productivity Archives - Paragon School of Pet Grooming

Home » productivity

How Many Pets a Day Should You Groom?

I often say there are shades of gray in pet grooming.

How many dogs a day you should groom is one of the BIG gray areas! The number will be different for everybody. Some people feel overwhelmed grooming even three dogs in a full day. Other people can do 16 while barely breaking a sweat.

Here are just a handful of the scenarios affecting the number of dogs that might be groomed in a day.

Level of grooming experience
Work space setup
Equipment
Salon location
Salon type
Size of salon/mobile setup
Working solo or with assistance
Pet size
Type of grooms – low maintenance, bath and brush, show trim styles
Personal motivation
Your personality
Financial need

I’m sure you could add a few more to this list!

Typically, when someone first graduates from grooming school or is new to the industry, productivity is not high on their skill list. Rather, their focus is on thoroughness, quality, and safety.

New groomers will improve their speed as they develop skills and confidence. They need experience. They need coaching. They need guidance to create an effective grooming system. The system allows thoroughness while enhancing the quality of their work and the pace in which they do it.

If you’re a seasoned pet stylist, you’ve learned many of the tricks that allow you to be efficient. You’ve learned how to quickly assess a pet and easily determine its grooming needs. You are thorough. You work safely. You have a strong base of repeat customers.

Over the years I’ve seen beginners struggle to get through three dogs. I’ve seen highly efficient, seasoned stylists get through 16 or more dogs in the single day and still have the time and energy to have a little “me time” that evening. Where do you fall on the scale? Where would you like to be?

Being able to work quickly and skillfully can also be impacted by the layout of your work space. Are you set up for maximum efficiency? A bad layout will add unnecessary footsteps to your day and waste your time and energy.

Your equipment, tools, and products will also help or hurt you. Many products will enhance your speed and the quality of your final product. Do you have access to high-quality, time-saving, products and tools? When used correctly, they are well worth the investment and can help you groom more pets efficiently.

If you are a solo stylist either in your own salon or mobile setting, 6 to 8 dogs will likely be your maximum. In addition to grooming pets, independent business owners have a wide range of duties and responsibilities. They are the receptionist, the bookkeeper, the marketer, the janitor, and the record keeper – along with every other task it takes to run a successful business. If you are a mobile stylist, you also have driving and van maintenance added to your list of responsibilities.

Efficiency comes into play when pet grooming establishments start building a team. You cannot build a successful business or team with inefficient team members. Inefficient teams will not be able to groom as many pets as their efficient counterparts.

Financial need affects dog numbers. To get a decent paycheck, everyone needs to pull their weight. If you are hired onto a team or work with an assistant, you will have quotas to meet. Some quotas are determined by dog numbers. Other businesses use financial sales volume. Both help determine how many dogs are groomed each day.

Typically, once you start working with others, dog volume increases. In most salons, a team of people working together will be expected to do a minimum of eight dogs a day or more. When you’re working within a team, everybody has a specialty. Each person can focus on what they do best, whether it’s customer service, bathing and drying, or pet trimming and styling. If you have an assistant doing the bathing and drying for you, the number of pets might jump from 6-8 to 12-14. Let’s face it – bathing and drying dogs takes time! If a shop has a good bather/prepper, you can easily groom more pets in a day.

The type of trim combined with the sizes of dogs being done will make a huge difference in how many pets can be done each day. A #7F All on a six-week regular Shih Tzu is much different from a longer guard comb trim with stylized scissored legs. What happens if you increase the size of the dog? Larger dogs simply take much more time. To me, a Doodle is the equivalent of two or three smaller dogs, depending on the type of haircut it is getting.

For many pet professionals, WHY you groom pets will also influence how many dogs you groom in a day. One of the amazing things about our industry is we all love dogs. There are those who really enjoy taking their time with the grooming process and will groom fewer pets. There are those who will try to help as many pets as they can in a single day. Others enjoy the creativity. Some enjoy the flexibility the career offers while others are motivated by the career opportunities. There are also groomers that simply enjoy earning a living by doing something they love.

