WEEK 1March 6-10
MARKETING Put together a selection of green pet paraphernalia and highlight the items on your website and social media as St. Patrick’s Day fashions.
TRAINING This week, write down one important skill that you can teach each member of your staff. By the end of the week, make sure that you’ve spent at least some time working with each staffer on that skill.
WEEK 2March 13-17
STAFF It’s time for your twice-yearly employee reviews. You’ll do them again in September.
TRADE SHOWS If you’re going to Global Pet Expo, make some time this week to carefully plan your vendor visits and decide what education sessions you’ll be attending. Leave time to browse for new vendors!
WEEK 3March 20-24
OPERATIONS Got an employee suggestion box? If not, you should create one. Offer bonuses or gifts for any ideas you implement.
WEBSITE Create a “30-second infomercial” to use at networking events or post on your website. Draft a statement that: 1.) describes what you do; 2.) shows that you love doing it; 3.) shows how you can solve people’s pet problems, and most of all, 4.) makes people say “Tell me more!”
WEEK 4March 27-31
EDUCATION Take out the notes you took during all those educational sessions at Global Pet Expo and start implementing some of the great ideas you learned.
NETWORKING Try networking with other pet professionals. Join online groups such as Pet Business Professionals (facebook.com/groups/petbusinessprofessionals/) or PETS+ (facebook.com/petsplusmag/) to see how your fellow professionals are faring elsewhere in the country.
WEEK 5April 3-7
MARKETING Consider a “mother-daughter” social media contest for the week of Mother’s Day. Best photo of a female pet and her female pet parent wins a free grooming session/one-week boarding stay.
SALES Training session: Show and sell higher-ticket items.
WEEK 6April 10-14
WEBSITE Visitors to your site won’t have much patience if pages don’t open quickly. Check your download time. If you’re under 1.5 seconds, you’re OK.
EMPLOYEES Make sure that all your employees get their summer vacation requests in on time. And while you’re working on a roster, book some time off for yourself.
WEEK 7April 17-21
NETWORKING Contact any churches, synagogues or business groups in your area. Tell them you’ll speak for free about pet training, behavior and health at their meetings.
SALES Training session: How to handle price objections.
WEEK 8April 24-28
MARKETING Dust off your old marketing files, revisit successful past promotions and reconsider ideas that might deserve a second look. Then get some new ideas in this issue’s cover story.
STRATEGY Find a category of your business you want to improve — such as pet grooming, boarding or sitting — and draft an action plan to start making it happen.
This article originally appeared in the March-April 2017 edition of PETS+.