Well, I’m afraid I’ve turned up some bad news. On Friday, I had the chance to talk with the owner of The Fleaing Circus for a while. I asked her about the time they spend with each dog, and about the time it takes to go from one appointment to the next. She said that with the amount of travel they have between each appointment, they’re averaging just five or six grooms a day. Now, this might be because of the size of the area they’ve decided to serve. We should also think about how we’re going to schedule appointments. We could probably fit more grooms in each day if we gave each customer a “window” in which we would arrive, rather than scheduling precise times for each groom.

When we put together the operating model, I assumed we could complete about eight grooms each day. I think I've been a bit optimistic about our productivity and might need to go back and be a little more conservative in our estimates.

Also, I completely forgot to consider professional liability insurance for groomers. In my mind, it’s an absolute must. And it’s pretty expensive, I’m afraid. I’ve updated my research notes document to include some information on that.

And, speaking of the model, I thought it was disappointing. Petopia doesn’t seem to be quite as profitable as I imagined it could be. I feel so sure that it’s possible to make a solid profit in this business. Do you think there’s any way we can adjust what we’re doing to earn a bit more profit? Or should I start polishing my resume again?

Just out of curiosity, I got some price quotes from a couple of manufacturers on some higher-end collars and leashes. Those costs are noted in my updated research notes.

I’m also attaching all the information we’ve collected about the dog grooming business. If you have the time, I’d like you to review all the work we’ve done over the past couple weeks with an eye to any improvements we might make to the business model. Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks,

Susan

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