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If you want to make money in any horse business, start thinking like "rich people." To make it short and sweet, all you've really got to do is know the difference between "assets" and "liabilities." When you know the difference you can choose to make money instead of losing it. No matter what you've heard (and you've heard plenty from a million commercials trying to sell you something) most of what you have are liabilities, not assets. Your home can be an investment, but is not an asset, unless your take action to change its status. Your car or truck is not an investment….it's a liability. The acid test to determine the status of any item is answering this question: "Is it producing an income?" If it produces an income, it is an asset. (It doesn't always have to be a profit, but it must consistently bring money in.) If it does not produce an income, it is a liability. Rich people do not have many liabilities, and they do have a lot of assets. Your home or ranch is a liability if you are living there and enjoying your horses. It cannot become an asset until it can produce an income….start boarding horses and sticking the "income" in a special bank account to be applied to your mortgage. Now the home or ranch is an asset and an investment. It will earn, hopefully, equity with each mortgage payment and market appreciation. (The market collapsed in 2008, but will come back eventually. Let's hope you bought when prices were down and mortgage lending rates were at a historic low.) People think their horses are "assets" because them have "potential value" if sold. They are not assets…they are liabilities, costing you dollars every day. Doesn't matter how much you enjoy them, or think they are worth…they are dollar eaters. If you're horse business is "training," then get rid of all horses that you are not getting paid to train. (I know you aren't going to do that…so get rid of as many as you can, and if you keep any, lease them or give riding lessons on them or use them in "clinics" in which you get paid to participate.) Your truck is a liability unless you are getting paid to "haul" horses. If you get paid to haul horses, the truck becomes an asset when it is earning money, a liability when it is not. Take any money you get for hauling, and use it to pay off the truck. Debt of any kind is a liability. Get out of debt. It is perfectly alright to use credit cards if you pay off the monthly amount charged and pay no interest or annual fees. Having any "outstanding" credit card debt is a major problem for your business; one of the most expensive liabilities you can have. The first step to being a profitable business is creating assets and eliminating liabilities. |
The online course:
The Business of Making Money With Horses will help you create your personal
horse business. You can enroll at www.horsecoursesonline.com as part of the Bachelor degree or Professional Horse Trainer Certification program. |
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