Best Advice from Small Businesses

from August 2023 Saddle Up! Magazine

The Importance of the Walk

By Lisa Skylis | email: skylisli@msu.edu

Are you ready to turn your horse hobby into an equine small business? Do you have what it takes to turn your passion into a career? Whether your dream business is a tack shop, freelance photography, a boarding barn, or anything else, it's crucial to learn how to set your business up for success before launching and learn from those who've already made the leap. The goal of this Equine Small Business Series is to guide you through the process of becoming a small business, be a resource for growing and maintaining your small business, and give real-life advice from equine professionals with an established small business. Read on and let's get to business!

The Customer Comes First

Just outside of Mansfield, Ohio, Custom Conchos and Tack LLC was officially launched as a small business in 2012. The familyrun business purchased their current building, roughly between Cleveland and Columbus, in 2014 and recently acquired two mobile tack store trailers. Now, Custom Conchos and Tack is known for their wide saddle selection, flashy custom tack, fairlypriced show rental clothes, and stellar customer service.

Tammy Cox, the founder and owner of Custom Conchos and Tack, was quick to impart some wisdom for any new equine small business owners. “We go the extra mile for our customers,” she emphasized, “And they can see we truly care about our customers and their equine friends! They depend on us to help them not kill the bank. Because of this, our customers come back and are very loyal to us. We are not at all pushy; we talk with our customers and help figure out what is best for them in the long run. We can spend up to an hour or so helping out a customer and taking the time to figure out what is best!”

According to Tammy, another vital part of maintaining a strong relationship with your customers is to share your appreciation of their support and give back to the community whenever possible. Yes, it's great to make money but it's also great to meet the “ needs of our customers, as they mean everything to us.” She explained, “We offer flexible layaway, we give a discount to 4H/FFA members, and have a rewards program for shopping with us. Every year, on the third Saturday of October, we do a customer appreciation day We give away about $2,000 worth of tack and merchandise and we provide a full dinner This is our way of saying thank you to all our customers!”

Strategies for Successful Networking

Other key aspects to establishing or growing your small business are marketing and advertising. Without a proper marketing strategy, your equine business may struggle to stay afloat during these challenging economic times. Marketing is an ongoing process where a business owner defines their product and discovers their audience through design, research, and analysis. Technically a step of marketing, advertising is the specific way you communicate your businesses' product or service to your audience. While a business card might have worked wonders in the past, nowadays advertising campaigns use multiple media platforms to spread the word of their business far and wide.

“Networking is so important! Don't wait for work to come to you, go out and find it. Work on the local level, make contact with barns, 4-H groups, trail rides, rescues.” Equine photographer Carien Schippers continued, “Be active on social media, network with other photographers, join area art groups to share and discuss work, even if it isn't equine related. It's all about word of mouth, the horse industry is so small, everybody knows everybody.” Schippers is the founder and owner of the Equine Photographers Network, a global community and platform of equine photographers who promote and share their work as well as participate in members-only networking and career development events.

Apart from joining her equine photographers' platform, Carien had a few wise words for anyone who is hesitant to use social media as a marketing tool for building their equine small business. “I don't think you will succeed without some form of social media,” She counseled, “that's where everyone is and people love to see and share horse images. While you do run the risk of people taking your work without permission, keep your social media images low resolution with a visible watermark so if your work does get taken your credit line will still be visible wherever it goes.”

Balancing Business and Personal Life

A full-time equine photographer, Renae Parsons specializes in equestrian portraiture and is a member of the Professional Photographers Alliance as well as the official track photographer at Northville Downs, a harness racing track in metro-Detroit. She's also proud to be the only approved photographer in the state to be partnered with the Equestrian of Color Photography Project (EOCP), which was created to raise awareness and support diversity within the equestrian world by linking the artistry of photographers with horse lovers of color ready to share their story.

As with any business venture, Renae soon discovered that equine photography comes with its challenges and can be especially demanding of your time. “It's hard to manage your personal life when you have emails [and] phone calls coming in 24/7.” She warned, “It's really tough to set boundaries when you know you also want to make your clients happy and get back to them as soon as possible.” In scenarios where a client has undervalued her work, Renae admitted “…it's hard to remember what my worth is as a photographer and an artist.”

While the time investment can be steep, after a few months of owning and operating her own equine small business, Ranae Mona Photography, the benefits began to reveal themselves to Renae. When asked what her favorite part of her business is, Renae was quick to confirm that it's the experiences she's had, not the money, that keep her coming back for more. Renae gushed, “I love being able to build my own schedule, but the absolute best thing about being an equine photographer is meeting new people. I leave my photoshoots with a new friend every time!”

For anyone still uncertain if they should make the leap to starting their own equine small business, Renae had one final piece of advice. “Know your worth– it's a really hard aspect to business ownership but it is a really important one.” She encouraged, “I hope to make this a long-term career I think it's very sustainableso long as you don't burn yourself out and keep to your core values.”

Lisa Skylis graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in Animal Science. She is a professional freelance writer Lisa’s work largely focuses on the equine industry When she’s not writing, Lisa can be found doting on the horses at her local therapeutic riding barn or entertaining her mischievous Golden Retriever, Roy Freelance inquiries can be sent to skylisli@msu.edu

Sources:

Thank you to Tammy Cox from Custom Conchos and Tack, LLC for her advice about all things equine small business. If you live in Ohio and would like to see their saddlery in person, please stop by 2074 Ashland Road in Mansfield, Ohio 44905 or keep an eye out at your next horse show for their mobile store.

Thank you to Carien Schippers from Equine Photographers Network for her insightful tips to up-and-coming equine businesspeople. Visit EPN online at: https://www.equinephotographers.org/

Thank you to Renae Parsons from Renae Mona Photography for allowing me to interview her and for the wonderful photos. If you live in Michigan and would like to book an equine photography session with Renae Parsons, please reach out to her via email at info@renaemonaphotography.com