable while being super successful businesses. So, yeah, until next time, remember we are human, our brains deserve a break every now and then, and we do not have to be perfect to run an amazingly successful business. So, until next time, my friends, remember, together we can change the world one dog at a time. Bye, friends. Thank you so much for tuning in to the Bark Room Chat Podcast. If today's episode gave you a little boost or a new idea, I'd love for you to subscribe, leave a review, or share it with a fellow groomer who needs to hear it. And don't forget, you can grab my free resources and join the Glossybump Academy group anytime for more support on your journey. Until next time, keep going, keep growing. You've got this. I'm cheering you on every step of the way, and remember, together we can change the world. One dog at a time.