Follow-Up Questions for Kendra
| # | Question | Affects |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Acceptable drift — How many weeks past a dog’s expected groom date is genuinely fine (cosmetic only) vs. when does it start causing real problems (matting, skin issues)? This determines how urgent “before their next appointment” actually is, and for which breeds/coat types it matters most. | 04-Policies/cancellation-and-no-show-policy.md, 02-Pricing/breed-pricing-matrix.md |
| 6 | Proposal: premium “catch-up” day — Idea to float with Kendra: reserve a limited number of bonus days (e.g. a 6th day of the week) used only for rebooking clients whose regular cycle got disrupted, priced at a premium since it requires groomers to work an extra day. Would she consider this? What would fair extra-day compensation look like for groomers, and would it need to be opt-in? | 07-Operations/scheduling-procedures.md, 02-Pricing/index.md, 06-Staffing-and-Training/index.md |
| 7 | Top 3 competitors, in Kendra’s opinion — Who does Kendra think her top 3 competitors are, and why? She has direct market knowledge (client word-of-mouth, industry contacts, who she’s lost clients to) that desk research can’t surface. Compare her answer against the data-driven candidates identified so far (Pawtopia, Bark Now, Just Dogs by Jennifer as of 2026-07-03) — agreement validates the research, disagreement flags a blind spot (e.g. a home-based groomer with no web presence who’s actually a bigger threat). | 09-Competitive-Analysis/competitor-roster.md, 09-Competitive-Analysis/index.md |
| 8 | Skunk treatment — Is this still a service we want to offer? It appeared on an earlier draft of the add-on menu but wasn’t included in the priced list Kendra gave us on 2026-07-03. If yes, what should it cost as an add-on vs. a standalone walk-in? | 02-Pricing/add-ons-and-upgrades.md |
| 9 | Staff groomer commission split — What should the actual commission split be? ongoing-expenses.md’s cost model was built on 45%, but the current working number elsewhere is 50% — these need to be reconciled either way, since it’s the single biggest lever in the whole expense estimate. Also worth exploring: PetSmart is believed to run a tiered structure (e.g. a lower base like 30%, stepped up once a groomer hits certain sales targets) rather than a flat split — would a performance-tiered commission work better for retention/incentive than Kendra’s flat percentage? | 03-Financial/ongoing-expenses.md, 06-Staffing-and-Training/index.md |
| 17 | Quick-fire operational decisions — A batch of small yes/no and number fills currently blocking three policy docs from leaving draft status; worth a rapid pass together rather than one at a time: (a) accept checks / Venmo-Zelle-CashApp / Apple-Google Pay at launch? (b) late-arrival grace period and reschedule threshold in minutes, and whether a late fee applies on a repeat offense; | 04-Policies/payment-policy.md, 04-Policies/late-arrival-policy.md, 04-Policies/booking-policy.md |
| 19 | Days/hours of operation — Kendra’s proposal — Before we settle on launch hours, we want Kendra’s own proposal for what days/hours the salon should be open, given independently before she sees ours (see hours-of-operation-proposal) so her answer isn’t anchored by our research. Specifically: what days/hours would she want to work herself, is she open to a Saturday or one extended evening at launch, and has she heard specific evening/weekend requests from her current client base? | 07-Operations/hours-of-operation-proposal.md, 07-Operations/scheduling-procedures.md, 01-Business-Planning/business-goals-and-milestones.md |
| 20 | Breed pricing matrix — confirm estimates and fill gaps — A 2026-07-06 reference list (breeds A–G) was mapped into breed-pricing-matrix.md, but two things need Kendra’s confirmation: (a) the ~25 breed rows marked † that weren’t in that list (Yorkie, Maltese, Pomeranian, both Poodle sizes, Labrador, Husky, the giant breeds, and most doodle variants) were estimated from comparable breeds, not priced directly; (b) three ambiguous source entries (Chihuahua haircut listed as “Smooth: 33,” Bernedoodle Mini bath noted as “partially obscured”) were reinterpreted rather than used as-is — worth a quick sanity check. | 02-Pricing/breed-pricing-matrix.md, 02-Pricing/service-tiers.md |
| 21 | Add-on pricing gaps for coat condition — The breed matrix’s old coat-condition modifier section was removed in favor of handling all of this through add-ons-and-upgrades.md. Moderate matting (20–40) are already priced there, but a few gaps remain unpriced: heavy/severe matting requiring a humane shave-down (flat fee?), a first-groom surcharge for puppies or new adult dogs needing extra acclimation time, and a surcharge for dogs flagged with known handling difficulty. Does Kendra want these as new add-on lines, or handled some other way (e.g. quoted case-by-case)? | 02-Pricing/add-ons-and-upgrades.md |