NigCareers

Are you interested in horses, or have little experience riding horses, then you should consider starting a horse riding business. The business has profit-making potential, especially if you locate it in a region where people love playing with horses. The main objective of the horse riding business is to teach people with little experience how to ride and maintain their horses. You may extend the purposes of the company to provide other horses related service to increase profit.

Moreover, you do not necessarily need to love horses or have any knowledge of horses to start this business. For if you have the capital, then you can consider it and hire the best hands to manage and take care of the horses. Usually, it will take a considerable amount of capital to start the horse riding business. So get your financial aspect all set up before you venture into the business.

To help you with the process, we have aligned the best business strategies along with experience in the business to bring you an applicable guideline. With this guideline, you will be able to understand the intricacies involved in running the business and sustain the company in the long run. It is not advisable to start a business without due diligence carried out on the industry.

Below, we are going to analyze the guiding steps to start the business and stay successful.

Follow the guideline mentioned here to enhance your horse riding business set up.

Steps to Take to start a horse riding start-up business.

As mentioned earlier, these steps have been analyzed by experts. The measures will guide you in starting the horse riding business and help you sustain the company over a period.

1. Research the horse riding business

Having a passion or knowledge about riding a horse does not give you the business skills to start a horse riding business. Now that you have an idea of the business, you should research to expand your knowledge about the industry. An excellent way to start is to look at the structures developed by other related companies.

There are resources online that will help you with the research about the horse riding business, but you should also consider learning from a direct source. By a direct basis, we mean visiting a horse riding business in person. By being physically present in a location, you will derive a good understanding of the vast land resources required in starting the company, for the horses will need a large expanse of the area to move and run about, which is also suitable for providing lessons to those who need it.

Engage owners of horse riding businesses, and learn from their experiences. You will get an idea of the ups and downs required in running the company, the facilities you should set in place, insurance and health care to be provided for the horses. Gather the knowledge you have acquired, and use it to start your horse riding business.

2. Writing a business plan

Any business should have a business plan, as a guideline for you and your employees. A well-written business plan will contain the following:

• The cost of running the business

For your horse riding business, you have to consider the starting cost and the running cost in your business plan. The cost of the start-up will include acquiring a vast extent of land which will cost around $2000, purchasing horses which price range varies from #1000 to $10000, the building of stables, buying trucks and other types of vehicles and other equipment. The price for the start-up will eventually range from over $50000 and above depending on the scale of the business. Note that a large scale business may need more than five horses to operate.

• The cost of purchasing equipment and tools

Get the tools and equipment that will be needed in running the business. You will have to purchase saddles, horseshoes, whips, feeders, and other tools required in maintaining the horses and the stables. The purchase of these items may be above $2000, depending on the size of the business you are operating. You should also include stationery, computers, furniture and other things that will be needed in running the business.

• The recurring cost of the business

The horse riding business is quite expensive to operate with a more recurring cost. You will have to consider these costs that will be ongoing in planning for the company. And these recurring costs will include feeding of the horses, cleaning of the stables and field, health care for the horses, payment of staff, and other expenses.

• The capital of starting the business

The horse riding business is capital intensive, and you may need more than one source of funding to start and sustain the business. For the means, you should consider the following:

• Your savings and fund as part of the means for the company. Personal Savings may not be enough, and it is not wise to invest all your earnings in the business.
• Consider donations or distribution of shares of the business among friends and family members. These people are suitable to collect soft loans from without much interest in repayment.
• It would help if you then considered investors who will be interested in funding the business. However, these investors may want to have a share in the profit of the company, and they may become part owners of the business.
• Additionally, you can obtain loans from banks and top financial institutions to fund your business. This will involve payment of interest along with the loan. It can be expensive and will require collateral and documentation to access the loan.

• The business plan should specify how the horse riding company will make money—the various revenue avenues for the business and an estimate of the income in a defined period.
• It should detail the estimated profit for the business and how to reinvest in the industry.
• The plan should analyze ways on how to sustain the business and satisfy the customers.
• It should also spell out ways on how to repay loans obtained for the business.

And other factors to consider for writing your business plan. The business plan can be used to obtain loans from banks and other financial institutions. Use the available online format to write a business plan or hire a professional writer to help you produce a proper business plan.

