Routine and repetition are the foundation of most businesses including the horse business. You do many of the same things day after day and month after month in your operation. Routine feeding, watering and mucking are a sure thing. Trimming or shoeing, routine veterinary work and routine training or exercise programs are givens.
Boarders, students and training clients are also part of your familiar daily routine. And there is nothing wrong with this. Steady work is steady cash flow. That translates into money to pay operating expenses, put food on the table and make the mortgage payment. Conventional wisdom supports the “steady as she goes” theory of business management.
Routine, however, can be the enemy of financial growth. When you are caught in a cycle of doing what you’ve always done, you keep getting the same results, both good and bad. As an example, a full barn provides a blend of good and bad results for your business. Some horses are money makers, others are break even and worse, others are losers.
Aristotle may have proclaimed, “Nature abhors a vacuum”, but experience in the horse business suggests to me that Aristotle should have added “Nature also abhors an empty horse stall.” An empty stall has a magical way of filling itself in a short period of time. Barns are full of horses just because, well, there is a place to put them. Sometimes the stalls are filled with horses that should be living elsewhere.
Your “elsewhere list” might include
- Lesson horses who have earned retirement rights and an easier lifestyle.
- Horses owned by chronically delinquent boarders.
- Horses you own that can’t physically perform at the level you expected.
- Broodmares difficult to get in foal.
- Ill tempered horses who don’t like where they are.
Is a full barn a good thing or a bad thing then?
It’s a good thing if your barn is full of ideal horses. It’s a bad thing if it closes the door for the greater opportunity to find you. What’s a greater opportunity?
- A horse with potential or admirable past performance that you can “buy right” due to the seller’s circumstances and need to sell now.
- A new client who needs a bundle of services like board, lessons and training
- A new client looking for you to train, polish and market a horse for a commissioned sale.
Greater opportunities often materialize at times when we least expect them. Have you ever had one more horse than you have had stalls for and have opportunity kicking at your barn door?
Followers of the Law of Attraction will tell you that opportunities don’t appear until you’re ready to receive them. If you’re looking for greater opportunities and the No Vacancy sign is always lit at your barn, don’t expect to attract fortune to drive in your driveway honking the horn.
Make room for more business opportunities to appear by relocating horses that should be housed elsewhere. It’s good business to strive toward maximizing your income stream with more sales from the resources you have on hand.
Whether your business is the size of Wal*Mart or a Lemonade Stand, use your time, money and business assets to your full advantage.