How many dogs should you groom each day? There are lots of gray areas so there is no right answer. Whatever your motivation, no matter how many dogs you groom each day, the most important thing should always be the health and safety of the pets entrusted to you.

Happy trimming!

Melissa

MVpaw_no_Inner_white Do you agree with this post? Jump on the Learn2GroomDogs.com Facebook page and tell us why or why not.

Building Teamwork Within Your Salon

Creating teamwork within a grooming department is a challenge. Getting ANY group of people to work in harmony with one another is no easy task.

Teamwork requires four things:

Communication (sharing information)
Leadership (direction and guidance)
Accountability (rules and boundaries)
Clarity (understanding the cause and purpose for every task)

Teamwork helps achieve goals. It also creates an enjoyable, rewarding place to work.

Over the years, I have had varied levels of success with fostering teamwork. I’ve had times when the entire organization was working together as a single unit. We were energized and excited. We met objectives. We knocked goals out of the park. Life was good.

I have also had times when there was very little teamwork. Frustration and negativity took over. Meeting objectives was almost impossible. Goals went out the window. More than once I questioned if the company would survive or if it was worth the effort to keep it going.

Here’s what I’ve discovered.

You can’t succeed without strong and effective leadership.
Individuals/organizations need to understand WHY they do what they do.
Systems are crucial to duplicate desirable performance.

Building teamwork requires strong leadership that explains WHY the work is being done. Every activity is begun knowing exactly what the end will be. Systems must be made that ensure the activity is done the same way, every time.

For a business to thrive, everybody needs to work together. Whether your team is made up of just two or fifty people, everybody needs to be accountable for results. Those results are tied to the goals and objectives of the business. Everybody needs to understand what role(s) they play in the success of the company.

Years ago, I learned about a formula in Keeping Employees Accountable for Results by Brian Cole Miller. It’s called the SIMPLE approach to accountability.

S = Set expectations

I = Invite commitment

M = Measure progress

P = Provide feedback

L = Link to consequences

E = Evaluate effectiveness

S = Set Expectations

Success = how well a staff focuses and works toward a common theme/goal.
Employees need to know what is expected of them.
The clearer the expectations are, the easier it will be to uphold those expectations down the road.

I = Invite Commitment

Team members are more likely to cooperate when they understand three things: what the goals are, what’s in it for them, and how the goals will help move the business forward.
Once they understand these three things, they are more likely to commit to the goals and being held accountable for the results.

M = Measure Progress

Once they’re committed to the goals, you need to track their progress.
Goals must be measurable. If you can’t clearly see where you are, you can’t see how far you need to go.
Track progress daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annually. Keep it simple and consistent.

P = Provide Feedback

Team members need feedback to know how well they are doing and where they can improve.
Feedback opens the door for problem-solving discussions and follow-up actions.
Understanding expectations, followed by honest feedback, is the backbone of accountability.
When providing feedback, focus on the behavior, not the person. Be specific. Do not mention characteristics like attitudes or intentions.

L = Link to Consequences

Teams need to understand the consequences of actions toward a goal. Ideally, these consequences are built into the discussion of goals and objectives so that expectations are clear from the start.
Consequences are not rewards or punishments. They are simply the natural result of behavior tied to the goals and objectives of the business.

E = Evaluate Effectiveness

Create a system for regular and timely performance reviews.
Review how the process has been handled. Praise positive performance. Fine-tune lackluster performance. Redirect underperformance. Explain how their performance affects progress toward the goals and objectives of the company.
Be consistent, honest, and fair to the entire team.

For goals to be meaningful and useful, they must be tied to larger organizational ambitions. In other words, you need to identify the “big picture” and work backward to set smaller milestones that will lead you there.

