The problem
Kennels run 7 days a week, including bank holidays and Christmas, and the rota changes whenever someone's ill or a student's term starts. If the owner spends 2.5 hours a week building and fixing the rota on a whiteboard and in a group chat, that's about 10.8 hours a month.
What the AI does
RotaCloud is rota software with, on its site, a mobile app, shift swapping, staff availability and holiday management. Set up early, late and weekend shifts for kennel and daycare staff, let staff enter availability and request holiday in the app, and publish the rota a few weeks ahead. Use your booking numbers to set how many people each shift needs: the dog boarding licensing guidance says each member of staff should have 25 dogs or fewer to care for, and day care has its own conditions, so build those into each day's cover.
A worked example
A kennel and daycare in Shropshire employs 7 staff plus the owner, with two shifts a day and weekend cover. The rota was a whiteboard photo sent to a group chat.
Before
2.5 hours a week building and fixing the rota: about 10.8 hours a month
After
1 hour a week in RotaCloud: about 4.3 hours a month
What it's worth
About $173£130€155A$250C$244 a month saved, at an assumed $27£20€24A$38C$38 an hour for 6.5 hours (10.8 minus 4.3). For 6 to 10 people including the owner, RotaCloud Standard is $27£20€24A$38C$38 a month and Pro $40£30€36A$58C$56 from the page's team-size selector, so the net is about $133£100€119A$192C$188 to $146£110€131A$211C$207.
How to set it up
- Start the 30-day free trial and add every employee, including yourself, so you're in the right price band.
- Set up your shift patterns: morning kennels, daycare, afternoon and evening checks, and weekend cover.
- Work out how many people each shift needs from your booking numbers and your license conditions.
- Ask staff to enter availability, college days and holiday requests in the app.
- Publish 3 or 4 weeks ahead, and earlier for Christmas and the summer holidays.
What goes wrong
- Pricing is by number of people, including you; going from 10 to 11 moves you into the next band, Standard $53£40€48A$77C$75.
- A rota doesn't set your staffing level. License conditions on staff numbers still apply, and an inspector may ask how you meet them.
- Staff under 18 have legal limits on hours and breaks; check them before publishing.
- Optional SMS notifications cost extra; start with app notifications.