Preparing to Run a Horse Business

A large percentage of small businesses fail within the first year. Secondary sources of income for a horse business may help in times of trouble.

Consider the example of setting up a riding school, agistment or livery property. That is, people pay to keep their horse on your property. This may otherwise be known as 'grazing rights.'

Perhaps for the amount you charge and the number of paying clients, this just covers your mortgage repayments. In this case, it is worth considering what else can be offered to clients at an extra cost.

source

Facility Hire

Whether people are paying for livery on your property or riding school, facilities can be hired out at an added charge. These facilities may include:

• A riding arena
• Private paddocks at a higher cost than group paddocks
• Round yard use
• Borrowing a float or trailer to transport a horse to a competition

Services on Offer

There may also be particular services that can be offered by the skilled owner. Such examples are riding lessons if an instructor happens to own a property, massage to clients' performance horses or even nutritional advice. Of course, in these specialised fields it is worth providing this service if the proprietor is qualified to do so.

Other 'add ons' can be provided to those paying for agistment. These could include:

• Feeding horses each morning and/or afternoon
• Holding a horse for a farrier or vet visit
• Taking rugs on and off during the day depending on weather changes
• Administering medications or supplements
• Clipping horses that grow long winter coats

This list is far from exhaustive. Many horse owners that pay for agistment lead busy lives and work at least five days a week. Knowing that someone is available to carry out necessary but sometimes inconvenient tasks can be a real blessing if it only costs a little extra.

Many dream of running an equine business full time. When first creating an equine business, it may be necessary to make use of other skills or qualifications to guarantee a reliable income source. This may be in the form of a non horsey full time or part time job off site or even involve working for someone else in the equine industry.

Perhaps you’re lucky enough to be skilled in an area that can generate an income from home such as data entry, photography or writing online. This can provide great flexibility in being able to be at home and look after stock as time requires. If establishing a horse related business, consider what you would do if things became difficult financially and put into action some steps to prevent or minimise the chances of this occurring.

Source

• Why Small Businesses Fail: SBA