stay or go?

[genuinelyseeking]

i just want to preface this by saying that i personally feel i'm making by far enough, but i just wanted to hear some opinions. i have the option of moving to another salon but am leaning towards staying where i am!

i've now been grooming at this private salon for over half a year. i like working there, it's very clean and i think the prices are great (100 bucks per hour worked on the dog)
currently, i work 3 days a week. i'm a college student, so i take fridays and weekends.
while i could do more, i average around 5-6 dogs a day, and the commission is 45%. all said, i end up taking home at least 500 dollars a week (after tax) and not including tips (usually around 100 a week).

if i do the math, and accounting for missed weeks, let's say i end up with around 24-ish k a year. i feel this is pretty great for 3 days a week and am reluctant to leave this salon despite the new place offering me a job being run by a friend of mine. the other salon offers 50% commission, but the prices are lower. i'm unsure whether to take the leap or not! would love to hear some thoughts.

 

[cazamal]

@genuinelyseeking Here are some concerns I have, in my not-very-experienced opinion:

If the price of a groom is lower, you will make less money, even with a higher commission. Not only that but, even if you do the math and find you break even commission wise, cheap prices attract cheap people, who will then refer more cheap people. Cheap nearly positively correlates with difficult dogs and clients, and less tips. All of this will add up to you working harder for less.

Another concern is mixing business with personal affairs. Your friend being your boss definitely has the potential to cause issues, mainly pertaining to professionalism, but there's also a chance they could pull one over on you and take advantage of your

"friendship." It's not something you ever want to think about, but unfortunately that sort of thing doesn't rear its ugly head until you're already a full fledged employee.

Honestly if you weren't feeling your current salon at all I would say take the risk. Given that you really enjoy where you're at right now, I would suggest staying. From a brief glimpse of the posts here, a good work environment is a true blessing to just walk away from. The good news from all of this is, if this current salon ends up not working out for some reason, I'm sure your friend would be happy to work with you.

 

[genuinelyseeking]

@cazamal i see where you're coming from, especially from the personal involvement stance! and a good point about the price point being a filter for the clientele. i worked at corporate for a few years, and it's a pretty visible phenomenon there. i'll be thinking some more about it, but with how good my work environment is right now i don't feel inclined to go :')

 

[lilyimz]

@genuinelyseeking If this was just a new salon (where you didn’t know anyone) asking you to work for them, would you still be tempted? From what you’ve written I don’t see any benefit to switching.

Of course the quality of the work environment is important, but you didn’t mention any issues with that.

Ultimately the percentage you get is meaningless, only pay attention to what your take-home would be. If a salon were to offer you 20% (how insulting!!)….. but charge $1000 per groom, at 5 dogs a day… go work there!!

 

[surrenderingtogod]

@genuinelyseeking I would stay put if I were in that situation. Mixing friendships with work can sometimes be a little tricky.

 

[brad_v]

@genuinelyseeking I’d rather have 45% of good prices than 50% of not so great prices. That part is simple.

I feel like the only reason you’re even considering it is because it’s a friend. And that doesn’t always work. Mixing friendship with work is tough.