This is the biggest single cheque most people in this trade ever write, and the decisions are made in the wrong order more often than not.
We have a separate piece on whether mobile is the right model for you, and on routing, councils, pricing and working alone. This one assumes you have decided, and gets straight to what goes in the vehicle.
First, the three shapes
Buy a pre-built unit. You are grooming sooner, on a known specification, usually with a warranty. Australian suppliers offer complete units with hydrobath, table and blower from around AUD $28,990 plus GST. You pay for the certainty and you get it.
Convert a van yourself, or have one converted. Cheaper in materials, tailored exactly to how you work, and longer. Australian builders doing this include Van Builder, who build vans and trailers for clients across Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra with most builds taking eight to twelve weeks, and First Class Motorhomes who do grooming fit-outs in Melbourne. If something is wrong with a self-managed conversion, the risk is yours.
Tow a trailer. Basic trailer setups start nearer AUD $8,000 to $20,000. Cheapest way in, and the compromise is that you now have to park, reverse and store a trailer, and your tow vehicle needs the capacity and the rating for it.
There is no correct answer here. There is only the one that fits your money, your patience and your driveway.
Specify power and water before layout
This is the order-of-operations mistake.
People start by drawing where the table goes and where the bath goes, then discover the pump has to live somewhere, the tank has to sit over the axle, and the generator cannot be inside the cabin.
Do it the other way round. Decide how you are making hot water and where the electricity is coming from, decide the tank size from the number of dogs you want to do in a day, put those in the vehicle first, and lay the workspace around them. We have written that side up separately because it deserves its own space.
The short version: water tank capacity sets your dogs per day, and hot water capacity sets it harder.
The fixed items
The bath. In Australia this is usually a hydrobath, which is the right call in a van because recirculating water means a smaller tank for the same number of dogs.
The table. Fixed and folding are both common. Fixed is more stable and eats space. A wall-mounted fold-down table with a solid latch is the compromise most vans end up at. If you can fit an electric lift, your back will thank you at year five.
The dryer. Mounted, not loose. A loose dryer in a moving van is a projectile and it will get damaged.
Flooring. Commercial non-slip vinyl, coved up the walls so there is no seam at the floor edge for water to get into. This is the thing that separates a fit-out that lasts eight years from one that rots quietly under the lining.
Ventilation. A roof vent with a fan, not just a window. On a hot day with a dryer running, the inside of a van gets genuinely dangerous for a dog. This is not optional.
Lighting. Overhead LED, plenty of it, and daylight temperature. You cannot see a finish under warm yellow light, and you will be working in there in winter at four in the afternoon.
The safety items people leave out
A fire extinguisher, mounted where you can reach it from the door.
A first aid kit for dogs and a first aid kit for you, because you are alone and a scissor slip is a long way from help.
A way to secure a dog that is not your hand. Two grooming loops, or a loop and a haunch holder.
And a temperature alarm if you ever leave a dog in the vehicle for any length of time.
Storage, which is the difference between calm and chaos
Everything must have a home and everything must be latched. A drawer that opens on a roundabout will only do it once before you fix it, but the once is expensive.
Wall rails with clips for the things you reach for constantly. Drawers for blades and shears, not a toolbox on the floor. And a bin with a lid, because wet hair in an open bin in a hot van at the end of a Friday is unforgettable.
What we would not spend on
We would not spend on a full-height stainless cabinet fit-out that looks magnificent and adds a hundred kilograms. Payload is real and it is finite.
We would not spend on a second dryer. Spend on one good one.
We would not fit a fridge unless you are doing very long days. It is weight and draw for a cold drink.
And we would not skimp on the tie-down points for the table and the bath. The forces in an emergency stop are not intuitive, and a bath coming loose is a serious event.
The paperwork nobody mentions
Weigh the vehicle when it is finished, loaded, with full water. Water is a kilogram a litre and it adds up faster than anything else in the build. Being over your gross vehicle mass is an insurance problem, not just a fine.
Check that your insurer knows what the vehicle is and what is in it. A standard commercial vehicle policy may not cover a fitted-out mobile salon.
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Sources. Published Australian build and unit pricing as cited in our mobile grooming playbook. Confirm current pricing with the builder, since these move.