Christmas Rush
In the pet services industry, there are two main times of the year that are beyond 'busy'. The time around Easter is one of them. The snow is generally melted away and people are discovering they have a dirty/stinky dog that needs to be cleaned up for Easter, and while they are at it, a good grooming is required to prepare the pet for the hot summer.
The other time is around Christmas... The business line rings constantly at this time from people who want their pups to be daisy fresh come Christmas morning.
This Christmas was 'so-so' in terms of revenue and busy-ness for me. In total, I groomed 32 pets. I had more on the schedule, but due to no-shows and last minute cancellations, my schedule was thrown off. :(
One of the big problems with this industry and really any one-on-one service business, you can get 'screwed' financially due to the actions or inactions of just a few people (clients). For myself, it is always a bummer to find out a client forgets their appointment and I am out the lost income from that groom. In the case of Christmas and other busy times, it is imperitive that my limited grooming reservations be occupied by paying clients. Otherwise, there are holes all through my schedule which means loss of revenue and wasted time.
Overall, I really enjoyed the busy nature of last week, December 13-17 (my unorthodox work week as I do not work Sundays generally)...I groomed 16 pets which were all full grooms. Overall, there were only two pets who were 'difficult' to groom but even they are regular clients and I know what to expect.
With the Holiday Rush crowd, I was careful to only book in people/dogs that I believed would show up and would behave for grooming. I only missed the mark on a couple.
Yesterday, my last day for grooming for 2009, I groomed a small poodle mix that comes frequently. His "mom" is very nice and even brought a wonderful assortment of home baked goodies for my family to enjoy this Christmas. (I can assure you, dear readers, that we were all over that platter of cookies before the client left my driveway!!) It was a good way to end the work year.
I am ever thankful for this opportunity to work within the comfort of my own home. I can schedule pets based on my family's life, and that is priceless to me.
Thank you for visiting, and Merry Christmas to everyone. :)
Jen
The other time is around Christmas... The business line rings constantly at this time from people who want their pups to be daisy fresh come Christmas morning.
This Christmas was 'so-so' in terms of revenue and busy-ness for me. In total, I groomed 32 pets. I had more on the schedule, but due to no-shows and last minute cancellations, my schedule was thrown off. :(
One of the big problems with this industry and really any one-on-one service business, you can get 'screwed' financially due to the actions or inactions of just a few people (clients). For myself, it is always a bummer to find out a client forgets their appointment and I am out the lost income from that groom. In the case of Christmas and other busy times, it is imperitive that my limited grooming reservations be occupied by paying clients. Otherwise, there are holes all through my schedule which means loss of revenue and wasted time.
Overall, I really enjoyed the busy nature of last week, December 13-17 (my unorthodox work week as I do not work Sundays generally)...I groomed 16 pets which were all full grooms. Overall, there were only two pets who were 'difficult' to groom but even they are regular clients and I know what to expect.
With the Holiday Rush crowd, I was careful to only book in people/dogs that I believed would show up and would behave for grooming. I only missed the mark on a couple.
Yesterday, my last day for grooming for 2009, I groomed a small poodle mix that comes frequently. His "mom" is very nice and even brought a wonderful assortment of home baked goodies for my family to enjoy this Christmas. (I can assure you, dear readers, that we were all over that platter of cookies before the client left my driveway!!) It was a good way to end the work year.
I am ever thankful for this opportunity to work within the comfort of my own home. I can schedule pets based on my family's life, and that is priceless to me.
Thank you for visiting, and Merry Christmas to everyone. :)
Jen
posted by Petpro | 6:33 AM
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