PetGroomBossPro Blog — Groomer App

A Groomer and a Bather in One Van: Sharing the Day on the Groomer App

A lot of mobile grooming businesses grow the same way. The owner grooms alone for a while, the book fills up, and the next hire is not a second van but a bather in the first one. One person bathes, dries and brushes out while the other handles the haircut. The van gets through more pets in a day, and the groomer spends more time on the work only they can do.

Two People, One Van

The last article, Van GPS on the Office Map: Knowing Where Every Grooming Van Is, was about seeing where each van is. This one is about who is inside it. In PetGroomBossPro, each employee is assigned to a van (the app calls it a “team”), and a groomer and a bather can be assigned to the same one.

Both of them sign in with the company login and their own personal PIN, and both see that van's day: the same appointments, in the same order, with the same set times and pet details.

Same Card, Different Jobs

The appointment card serves both people. Each one reads it for different things:

• The bather looks at the coat, the add-ons that happen in the tub (a flea and tick bath, a blueberry facial, a de-shed treatment) and the behavior notes (“nervous with the dryer”).
• The groomer looks at the cut notes (“#7 blade body, teddy bear face”), the size and coat, and the past notes.
• Both read the van notes, because both of them are setting up and handing over pets.

Because the card is the same on both phones, nobody has to relay information. The bather does not need to ask the groomer what the flea bath was for; it is on the card.

Splitting the Checklist

The per-pet grooming checklist naturally splits between the two. The bather typically covers items like brush-out and de-matting, bath and conditioner, and blow dry and fluff. The groomer covers the haircut or style, the sanitary trim and the finishing items. How you split it is your business's choice.

Whoever does an item ticks it. With both people working in the app, the checklist for each pet ends up complete, and the office sees it all on the job. The full checklist is in The Per-Pet Grooming Checklist in the Groomer App.

Who Taps Start and Complete

Decide this up front, so the office view stays clean. A common split:

• The bather taps Start when the first pet comes into the van, because the bather usually takes it first.
• The groomer takes the after photos and taps Complete, because the groomer finishes the pet and checks the final result.

Any split works, as long as everyone does it the same way. When the groomer taps Complete, the invoice is created and the card on file can be charged, regardless of who did which part.

Each Person's Own Hours

Both people clock in and out with their own PIN, so their hours stay separate even though they ride together. A bather who starts later or leaves earlier has their own record. Time clock details are covered in The Time Clock in the Groomer App.

Tips are worth a word too. Customers leave tips on the paid invoice in the customer app, and the office has a tips report. How a van's tips are split between the groomer and the bather is up to you; the report gives you the numbers to do it fairly.

Scheduling a Two-Person Van

On the office side, a two-person van can usually handle more appointments in a day. The office plans for that on the Scheduled list. Repeat appointments assigned to that van every 4, 6 or 8 weeks keep their weekday, time and van, so a two-person van builds its own steady book of regulars.

If the bather is off one day, the office can see it and lighten that van's schedule, or move a few appointments to another van.

Growing Into It

Adding a bather is often the first step from solo groomer to a small team. The groomer app makes it simple: add the bather as an employee, give them a PIN, assign them to the van, and they see the same day as the groomer. Training them on the app is covered in Training a New Groomer on the App in One Ride-Along.

For how a two-person van fits into the rest of the platform, visit the PetGroomBossPro dog grooming app page.