The majority of horse business people think their financial transactions are financial records they only need for filing their taxes, and occasionally satisfying their banker. While financial transactions are a starting point, and in some cases all you need for your taxes, they are not sufficient when your tax authority or banker requests supporting documentation. And don’t get caught in the ‘receipts are documentation’ trap! Receipts are only a small part of the supporting documentation a tax authority will want to see. Your tax authority will want you to prove that your financial transactions are legitimate and your business is viable if you are reporting a loss. Your ...

When most people start a horse business the last thing on their mind is business management. Hopefully, I can convince you why business management should be at the top of your list before the end of this blog. Now I have your attention let’s break a horse business down into three simple principles.Marketing and Sales: No customers, no business.Income and Expenses: It’s not what you make, it’s what you keep.Business Management: If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.Most horse businesses start from a love affair with horses. That isn’t a bad thing as long as you don’t let your heart dominate your business decisions. Don’t get me wrong ...

We all use vehicles in our horse business, but we generally don’t do a good job tracking, documenting and managing their use. It is often said, ‘the tax man doesn’t know a lot about horses, but he sure knows a lot about mileage, trip logs, and vehicle personal use.Time is a priceless commodity in any business, but particularly in a horse business – there is never enough. Many horse businesses that fail, fail because of the lack of business discipline in prioritizing their time so they have enough time to manage their business. In a horse business too many ‘things’ fall through the crack because of available time. Unfortunately, vehicles are too often one ...

The majority of horse businesses involve customer horses. A horse business that involves customer horses has a considerable responsibility to both the horse and the horse’s owner. The business owner is obligated to provide a safe and healthy environment for each and every horse.In the majority of horse businesses, horses are leaving and returning all the time. Therefore, it is the business owner’s responsibility to make sure each and every horse is included in a well-planned, well-executed preventative care program that tracks, manages and documents each horse’s preventative care status. A comprehensive preventative care program should include:The monitoring of a ...