The Profitable Horseman's Newsletter The only weekly electronic newsletter published for Professional Horsemen.
November 21, 2007

If you are looking for positive results in your horse business, we should have a conversation about how Profitable Horseman strategies can help. E-mail or call me. (716) 434-5371

this week:
  • Getting Traction in Your Business
  • Speaking about the Horse Business...
  • Others have said
  • Back at the Barn
  • Horses are Horses-Business is Business

  • Getting Traction in Your Business
    tire chains

    Horsemen are constantly at battle with the slippery effects of bad weather: mud, snow and ice. The basic weapons for fighting the slickness: tire chains, snow blowers, snow plows, four wheel drives and don't forget borium for horse shoes.

    Granted, dealing with slippery footing is a chore, but with the right tools, the slip and fall count is lowered significantly.

    When you think about dealing with slippery slopes on the farm, it's all about the extra traction that you manage to work in your favor. If you've ever been stuck on ice on level ground with a vehicle, you know how just a small push, a few handfuls of sand or tire chains halt endless wheel spinning to move you easily on your way.

    Vehicle and animal slippage problems are easy to solve. However, getting traction to get more done in the business day isn't as simple as getting a friendly push or putting on the tire chains

    When you are stuck waiting for a riding lesson student to show up, you know what it feels like to have spinning business wheels.

    When cornered by a talkative, well meaning salesperson while you've been trying to complete the morning feed schedule, you've lost traction.

    The telephone rings all morning with non-business calls from your mother, your in-laws and the church social chairman. A.M. has slipped into P.M. and you haven't made outgoing business calls you need to make because you have been spun out.

    Often, the reason nothing seems to get done in a day is that you don't have the right tools to get traction on the jobs on your to-do list. Being stuck and unable to take the next step forward is prevented when you equip yourself for forward action instead of spinning.

    Try these tips for better traction:

    1. Start each day with a written plan or list. If you aren't doing it already, start. A list prioritizes your activities so that you begin working on the most important items first. When interruptions surface, focus on your list and deal with the non urgent interruptions later.
    2. Carry your paper planner or electronic planner with you everywhere you go. Guessing on dates is eliminated; you are always in a position to take the next step.
    3. Be prepared to leave a concise and specific voice mail message before you make a business call in case the person you are calling is not available. Don't dictate a message to the phone attendant if voice mail is available.
    4. If you anticipate a meeting may run on too long, set your cell phone alarm in advance to remind you of your next appointment. The alarm may be for an appointment with yourself, but it allows you to slip out of a meeting that has lost its own traction.
    5. Carry your business cards with you at all times. No need to break up the flow of a conversation to dictate telephone and fax numbers, websites, mailing addresses and e-mail addresses. If you're on a roll, keep rolling.
    6. Treat yourself to a break in the morning and afternoon to review your list or plan for the day and adjust it for the maximum business benefit for the hours left in the day. Breaks help eliminate brain clutter and provide the opportunity to refocus your energy.
    7. Keep a pen and paper or notebook with you at all times. The best way to remember important information for a sale or business agreement is to capture it in writing immediately.

    Lace up your hiking boots, strap on the ice crampons and put the non skid ideas in your backpack to get some traction for your business.


    Speaking about the Horse Business...
    audience

    Need a speaker about the horse business for your horse organization?

    Talk to me about talking. Keynotes and workshops available. (716) 434-5371


    Others have said

    "No fear. No distractions. The ability to let that which does not matter truly slide." -- Chuck Palahniuk

    "A true man never frets about his place in the world, but just slides into it by the gravitation of his nature, and swings there as easily as a star." -- Edward Chapin

    "Slip slidin away, Slip slidin away, You know the nearer your destination,The more you're slip slidin away" - Simon and Garfunkel


    Back at the Barn
    hay loader

    The Emerson family of eight will be getting its own road traction to travel to visit my sister and brother-in- law for Thanksgiving. It's about a seven hour road trip for the family gathering and leaving the horses and dogs and cats is never an easy project. We'll be trying out a new farm sitter while we are away and hope she'll have no surprises from the animals.

    We've made the trip before when the six children were younger with the entire family packed into a Suburban. There is not enough space here to relate that experience.

    This time, with the older children driving separately, we will be thankful for minimized sibling conflict (arguments).

    In the other car however, I hope the older siblings elect a D. R. (Designated Referee)

    If you celebrate the U.S. Thanksgiving this week, please pause and be thankful for the good people around you, the abundance of our nation and the special horses in your life now or in the past.


    Horses are Horses-Business is Business
    Doug Emerson photo

    I work with Professional Horsemen who are struggling with the business half of the horse business.

    If you've had enough with not enough: time, money or the right people in your horse business put down your pitchfork and pick up your phone. Give me a call (716) 434-5371 and we can talk about how Profitable Horseman strategies can help you.

    Welcome to new subscribers this week. If you know other horsemen who would enjoy this newsletter, please forward it to them!

    I appreciate your help !

    Doug


     
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    Profitable Horseman Web Page

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    Don't Look Back Professional Horseman's Blog- More Free Business Tips Click on the link.



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