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by MoeGo on Aug 12, 2025 6:45:53 PM
If you’ve ever felt stuck behind the grooming table, wondering how to grow your business without sacrificing your time or sanity—you’re not alone. Chris and Emily Elias were once there too. What started with one van and a dream in 2017 has become DapperTails, a mobile grooming franchise that spans multiple states and supports a growing team.
But their real breakthrough didn’t come from hustle alone. It came from learning to delegate, systemize, and value their time. In this case study, we dive into their journey and highlight practical, empowering takeaways from our recent MoeGo Live webinar.
Can a mindset shift really change your business—and your life? Chris and Emily Elias would say yes.
The Critical Mindset Shifts
Operator → Owner Mindset
A critical mindset shift is recognizing that "time is a limited resource," and “if you want to grow, you need to protect your time.” To Chris and Emily, this means:
- Stop hustling alone: Delegating tasks (e.g., booking, route planning) frees you to strategize growth.
- Profit over busywork: Tracking revenue per van (not just appointments) exposed inefficiencies because.
- Say no: learn to say no when something doesn't serve the bigger picture.
Charge What You’re Worth
A really important step for mindset shifts for growing a business is pricing: “don't charge based on what you think people can afford. Charge based on what your business needs to thrive."
For mobile grooming specifically, Chris explains that a lot of groomers undervalue themselves because they've been taught to price based on what others charge. But that’s not really the case for mobile grooming: “Clients who don't want to pay more can go to a shop, but they choose mobile for the convenience factor, so your pricing should reflect the skills, time, experience, and the overall value.”
This is how Chris & Emily look at pricing as a growth engine:
- Value over competition: A critical mindset shift involves developing “confidence in pricing, confidence in growth" because the skill, time, and brand should be reflected in premium pricing instead of what competitors are doing.
- Supply & demand : Chris views pricing as fundamentally about supply and demand: "I don't care what any groomers in the area are charging. I just go in by how many people are coming into us."
- Raise the price to filter clients: The goal of raising your prices in reality is to actually lose some clients so you can make room for clients who are ready, willing, and able to pay even more for your service.
Systems > Sweat: Scaling Through Smart Tools
To grow from a single van to a multi-state franchise, Chris and Emily Elias live by a simple principle: systems over sweat. Instead of relying on manual effort, they’ve embraced tools that automate and streamline operations, so that they can focus on growth. Their top features:
Comprehensive Online Booking and Scheduling
For Chris & Emily, Online Booking has “made life easy.” It helps them reduce back-and-forths with clients and keeps their calendar full without the chaos. It's easy for clients to use and even easier for the team to manage.
Abandoned Booking List
This is unequivocally referred to by Chris as "the money feature in MoeGo" and helps them recapture an average of $25,000/month in missed bookings—just from their Long Island location alone. This single feature has paid for their software many times over.
Read more in our case study ➝ here
Automated Communication
Alongside personalized phone calls, they utilize automated text message feature for abandoned bookings, which sends a preset, automated message 30 minutes after a booking is abandoned.
All-in-One Payment Processing
From no-show protection to a customizable tipping screen, MoeGo Pay helps Chris and Emily protect revenue and create a seamless, professional checkout experience. Having it as an all-in-one system, it's one more thing that reduces friction and puts time back in their day.
Learn more about how Chris uses MoeGo Pay ➝ here
Cultivating a Team Culture for Growth
As DapperTails grew, the focus shifted from hiring groomers to building a culture. They look for team members who share their values, not just fill a role.
What they’ve learned:
- Empowering groomers leads to better retention than managing them.
- Clear SOPs and onboarding make growth smoother
- Leadership roles (like Lead Groomers) are key to scaling with care
“Your people are your brand.” Invest in them the way you’d invest in your tools.
Just starting or adding to your business?
We have flexible plans meant for all stages.
From One Van to a Franchise: How Chris & Emily Elias Scaled with the Right Mindset
Stop Chasing Appointments: How Smart Dog Groomers Book, Schedule, and Get Paid
