Arizona mobile animal grooming businesses decreases travel radius to avoid price hikes

PHOENIX - Gas prices are affecting small businesses across the U.S., especially those that have a driving component, like the mobile dog grooming company, AZ Mobile Spaws.

Many businesses are facing the issue Mobile Spaws is facing – a rise in costs and a decrease in profit. Typically, we see that burden pushed onto the consumer in the form of a rise in prices, but owner Jeremy Snyder has a different idea.

"Rather than pass everything along to the clients and increase prices to where we'd cut out so many people, we thought maybe we shrink our territory," he said.

Five years ago, Mobile Spaws opened. It serviced customers from the Carefree Highway all the way to the 101 and 202, and as south as Sun Lakes.

"When we started, we wanted to try and reach everybody, to the far reaches of the Valley, try to make it accessible to everybody," Snyder said. That radius is about to start shrinking as the six mobile units won't be heading out to the farther territories come May.

"If it was 50 miles, let's say. It's down to about 30," Snyder said. That's because it's getting harder to make a profit and gas prices are just the icing on the cake.

"It's not only gas prices that have been increasing. Our rent went up 20%, our insurance is going up," Snyder said. Plus, the vans run off gas-powered generators, which power all of their tools.

He adds, "Just pushing up my prices takes it out of certain people's accessibility range. Whereas, if we can cut some expenses and keep everybody happy, everybody wins."

Snyder hopes that by cutting his travel radius down by 20% it might save about 20% in output.

"I mean I can already tell you that we spend so much on gas that just not going so far every time and then having to drive all the way back to the office is going to do a big impact for sure," Snyder said.

Customers were told this change takes effect on May 15 as a trial run, but it doesn't have an end date and will go on indefinitely.