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There is a rule successful business people follow and losers ignore. When you're making money, save it! When business is slow, spend! That's just the opposite of what most do. When the money is rolling in, most are spending on everything and anything. Times are good and everyone is having a good time. It's all smiles. Well, the US economy is slumping--high gas prices, housing market crisis, Congress doing nothing and the catastrophic costs of the war in Iraq. A lot of businesses are falling right in line; they are slumping just like the economy. It's all frowns. Another rule of business….be different! The slumping economy is an opportunity. No matter what your horse business, you should have a niche. And if you have a niche, you know your market. Ask yourself, "What do my customer's purchase?" It's never the item you are selling, it is always the "promise of what could be." So let's say you have a feed store, and all your customers are complaining about the high cost of everything, including feeding horses. Do you slump right along with all the other feed stores. Do you go around with a sad face, complaining, just like the other feed store owners? Do you lay off workers to save money, cut back on services, close an extra day per week, stop advertising? The only thing you should stop is breaking the rule of good business. Don't stop, start. Put a smile on your face, be different, and spend some money! If your customers are telling you the cost of everything is too high, spend some money and show them how to "save" on feed. Hold a special open house (you host or a feed company hosts) and show people how they can "use a hay re-placer, buy a better quality feed and save, cut back on supplements that aren't needed. Advertise and host weekly clinics on "easy tack repair, how to sell your barn junk on E-bay, making fly repellant go farther, how to do your own de-worming, and what health care steps you can provide yourself." Hay costs are going to get higher as the supply dwindles. Put on a big sale and show customers how they can buy five tons now and save real money in comparison to buying three bales of hay at a time. (If you are really smart you'll work a deal with your bank or a local lender and set up "financing" options.) It doesn't matter what horse business you're in…every problem that needs solving is an opportunity for you. And I'll bet your customers can give you a long list of problems that need to be solved. Grab those opportunities and solve those problems; you'll make a lot of money. Sure, you'll have to spend some money, you'll have to lead the way, you'll have to be more visible than your competitors. But it will be easy because you'll be all alone doing it; your competitors will be slumping in the shadows. While most are crying the blues about the slumping economy and bad times, you'll be singing the joys of success---I think the song goes something like this: "accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative!!!!" For information about horses and business, visit www.donblazer.com |
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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. |
