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This is a 25-year-old pet grooming business in Lakeland, Florida (Polk County), operating out of a leased 2,400 square foot facility at a modest $2,920 per month. The operation is purpose-built for high-volume grooming with 6 grooming stations, roughly 60 holding and drying cages, multiple wash and dry rooms, a walk-in tub for large dogs, and a full suite of dryers and support equipment. A 7-person team (5 full-time, 2 part-time) runs the day-to-day, and the business adds a monthly non-anesthetic dental cleaning service as an ancillary revenue stream.
The business generates approximately $725,000 in revenue. Note the listing discloses Cash Flow (SDE) of $500,000 in the structured fields but the description body repeatedly states "approximately $200,000 in annual profit." That is a large discrepancy that must be reconciled before any offer, because it swings the effective multiple from roughly 1.2x to roughly 3.0x. The asking price is $599,000 with only $25,000 of FF&E and $500 of inventory included, so the bulk of the price is goodwill and installed infrastructure.
What makes this notable is the combination of a long operating history, a built-out facility that would cost real money and time to replicate, and recent capital improvements (new roof, fresh paint, resurfaced parking lot). Pet grooming is a repeat, relationship-driven service with recurring customer visits, which gives the revenue base more durability than most retail or discretionary SMBs. The seller is retiring, which is a clean reason for sale.
Why we like it
- Pet grooming is sticky, repeat revenue: owners rebook the same groomer on roughly 4 to 8 week cycles, so the customer panel renews by default rather than being re-won each time. A 25-year operating history means a mature, habituated client base that is hard to replicate from scratch. That recurring visit cadence is what gives this business real earnings durability.
- The physical plant is a genuine barrier: 6 stations, 60 cages, multiple wash and dry rooms, and a full dryer complement represent capacity that would take months and significant capex to build and license new. The recent new roof, paint, and resurfaced parking lot mean a buyer inherits a clean, updated site without near-term deferred maintenance. You are buying installed capacity, not a napkin and a lease.
- Pet spend is remarkably recession-resistant: owners cut their own haircuts before they skip the dog's grooming, and a matted, overgrown pet becomes a health and hygiene problem that forces the visit. Lakeland sits in a growing Central Florida corridor with favorable demographics. The non-anesthetic dental cleaning add-on shows there is appetite to layer on higher-margin ancillary services.
- Rent is extremely low at $2,920 per month for 2,400 square feet, which keeps fixed overhead light and protects margin. With a lean 7-person team and modest included assets, the cost structure is simple and legible. For an owner-operator or a first-time buyer, this is an understandable, boring, cash-generative business.
How to improve it
- Reconcile and then lock in the real earnings number immediately: the listing claims $500,000 SDE in the data fields but $200,000 profit in the body. Build a verified trailing-twelve-month P&L and re-underwrite the price against the true figure before spending another dollar on diligence. Everything downstream depends on which number is real.
- Implement a rebooking and membership program: capture every client's next appointment at checkout and offer a prepaid monthly grooming plan to convert casual walk-ins into contracted recurring revenue. This smooths cash flow and raises enterprise value by making the revenue base more predictable and transferable. Even a 20 percent membership attach rate materially de-risks the business.
- Expand the non-anesthetic dental service from one day per month to weekly: it is already proven and high-margin, and demand likely exceeds a single monthly session. Add retail (shampoo, flea treatment, accessories) at the reception point of sale to lift average ticket. These are pure-margin layers on existing foot traffic.
- Fix the pricing and utilization of 6 stations and 60 cages: if the facility runs high-volume capacity but SDE is actually closer to $200k, there is likely under-pricing or scheduling slack. Introduce tiered pricing by breed/size and premium slots, and measure chairs filled per groomer per day. Small per-service price increases flow almost entirely to the bottom line.
- Build online booking, reviews, and local SEO: most independent groomers run on phone calls and paper books, which caps growth and loses after-hours bookings. A simple online scheduler plus an active Google review engine will fill capacity and reduce reliance on the retiring owner's relationships. This also makes the business far more sellable at the next exit.
- De-risk groomer dependence by formalizing comp, non-competes where enforceable, and a bench of trained staff: in grooming, clients often follow the individual groomer, not the brand. Document SOPs and cross-train so no single departure guts revenue. This is both an operational fix and a value-protection move.
Diligence notes
- The headline earnings discrepancy is the single most important item: $500,000 SDE at 1.2x versus $200,000 profit at 3.0x are two completely different deals. Demand 3 years of tax returns, bank statements, and a bank-reconciled P&L to establish which figure survives scrutiny. Do not anchor to the structured-field number.
- Verify revenue quality and customer concentration: pull the booking system to confirm visit frequency, active client count, and rebooking rates, and confirm that revenue is broad-based rather than dependent on a handful of accounts. Check how much revenue walks with specific groomers versus the location. Also validate the add-on dental and any retail contribution.
- Scrutinize the lease and landlord relationship closely, since real estate is leased and the whole business lives in this 2,400 square foot site: confirm remaining term, renewal options, assignment rights, and whether $2,920 rent is below market and likely to reset. A short lease or hostile landlord can erase the goodwill you are paying for. Get the lease assignment nailed down as a closing condition.
- Confirm staff retention and licensing: interview or at minimum document the 7 employees, their tenure, compensation, and willingness to stay post-sale, because groomers are the production engine. Verify any required state/local animal-care permits, business licenses, and insurance are current and transferable. Groomer turnover right after close is the biggest operational risk here.
- Note the suspicious date detail: the listing states the roof and painting were completed in "July 2026," which is either a typo or a future-dated claim. Physically inspect the facility, the new roof, and resurfaced parking lot, and get documentation/invoices for the improvements. Also verify the FF&E list and equipment condition against the claimed $25,000 value.
Source
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