01/03/2024
Some time ago a friend asked me about the income potential of owning a horse stable. There was a property available, and he was thinking of doing what I have been doing. I laughed and told him not to do it. He said it works for me! I replied I have a wife that works in town! The only way I could get the math to work was to scale to a medium size and do everything including lessons myself. It is really a 24x7 job. Horses can’t feed themselves and they tend to behave like bratty 3-year-old children. Forget vacations or even long weekends. My friend reluctantly took my advice.
I get phone calls all the time asking the same questions. How much are lessons? When are lessons done? How young are we willing to teach? Can we rent a horse? Can we go trail riding? Do we have to take lessons? There is a website. Their answers are in the website. When I ask if they have looked at the website I am accused of being “snarky”. They are just entitled people who don’t understand no one is employed to sit and wait for their phone call. Small businesses have fewer hands to shuffle tasks to and owners tend to do a lot as in don’t have time for questions that are already answered.
There is nothing in any of our published material that suggests we rent horses by the hour but on a sunny day this is likely the question I am going to be asked when I have to stop what I am doing, dig out my phone, unlock the screen, and answer the call. I won’t even bother if I have a horse in hand.
We have maintained a few horses for riding lessons. We charge what we feel the market will pay but it really doesn’t pay what we need. The County wouldn’t allow us to organize as a 501C (non profit) so we try to earn a profit. Trouble is we organized in 2003 and have never shown a profit. Our lesson horses, bless their hearts, carry people around and give them a few thrills. The horses know the job even though the people are learning. These horses have a good life here. I fear for their well being if we did what our CPA tells me every year we need to do.
I am told every year there is a rule a company has to make a profit. Actually, the rule is a company has to operate in a businesslike manner and try to make a profit. I argue back with my CPA that I am certain our customers understand our business-like demeanor. We have 2 employees, file payroll reports, and pay taxes to the various agencies. There is something for everyone here, except for me, the owner who has never made a profit.
My instructor gets thank yous from her students in person or written on a white board in the barn. She gets presents at Christmas which I understand the relationship she has with the Room To Ride students. They have no clue they should be charged more, maybe half again as much. If I charged what I needed they would all leave and the horses would be idled. In the meantime I will do this for my employees and for the horses. But understand, I may be a little snarky.
