Ep 4: Rev Your Engines – Scheduling Secrets Demystified

Joe Zuccarello:
Hey, it’s Joe and Cara from Paragon again. Hey, Cara.

Cara Evans:
Hey, Joe.

Joe Zuccarello:
All right. So this is a series of videos. This is Episode 4, right? We’ve went through just preparing our own brains for expanding our grooming business by training our own new groomers. That was Video Number 1, sort of an introduction. Number 2 was, how do we create an environment and surround the student with the most influential people to help the student progress through their learning journey? Episode Number 3 was… Well, it was a lot about the student, right?

So now, we were like, “Okay. Well, then who are we going to put in that environment to learn?” This episode now is all about the schedule, right? What volume, variety, and availability of dogs will your student need in order to keep them progressing forward through their learning engagement, through their learning process in the Paragon Program?

Cara, what you’ve created, I think, is going to be just brilliant for these business owners out there. Essentially, you created a scheduling crystal ball, right? To say, “All right. Week 2, they’re going to need this. Week 3, they’re going to need this.” So whether they’re a mature business or just a brand new mobile business startup, we’ve got some pro tips for them as well. So let’s just hop right into the material, right?

Again, now it’s about creating that… We talked about creating just the overall business model. Then, we talked about creating the environment. We talked about creating a student. And now, we’re to creating or supplying the right schedule. And I want to keep focusing on these three words, because I think it’s the most important three words: volume, variety, and availability of dogs.

So Cara, what’s the very first… How do they start? How do the mobile business owner coach, even sometimes with the student’s assistants, how do they start framing this in their head? Now, it’s time to start scheduling dogs, because maybe we already have a student enrolled or maybe we’re getting ready. We’re right on the cusp of enrolling our first student.

Cara Evans:
Mm-hmm. And Joe, I want to speak back to our Episode Number 2 and the coach going through that program and how important that is for this episode. And how that will set the coach up to help, because the coach will have seen. They will have felt what’s coming up in the program, which is going to allow them to schedule out dogs.

So your student, one of the really cool things about Paragon and how we teach is they have to have hands-on training. They have to be able to prove that they can take the skill that they learned and they can apply it. So they are going to start with hands-on within Week 1. They’re going to start nail trims Week 1. Hopefully, they’re going to start backs in Week 1 too. So they’re going to need access to dogs.

And the coach in this role is going to start scheduling. To your point, Joe, you said, whether it’s a business that has clients ready and ready to book and they’re there in their book of business or it might be a newer startup who’s looking, we’re going to help in the coach’s training. We’re going to help your coach know what to expect for that student in the first week, two weeks, and beyond, so that they can start planning.

Planning ahead in mobile is just key. You have to plan ahead in mobile. Really, not just for your student. That’s in general. That’s a pro tip. Always be prepared in advance in a mobile environment. But especially when you’re bringing a student into that mobile environment, this is the time that you want to start pre-planning so that they can hit the ground running.

Joe Zuccarello:
And you know, what’s really great about that is you mentioned… Let’s say it’s a mobile business that has a full book of business, right? It’s got a full book of business. As soon as that student lands in that environment, we can then look at what that full book of business looks like and say, “Okay. In Week 1, we have these types of dogs, this clientele. Here’s what the program is going to need.” So we either have a really good mix or if we’ve got an imbalanced mix. If, let’s say, the mix doesn’t satisfy the volume, variety, and availability of what we’re offering up as a guide, it’s okay if sometimes then the process has to leak into Week 2, right?

Cara Evans:
Yeah. For sure.

Joe Zuccarello:
But as businesses start getting comfortable growing their own people, this will become a lot more comfortable and a lot more fluid. But again, we’re giving them the answers to the test. You’re giving them this schedule crystal ball, if you would, to help them look ahead. If they’re an immature business, not immature personality. But immature like they’re not… Maybe their books aren’t full yet. The volume, variety, and availability of dogs tool, that resource, doesn’t change. That still has to happen. So what are some pro tips? That’s a term we’re throwing around. Pro tips to help maybe a business that’s not full.

Cara Evans:
Well, Joe, we do have a resource on this that we can share in a link below the video. It’s where to find dogs but for mobile. Because the mobile’s going to be very unique in where they can find dogs and where some opportunities are for them, especially for a student who’s learning. So some pro tips there, of course, utilizing social media. And then, utilizing some of the communities that are in your area: apartment complexes, retirement homes. Maybe you live in an area that’s heavy in something like 4-H or horse boarding facilities. But these areas that you know that people that either live in them or participate in them and they all have dogs. And working inside of those communities to try to just get visibility for your van, for your business. And also, dogs for your student to hit those volume, variety, and availability marks.

Joe Zuccarello:
Yeah. I think that’s really important. Because again, ideally, what happens is that the Paragon Program is designed to slide right into any level of business, right?

Cara Evans:
Yes. Yep.

Joe Zuccarello:
But it’s okay if you have a book of business already scheduled out. I mean, your student… Okay. So your student’s doing the ride along with their coach in that van. They’re trimming every set of nails. They’re doing every bath for that coach or for that groomer. They’re doing every cleaning of the ears. They’re going to start doing the brushing out and the bathing. Who’s to say then, all of a sudden, that van can’t pick up maybe an extra dog that day or an extra couple of dogs that week? So just these things to keep in mind of, really, how to benefit from having a student on board in a mobile environment, right?

Cara Evans:
Yeah. For sure.

Joe Zuccarello:
Again, the key three things. The VVA of success, right? Volume, variety, and availability of dogs. But Paragon is giving you the secret sauce. We’re giving you the crystal ball to scheduling to make sure that you are providing students or providing practice dogs. Dogs in the path of the student, where they’re at when they get there.

Cara Evans:
Yeah.

Joe Zuccarello:
All right. Great.

Cara Evans:
You know, Joe, I want to add one more thing. I know we’re wrapping up here on this episode-

Joe Zuccarello:
Okay. No, go ahead.

Cara Evans:
But I do want to add one thing to that. One thing that we really… We have our check marks and our time to practices throughout the program of what the skills are that we’re looking for in baths. But really, what’s important here too, along with this variety and availability, is we want students building stamina. As they go through the program, they need to build their stamina up. And so, taking this time to prepare and for your coach to work alongside them is going to help set them up to get as many dogs as they can in for practice. So that they build that ability to groom and have stamina to keep going.

Joe Zuccarello:
Yeah. I’m really glad that you added that to this particular video because that’s really important. We can grow really great groomers that can only groom one dog a day. But that’s not going to cut it, right? We’ve got to have them… And we also don’t want to overwork them. We don’t want to overstress them at a point where it is exceeding their ability. To your point, it builds stamina through condition, right? Through conditioning.

Cara Evans:
Yes. Mm-hmm.

Joe Zuccarello:
And this is the perfect way to do that. So great addition to the segment. All right. We’re going to catch you in the next video and we’re going to be talking about, “It’s time to enroll a student. What do you do?” We’ll catch you in the next episode.

Cara Evans:
Mm-hmm. Yep. Bye!