You have seen the want ads that read like
this: “Child’s horse wanted, must be bomb
proof”.
I don’t mind a little daydream fueled optimism, but
requesting a bomb proof horse is pushing the limits.
Why not also ask for a horse that is: founder proof,
colic proof, puncture proof and fall proof? You get
the idea; horses, while predictable the
majority of the time, are unpredictable the
rest of the time.
Do you suppose it’s possible to bomb proof your
horse
business?
It’s easier than bomb proofing a horse.
Bomb proofing your business involves taking these
types of
steps to defend those occasional missiles that rocket
into your business life.
Have a cash reserve. By this I mean having
a bank account with an appropriate balance for your
size of business that you can immediately draw from
for business emergencies.
Identify a “number two” person in command
who can make the daily business decisions for you if
you are not available or able to do so.
Develop operating systems for everyone to
use that describe:
- Feeding of horses including amounts, time and
details of hay and grains and water check
schedule.
- Stall cleaning and manure removal.
- Cleaning and storage of tack and equipment.
- Blanketing and sheeting procedures by
temperature.
- Stall check at end of day.
Emergency plans for disasters including
tornado,
hurricane, flooding, snowstorm, fire and health
quarantines. It’s much easier to deal with disaster
when you can start with a plan and modify than start
from scratch after the bomb explodes. Don’t forget
about disasters like loss of electricity or worse, your
water supply. A barn full of thirsty horses with no
readily available supply of water is a disaster without
a contingency plan.
Lack of steady income is also a time bomb
to be wary of. Your mortgage, installment loans,
lease payments, feed bills and payroll show up for
payment every month whether your checking
account is full or empty. Understand where
your
income will come from for the next 12 months and
when it will be deposited to account for
cash flow
deficits.
Use good sense to do some advance thinking
about
what to do when things go wrong. It’s much easier
to operate your business with a plan in place for
damage control than pick up pieces after a business
bomb is dropped and wonder what the next step
might be.
Since chaos is the default choice in lieu of a plan,
choose to plan.
