UGH! My head is spinning!

[furrybestjob]

This morning at 7:15 I got a call from my client with the 12 dogs I do every 3 weeks. 6 full grooms, 6 brush out (I used to do them every 2). Actually, its the girl who is hired to stay with the dogs all day and clean up after them etc. She's very ill and won't be there today so she has to reschedule (darn there goes my over $400 day). To make things worse, tomorrow we're suppose to get all the snow. Tomorrow is my "Dogs that take a long time to do day". I have scheduled a standard poodle that takes me almost 3 hours, an Old english that usually takes me two, but he's about 4 weeks overdue, with lab thrown in. So now I have all those dogs to rebook, plus the 9 calls that were left on my machine yesterday. AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

I have Thursdays off, so I could usually reschedule, but this week I have an appointment with a dental specialist becuase of an abcess that is very close to my sinuses. I have already rescheduled it twice and can't afford to wait any longer because it could turn serious. So I can do one that morning...IF the roads are good.

I have no room to squeeze in anymore. I guess I'll be working Sunday and Next Thursday as well. That will mean 9 days without a day off. I know people do it, but I don't want to. lol!

Timing is everything, and this snow storm does not have good timing.

[Kim in SD]

Thats not normal? lol, sorry, its just that I had to resquedule some and am working this sunday also. So, im waiting for replies on this too. I know there'll be a lot of posts about how you should ALWAYS take a day off, but when youre just starting out its very hard to say ok I have Wednesday three weeks from now open.

[Rozie26]

I feel your pain

yeah i am in ohio and i'm right on the edge of the snow and ice, but we already have like 4 to 6 inches where i am and getting more all day i have to reschedule everyone from today to saturday, which i take off every other sat, and if i have to reschedule tomorrow then i will have to work sunday and i have monday off but i had to put two dogs in that day, so i know i do not want to work that many days straight but i can't work in this weather. so i can't wait for sprint. lol

Rose

[BeyondBlessed]

Welcome to my world...

You can do it....it's just one of those things we sacrifice for the freedom of doing our own thing.

Although some weeks (like yours and mine...this is MY first day off in 12 days) I wonder if it is all an illusion. LOL!

(P.S Wanna try it with 5 kids, like me? teeheehee)

[pamperedpups]

Edited.

[diamienono]

I feel your pain here in southeast Pa. It is snowing like crazy. Has been all day. There my trailer sits. I have to reschedule tomorrows grooms. Thank god I only had one on for thursday. Cauz I have 9 on friday.

[toomuchfunbnme]

Oh my goodness. All that work on top of your dental appt! I hope that all goes well for you and you feel fine afterward! Best of luck!

[Meesh]

I'm missing two days this week due to snow ... assuming they get the roads cleared for tomorrow! And I have doctors appts for both myself and my kid to work around, so I TOTALLY sympathize. If you don't want to work so many days in a row or worry about getting too tired and doing too much, you'll have to prioritize the grooms by which breeds of dogs can actually miss a groom and which can't -- like, you certainly don't want your Shih Tzus and Poodles and other "fussy" dogs to go 12-16 weeks between grooms if you can't get them in, but if your German Shepherds or Goldies have to go a long time it tends not to be so bad. Get in your "must grooms" as soon as possible and tell the others you'll put them on your cancellation list and give them a call if something else opens sooner, but otherwise you'll see them on such and such date.

I try to schedule a little "looser" in the winter so I have room to move things around, then as the weather reports firm up I call people on my waiting list. For example, I had some gaps in my schedule and got a few calls from people wanting to book appointments. If it was another season I'd have booked them next week and had 6-8 grooms a day all week. But instead I explained to them that the weather looked like I would need to keep some openings to reschedule my current clients, but I booked them for mid March (first available) and if something opened up or if I did not need the snow day I would call them sooner. Most were fine with it as I get the majority of my clients through word-of-mouth and apparently word on the street is I am worth the wait ;-)

I have also heard that people keep a full day open every other week and fill it as things get closer or just keep the day off. I try to take a three day weekend once a month and the 12th was going to be that one, but when the weather reports started firming up on Sunday I called my Tuesday clients and groomed them on Monday before the snow hit, so I just have to deal with today's clients now. I can get three of them in tomorrow because I had someone cancel two dogs a few days ago and I did not fill it in earlier because I knew I'd need it; I am adding one on Monday and two on Tuesday and I'll be caught up. If I didn't have a doctors appt tomorrow I'd have just worked a real long day and gotten them all taken care of.

Unfortunately, even though I am able to reschedule my clients, I am losing out on the money I would have made had I been able to fill those slots with new appointments. But I have to admit two days off with lots of hot cocoa and DVDs is kind of nice.

Meesh