Staff members need to understand the roles they play in business. If they don’t, they are likely to feel disenchanted, lost, or hopeless. Team members at every level should be able to communicate exactly how their efforts feed into the larger business objectives – WHY the business exists, at all.

Teamwork is not just about how effective and efficient a group is, it’s also about the relationships in that group. Always remember, it takes work to create and maintain a positive relationship. Building a healthy marriage, raising a family, training a dog, winning at soccer, and growing a business all require time and effort.

Remember, anytime you’re dealing with more than one person, teamwork is needed. Successful teamwork requires clear communication, leadership, and accountability. Always begin with the end in mind. Once you know why you do what you do – everything else falls into place much easier.

~Happy trimming,

Melissa

MVpaw_no_Inner_white P.S. How do you build teamwork in your salon? Jump on the Learn2GroomDogs.com Facebook page and tell us about it.

Spend the day with Melissa

Melissa Verplank will be in the Tampa, Florida area on Sunday, March 19, 2017 for an all day seminar. Melissa will present four of her most popular lectures that are sure to help you and your business!

Click here for more information and to reserve your seat.

Maintain a Steady Pace

Speed is the key to being a successful pet groomer. Have you watched a highly proficient pet stylist at work? They don’t race around frantically. They don’t whip from one task to the next with lightning speed. They are not frazzled. They are not stressed. They blow through 10, 12, even 14 dogs with ease.

How do they do it?

How do they manage a full day and still get home to meet their kids coming off the bus from school? They still manage to get to the gym after work. They enjoy their own dogs when not grooming client’s pets. They have the time AND energy to have a life when they step away from the grooming table.

Do you?

When I observe these successful groomers, I’ve noticed important traits they all share. They work with a steady pace. They have a rhythm to their tasks. Their tempo doesn’t change. They follow the same order as they work on each pet. Their tools are laid out in an orderly fashion, sharp and within arm’s reach. They are not distracted by ringing phones, tales from their fellow team members, nor the personality of the pet they are working on. They are focused and efficient as they work around the pet. There is no wasted effort. No wasted motion.

There are methods to each grooming job. Following a particular order with each type of groom will assistance you with getting through the tasks the quickest. There will be five main types of jobs you do every day – day in – day out at any grooming shop.

The five types of grooming jobs

1. Short haircuts, six weeks or more
2. Short haircuts, six weeks or less
3. Guard comb trims
4. Bladed body with fuller legs and/or furnishings/pattern trims
5. Bath and brush type pets

Generally speaking, the faster you can get a dog to the tub, the faster the trim will go. Dogs with six weeks or less coat growth can normally go straight to the tub. With today’s products, shampoos, conditioners, and high velocity dryers, much of the pre-work can be eliminated. Dematting or pre-trimming is a waste of time with six weeks or less trims.

When it comes to haircuts or finishing a bath and brush dog – pay attention to the order you work. Develop an order – the same order every time for each of the five grooming jobs. If you struggle with remembering the order, write it down and post it at your grooming station. Time yourself on each task. Work on improving your speed with small components within each job. Don’t jump around.

Always follow the order.

Watch top stylists at work. Watch their videos. Sit ringside at grooming competitions and watch the leading stylist compete. With consistent repetition, you’ll increase your speed in no time. You’ll have more time to spend enjoying your free time doing what you want to do. The stress and frustration will be highly minimized. And the best part – you’ll make more money, in less time!

Don’t hurry or rush around frantically to get the job done. Maintain an easy pace and work steadily. Remember the fable of the tortoise and the hare? Highly productive people work a certain rhythm that allows them to flow through enormous amounts of work without becoming stressed or anxious.

Here is a great Learn2GroomDogs.com video lesson that shows how the pros get it done. Join today!
Happy Trimming!

~ Melissa

P.S.

Do you have any tricks like this one? Tell us about them on the Learn2GroomDogs Facebook page.