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The following is provided through a partnership between STRIDER and the USEA. As part of our commitment to diversity, enabling access, and building capacity throughout the industry we are pleased to provide this content to benefit the sport of eventing.
“People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it,” says leadership expert and author Simon Sinek. As the equestrian industry is a passion-driven one, there is perhaps no quote better suited to eventing professionals. Driven by love for the horse and for the sport, finances can seem more of a necessary evil than a motivating factor for business owners and operators in the equestrian space.
Because team STRIDER aims to help build capacity throughout the industry and help businesses to scale effectively, we’ve compiled a few quick tips to improve financial flow for eventing professionals.
Get creative with revenue streams.
Many eventing businesses have multiple sources of income. Training, boarding, sales, lessons, clinics, just to name a few. Consider how you might expand your offerings in a creative way. Can you take advantage of your facility and offer hourly rentals of your arena when it’s not being used for training or lessons? Perhaps your off-season from competition lends itself to your team’s ability to host grooming or unmounted clinics of some type.
Make it easy for folks to pay.
Digital payment tools are an important investment for your eventing business. Pick one or two that work for you (and for your clientele!). There are myriad options (PayPal, Venmo for business, Stripe, for example) with varied benefits and processing fees associated. Invest your time in sorting out which will best suit your needs and help your clients pay you in a timely, efficient manner. Remember you may have to change your fee structure slightly to account for processing fees!
We’ve seen the most success when businesses have between one and three payment options for clients. Yes, you could have 10 different ways for folks to pay, but let’s not encourage decision fatigue and confusion brought on by too many options!
Work smarter, not (necessarily) harder.
Leverage your marketing through social media, email, and your website. Take advantage of that digital toolkit which includes your payment and scheduling tools and remember that longer hours won’t necessarily be better for your business’s bottom line. Take a look at some of the other tips we’ve shared in the past few months for some more ideas! Find our handy business toolkit for eventers here, and marketing how-tos here.
Updates to your business operations can seem daunting, but remember that small changes can have big and lasting effects for the better. And more efficient practices for your business can mean you get more time to do what you love. Happy riding!
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