Create a Financial Foundation to support your Equestrian Business

By Christa Myers

An equestrian business needs to have a financial foundation that supports the entirety. 

If you don’t know how much money your business makes .. or loses, how can you grow?

The goal in business by definition is to make money. 

That money must be handled with care to continue the business’s journey and success. 

Spend more than you make and soon enough there won’t be a business. 

Developing a financial foundation in your business is just as important as building a beautiful brand. Together, they can create stable and profitable businesses within the horse world. 

The horse world is beginning to shift its mindset and leaving the era of broke horse people. 

Pricing to create profit instead of raising to the bottom to attract clients. 

Handling the money to maintain profit and longevity. 

Every section of your business affects money and vice versa. 

A financial foundation isn’t scary. It’s setting your business up to receive, handle, analyze, and spend money with the intent to generate more revenue. 

Prioritize profit in your pricing. 

If you choose to price inadequately from not knowing or self-doubt, you are making it that much harder for your business to grow. Services and products that are priced to create profit allow a business to reinvest in the business and support itself. 

Track your financial information.

Separate your business and personal finances.. and no, not just a little. Entirely separate your personal and business finances. Open a business bank account or at the very least a separate bank account on its own when you’re starting up. This makes tracking your financial information much easier as it’s not intermixed. Bonus point: tax agencies also appreciate separation.

Whether you begin tracking your finances with spreadsheets or with accounting software, just make sure you do it.  Intimidation and lack of available time are often the reason most equestrian entrepreneurs don’t do their bookkeeping. Take the time to educate yourself on how to complete your bookkeeping until you’re able to outsource it. 

Read the financial information. 

The data isn’t useful unless you read it. The report section on your accounting software, yeah? It’s not just for show. That data can tell you so much about your business. If you’re creating money and experiencing growth, it will even tell you where your business is hurting. 

Bookkeeping is the financial life story of your business. How are you going to write it?