United States Eventing Association

Yvonne Ocrant began this four-hour seminar and workshop by going over a number of legal aspects of running an equine business. The topics ranged from the importance of matching horses and riders well to where you should post warning signs in your barn to the importance of well-written contracts. “Get as comfortable with contracts as you are with wearing a helmet,” Ocrant said.

Following Yvonne, Lizzy McMillan of Equestrian Professional discussed horse business models for eventers. Her presentation was a set up for a group workshop to follow: “My goal is for you to walk away not only with knowledge but with actual tools you can use in your business.”

There is a difference between a business model and a business plan, but they should connect. A business model is the propriety method required to obtain and retain customers. If your business model does not work, then you will never make a profit.

Some common horse business model patterns are:
1. Lesson programs
2. Boarding/Training
3. Training/Competing/Selling
4. Breeding/Selling
5. Professional Riders

There are certain aspects of the business models above that make them tick. For instance, good lesson horses and a convenient location are important for a lesson barn. A boarding stable has a low profit margin, and those successful boarding facilities are detail oriented and use things like economy of scale when buying bedding or hay.

A combination model like boarding and training has one segment of the business that pays more, but the other allows for the existence of the first, i.e. training pays a bigger portion of the bills, but the boarding is there so that you can do the training.

In a sales barn, you are trying to either breed or buy horses less expensively and turn a profit when they sell. So you spend a lot of time getting horses ready to sell or searching for them for clients. It is important in this case to create an ideal buying experience when clients come to the barn. It’s all hands on deck. For a professional rider, you have to have top horses, but you also have to have a really good support team.

McMillan told her the story of her own career in the equestrian industry. Her business model changed a number of times, on average every ten years, and ranged from a humble lesson facility for kids to a top importing and sales business.

“There was clearly success on a lot of levels, but there were some real mistakes,” McMillan said. “Had I recognized—the way I do now—the way I did shifts in business models and shifted every five years instead of ten, I would have been younger when I hit my peak earning years and been able to accomplish more in my riding.”

McMillan also found she managed her business far better when it was not making money but did not manage her career as well, and vice versa. “I learned through this the importance of those goals really being wrapped together.”

If she could do it over again, McMillan would have sought faster, better planned public recognition, aimed higher with her career goals, shifted her business model with more intention, and managed her business better during her peak earning years.

The following are examples of things that spike changes in a business model:
Resources: lesson horses, property, etc.
Expertise: i.e. riding improves through hosting clinics at your farm
Finances: directly responsible for shifts in Lizzy’s business models
Marketplace: when the global financial crisis hit, horse sales ground to a halt.

Have multiple income streams without creating a schizophrenic presence, McMillan said. If you don’t want to change your business model, fine tune it and maximize the current model to its fullest potential.

Much of the success of any business model depends on marketing. Eighty percent of it will be through word of mouth, but new marketing outlets include social media and mobile access.

There are seven steps to creating a marketing plan:
1. The purpose of your marketing
2. How you will achieve this purpose
3. Your target market
4. Your business identity/branding
5. Your niche-unique value proposition
6. The marketing tools you will use
7. Budget

Key marketing items to have for your business include:
1. Logo
2. Website
3. Social Media
4. Sponsorship Packet
5. Current Bio

Frankie Thieriot, President of Athletux, a sports marketing agency, discussed a number of real world examples of modern marketing in the equestrian world: what works, what doesn’t work, common mistakes, easy and quick fixes and tips.

Workshop participants were given a business model canvas, business plan outline, and marketing plan guide to fill out for their own current or future businesses and utilize the expertise of the three presenters to fine tune these documents and receive additional guidance.