3. Find a suitable location for your horse riding business.

For any business, location is vital for the success and sustainability of the company. With a start-up horse riding company, the site is critical to ensure you have high patronage from people in the area. This you must cite your horse riding services in a location with the following:

• A location with high traffic of tourists that will be interested in horse riding or learning how to ride will be profitable for your company.
• The location should have space for riding and the building of stables for the horses. The field size will depend on the size of the business, which is determined by the number of horses you have for the company.
• You should cite the company in places where people love horse riding. From research, you can determine if the people have a culture of horse riding which will mean more interested customers.
• The location should be close to the water supply for the management of the stables, which will require a constant water supply.
• A flat plain of land is vital mostly when tutoring a set of newbies. The ride will be smooth when the ground is straight and flat.

The price for leasing or purchasing the location for the operation is substantial, which is one of the reasons for the high start-up capital for the business. For this purpose, you may spend up to $5000 to acquire a suitable expanse of land for the company.

4. The services to be rendered in the horse riding business.

The horse riding business comprises a wide range of services. You can choose to carry out all the services or part of the services depending on your speciality and ability. A big horse-riding company can afford to offer more benefits because they have the resources to hire more. In contrast, a small scale horse riding company may trim down on their services due to the ability to provide these services and ensure top quality.

You should understand all the services that a horse riding service will entail. Take a look at the list of services renderable in this kind of services.

• Horse riding lesson.
• Training on how to handle horses.
• The sales and leasing of horses.
• Washing of horses
• Turning out services
• Horse breeding
• Consulting services, and much more.

You should know the type of services you can perform effectively. Then promote these services to those who will be interested.

5. Who is your targeted audience

With the horse riding company, the demographic of your target audience ranges from the young, old and elderly. Thus in this business, you will be engaging with a wide range of people, and in need of proper communication skills.

These people will have different levels of experience with a horse. And the lesson to be taught will differ from one person to another. The people you will likely be providing services for included children, adults, tourists which make up a significant target in the industry. Other targeted customers will also include those in the movie industry, event planners, sportspeople and different sets of people.

6. Registration, naming and branding your business

You need to register your company with the relevant authorities and follow the necessary procedures. Go to your local government office to obtain all the forms for legal registration of the companies. They will also be involved in the inspection to ensure that all the necessary things are in place for you to operate effectively. Get your safety tools, adequately trained workers in the area before the assessment of the facility to ensure speedy approval of the site of your business. Furthermore, animal conservatives and health officials may be involved to ensure that the animals are in the right conditions. Thus all the necessary facilities and tools should be provided to ensure proper living conditions for the animal.

The naming and branding of the company is another vital consideration. You can pick up a name that is memorable, easy to pronounce and spell, ending with horse riding, so everyone can quickly catch what the business is all about. Moreover, you should check if the name is still available online when building your online presence.

For the branding of your business should be considered in choosing a business name. Search for one that is still available online and unique to your company. Branding of the business will also involve getting a suitable logo. A graphic designer will come up with a unique logo that will easily justify the type of business.

For this step of the business, you may likely spend more than $500 in the registration of your business.

7. Accounting and taxes

As you start your business, you should have the payment of taxes at the back of your mind. Also, create a business account specifically for the company and register with the business name. All financial dealings about the business should be done in that account for proper record keeping.

Proper accounting will enable you to pay up your taxes. With a professional accountant in your team, you can easily set up your books correctly. And your taxes can easily be deducted with proper accounting, putting you in good books with the authorities. For this purpose, it is best to hire an accountant or use some of the latest accounting tools you can find online.

8. Pricing and profit-making

As a start-up, you have to consider the pricing of the services you are offering. Several factors may determine the pricing, such as the presence of other horse riding businesses in the area. It will be wrong to place your prices significantly lower than the competition, it is unethical in business practice, and you may even run at a loss.

However, as a start-up, you may want to consider a competitive advantage over the horse riding company in the area. And for this purpose, you can introduce incentives and discounts to attract customers. Research about the other businesses around, and you may find out certain things missing in their services. Add those to your services to catch the attention of people in the area, thus increasing your customer base. Always find room to improve your services to your customers and keep them happy.

Introduce flexible payment options to ensure comfortable use of your facilities. With several payment options, the customers will be comfortable spending money, and booking online for your services. Always find ways to use the latest technology to improve your services to your customers.

