The early European settlers in North America knew the first thing to be done to prosper was clear the land.
Trees, brush and rocks stood in the way of growing crops for survival. With simple tools, oxen and strong backs, they created the environment for their futures.
Back then, the priorities and the tasks to be done to ensure a livelihood were obvious.
The path to a profitable livelihood today isn't so obvious. It's camouflaged with distractions, assumptions and habits.
If you want your business to grow, have you taken the time to clear the land first?
I mean taking actions like these examples:
Just like trees, brush and rocks were to early settlers, the obstacles to your business's growth need to be cleared before your business can grow.
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If your barn rules aren’t working very well, Robert Fulghum’s “All I Really Need to Know I learned in Kindergarten” suggests these:
Play fair
Don’t hit people
Put things back where you found them
Clean up your own mess
Don’t take things that aren’t yours
Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody
What’s A Jibe Ho… Duck?
No, it’s not today’s special on the Chinese takeout menu.
If you have been sailing, you might recognize Jibe Ho! as sailing jargon warning that the boom is about to cross from one side of the boat to the other with strong head knocking force and keeping your head low is good for your health.
Sailors love jargon. It’s part of the tradition of the sport. And when around other sailors, the language of sailing is efficient for saying much in just a few words. Jargon in any sport or industry is the vernacular that helps identify you as a member of the community.
And in the world of horses, there is no shortage of jargon and horseman’s parlance: warmbloods, hacking, barn sour, martingales, reiners, leg yield and bar shoes. Seasoned horsemen have no problem understanding your choice of words and terms, but for the inexperienced group who are entering the world of horses, your sentences may include words that might as well be Sanskrit for a newcomer to comprehend.
As you speak to the beginners, scan faces for signs of understanding. Many people are too embarrassed to ask a question when they hear a word or phrase they don’t understand. When you use specialized terminology, rephrase it and say it again in basic terms. Beginners feel awkward enough without having to feel intimidated by the foreign language of the horse world.
When you take the time to translate, trust builds.
Sell on value instead of lower price. Let your competitors be the discounters. Your horse business model is flawed if you believe you can charge less and offer more.
Just a thought for you if you have a waiting list for boarders or students. Is it time to raise your prices?
If it’s broke, it’s probably not worth fixing. Baby boomers in particular have a tough time tossing broken tools and equipment. They were conditioned long ago by depression surviving parents that a repaired tool is as good as a new tool.
Times and quality have changed and youthful employees won’t work with “rigged” equipment.
Toss that broom with the taped up handle, the plastic pitchfork missing more teeth than Grandpa and that leaky hose nozzle. Labor is too expensive to mess with repairs on throw away items.
As owner of your own business, I suspect you can do just about everything there is to do in it. And I also suspect if your profitability is low or you’re not meeting your goals, you ARE doing everything. And that’s the problem.
Post cards are powerful and low cost marketing tools. At a Farm Bureau board meeting last night, I was handed this post card marketing piece by Lisa Tucker of Field and Fork Network. The collage on the front is an enticing visual and the copy on the back of the card concisely tells the story.
Is a low cost color postcard the visual marketing piece you need to promote lesson programs and summer camps or even horses for sale?
Lather, Rinse, Repeat
Business legend has it that an advertising executive suggested adding the simple instructions- Lather, Rinse, Repeat to the client's shampoo bottle to double consumption and sell more product.
Millions of shampoo users dutifully followed the simple instructions as they washed their hair. Their actions were validated by "More is better" a flawed logic often also used with chocolate and horses.
The extra shampoo doesn't get hair any cleaner, but it sure helps sales. Regardless of roots in fact or fiction, when you see or hear something often enough, it becomes a perceived truth.
Perceived truths in business often appear as faux pearls of wisdom:
"You have to spend money to make money."
"If you build it, they will come."
"The customer is always right."
Proficient at ignoring the latest business buzz phrase, the wise in business remember this simple piece of advice: Test what you think you know.
Some jobs have a choice of start and stop times of the work day as well as scheduled breaks. The work is compartmentalized, segmented with a flexible timeline.
But, not your job. Your day is filled with uninterruptible tasks of half hour training rides, multiple and consecutive one hour private and group lessons and horse care tasks on a regimen.
Nothing waits until tomorrow.
Your productivity and financial success is a function of your ability to say NO when you need to.
Not silver, gold or diamonds, Time is your prescious commodity. The best way to protect it is with the power of NO.
Systems help maintain order over chaos. Every part of your horse business that can be "systematized" in writing reduces the opportunity for errors. "Free wheeling" employees often glide past the unspecified details.