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.