Am I ready for a second pair of hands, and how do I roster and pay them?

The first hire in a grooming business is rarely a second groomer. It is usually a bather, because bathing, drying and brushing out is where the hours go, and it is the part that can be taught in weeks rather than years. A groomer gives you a second column in the diary and a second person who can price and finish a dog; a bather gives you more dogs through the column you already have. So the decision underneath the hire is what you are short of, chairs or hours. Booked out four weeks means chairs. Finishing at seven every night because you did all the drying yourself means hours. Rostering and pay follow from that answer: a bather is scheduled around the groomers' drying gaps and is usually paid for time, while a groomer needs a bookable column, a skill list saying which dogs they take, and often a split, which is where the price of a groom and the pay of the person doing it stop being one number.