9. Obtaining insurance

You may not be allowed to operate your horse riding business without an insurance policy. Aside from being allowed to perform, insurance will safeguard you against losses, accidents and other factors that may affect your business. The insurance policies to be obtained include general insurance, liability insurance, workers compensation, accidents coverage, health coverage and so on.

Find a reliable insurance company that will cover policies suitable for such business. You can obtain such knowledge from your research work on other horse riding companies. Also reading customer reviews about insurance coverage will help you make the right choice of an insurance company. As a start-up, you may likely spend more than $4000 on insurance coverage to cover the horse riding business.

10. Employment of workers

This business is not a one-person show, and you will need workers in several departments. There is a need to employ people that have knowledge or experience with handling horses. You will need experts to take care of the horses like bathing, mating, maintaining their health and much more.

Other unskilled workers may be needed in areas of labour, driving, cleaning and so on. You may also need accountants, secretary, utility managers, storekeepers, promoters, security, safety officers and much more.

11. Marketing and promotion of your horse riding company

A good marketing strategy is essential for any business, either a start-up or established business. However, every company has a unique marketing strategy that will create awareness about your business. To this end, you can research other similar companies and their approaches to attract customers. Furthermore, for effective marketing, you can consult the help of a marketing agency to promote your organization organization.

The promotion of your horse riding company is vital at any stage of the operating of the business. It is a continuous process, but we are going to focus on strategies that will favour you at the stage of start-ups. You need not spare any cost in the promotion of your horse riding start-up. Build enough buzz about the company to increase awareness and visitors to your location. Below are the various ways you should create awareness about the horse riding start-up and increase profit:

• Organize a lavish opening day

From the first day of operation, you have to be strategic about your marketing. Horse riding is a lavish business that usually attracts a high class in society. Thus, it would help if you organized organize an elegant opening night, creating enough buzz around the place.

To achieve this, you should hire a top public relations organization to plan the opening. If you can raise the fund, invite celebrities in the vicinity to attract enough press publicity. Also consider top players in the industry, such those that are involved in sports using horses such as horse racing, sports analysts and lobbyists, jockeys and so on.

Furthermore, give access to the public so they will have a view of what is being offered. In summary, make your opening day trendy and be the talk of the town. You can organize charity competitions to make the event lively. Although this opening day party may be costly, it is worth the publicity, especially if there is competition around.

• Advertise on local television and newspapers

Take advantage of programs like horse racing, and other horse related events to promote your business on television and radio. You should pay for slots for your horse riding services to be displayed during these programs or close to sport-related issues on newspapers and magazines. With this approach, you will be targeting customers that will be interested in your services.

• Online branding and promotion

With the increasing use of the Internet, it will nor be wise to create your online presence. Everyone is going online, and your business will lose customers if people cannot find any of your information online. Building a website and providing every detail about your business, including pictures and videos, will create global awareness about what you have to offer. Imagine a tourist browsing through the city, searching for spots to have fun. Your business popping up on the search result will be a massive boost to your profit potential as you would likely land a client.

Also, online sites will make it easier for people to book a session or contact you. Get a professional to build a standard and responsive website for your business.

• The use of social media platforms and blogging

With social media platforms, you can reach out to millions of interested users as you share your images and videos. These platforms have become a convenient way to interact in real-time with clients and potential clients. They also allow you to promote your business on a global scale.

Blogging has also become a useful online tool to tell beautiful stories about your horse riding services. Build engaging, interactive and informative contents about the business and push out there for people to read and thus promote your business. It is a strategic approach to getting people involved and engaged, promoting awareness and interaction about your business.

• The use of customer reviews

Customer reviews have been known to be an effective way of promoting excellent services. People will read customer reviews to get a realistic view of the business. Thus, if you provide quality services, the customers will help you promote your business by telling others the good thing about your business.

You should encourage customers to post reviews about your business on popular platforms and review forums, especially if you are sure of your quality services. Please enable them to post images and videos, sharing them on your blogs, and social media platforms.

Conclusion

From the steps shown above, you can estimate that it will take substantial capital to start and sustain the horse riding business. You do not necessarily need to know about horses; however, you have to apply the necessary business skills in managing those who know about horses. It involves lots of work which will require you to be on the ground to monitor the business regularly.

Services

Tags: Horse riding