FOLLOW US

3 Keys to Running a Successful Equine Business

Business plans, budgets and marketing are all part of running a successful equine business.

Your equine business should have a well-written business plan, a strict budget and good marketing iStockPhotos.com

Running a successful lesson program or boarding stable requires as much business savvy as it does horse experience. It’s important to view your equine enterprise as a business. If you’re not making money, then it is just a hobby. Most horse farm and boarding stable owners are always looking for ways to create income. 

Links in articles are part of an Amazon Affiliate program that provides income to support this brand. Links are chosen by our editors.

Jo-Anne Young, the Equestrian Program Director Emeritus and Assistant Professor of Equestrian Studies at Houghton College in New York, offers her advice to organizing a successful equine business.

Make a business plan. A well-written business plan is a roadmap to success. It is a tool that can be used to drive your long-term goals for the types of clients you’d like to serve and the aspects of the business you want to focus on.

Equine business owners can create an Amazon Business Account.

“Be sure to include goals and objectives and how you plan to reach them,” she said.

Check out this Stable Management article Creating a Business Plan.

Make a budget and stick to it. Young’s father was an accountant who emphasized the importance of good recordkeeping. She recommends putting each business expense in a column so the label matches the line item the year-end total will go on for your IRS self-employed business when you do your taxes.

“Keep all receipts and file them in a plastic page protector labels with the line number that match the IRS self-employed business report line number,” she said. “Label each receipt with the line number and item number that it goes with in your bookkeeping.”

Sign up now for Amazon Prime 30-day Free Trials, a membership program that offers special benefits including: Instantly watch thousands of movies and TV episodes; Borrow Kindle books; Get unlimited FREE two-day shipping (no minimum order size). Learn more.

Target your marketing. You can’t please everyone, no matter how hard you try. It’s impossible to be everything to everyone all the time. That doesn’t mean sacrificing on customer service, instead it means focusing on those you would consider ideal clients. She encourages instructors and stable managers to figure out the type of clients they can best serve and target advertising efforts to that group of people.

Check out this Stable Management article, 5 Tips for Successful Stable Marketing.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

SHARE THIS STORY

RELATED ARTICLES

POPULAR ARTICLES

GET NEWS & UPDATES

Oops! We could not locate your form.