Ok Shoe The Horses On The Motorway

smitty88 wrote:
Do you think most horse owners recognize good work when they see it?

Regards

From my experiances I've had higher end customers actually tell me they don't say much because they either don't want me shoeing the competition or they're afraid you'll quite them for other places thinking you will get to busy,get offered more money,etc.Your work will talk for you(either good or bad) for sure,but sometimes you have to get out there and show them what your made of.

smitty88 wrote:
You do pretty work and I think you mean well but rarely am I able to figure out what you're trying to say. My first guess usually pizzes me off so I hope I'm wrong.

centexferrier wrote:
I've never had any one tell me that but I've suspected it for many years. What else would explain having such long time clients but not getting any new work through them? For whatever reason, they aint talking.

Western Hill Forge wrote:Some do. Most can go as far as to decide whether or not they think it's good enough.

I have clients that use cheaper guys most of the time and call me in once or twice/year for certain jobs. They figure the cheap guy can trim their horses well enough in the dead of winter.

They're probably right.

Gday Guys
Ive had of several new people get me in to do their horses hooves say that is the best work and the nicest work they have seem
I chuffed at this and a lill said thankyou and ask to rebook
they looked me in eye and said
Oh no you wont be back
I,ll just tell my Farrier that thats how I want it done from now on thanks Red

If Id have known thats what they were doing Id have quoated more yeah

Ive also had folks say that dosent look any different to the last guys work
AND YOU . I KNOW that there is a world of difference between the two jobs

In all honesty I dont get a lot of complaints about my work now a days
Its more about me cause Im a grump
I dont lecture folks any more and I dont rubbish hoofters as much , just get in do me best n get out now
I have to work on that

One thing Im proud is that I always try to do work that would make my teachers happy they gave me a go in the first place
I dont quite get there sometimes for whatever reason but I think ?? I do ok

Olmate once said youve got to be real fair dinkum with folks
but first youve got to be fair dinkum with yourself
I try to do that :confused: and good people will see you through yeah

centexferrier wrote:
I've also had clients ask my permision to give out my #. Said that they were afraid that if the horses/owner were a problem that I might quit them. Always wondered how many didn't ask and just refused to give a referal.

I dont see anything wrong with adveretising/marketing yourself. The most successful companies in the world still spend millions a year on advertising.(mcdonalds,wal-mart,microsoft,budweiser,coke...etc)
How are people going to know how good you are if they never heard of ya.

If you don't think word of mouth gets more attention, just go mess up someones horse and see how fast you are down around whale manure!:cool:

Gary Hill wrote:
SPOT ON SIR

smitty88 wrote:
So in the opening post, James said he's having trouble getting his business going. Are you suggesting that he do nothing proactive to grow his business?

Gary Hill wrote:
You don't have to mess up a horse for that to happen.

Mike apparently you miss the point? Horse people do talk amongest themselves and Farriers and Vets are picked apart by them. You are not going to please everyone, just do your best work, listen to their boring stories as you work and try to smile through it all.

Gary Hill wrote:
I don't think I missed your point.

For all the reasons stated above, I think word of mouth is somewhat unreliable and unpredictable. Sure, do good work and let that work for you but I think there are times when you might need more control over your business and need to take a more proactive approach.

I think what the thread is really about is getting work in an area where you don't have any. If you aren't doing any work, there isn't much to see.

"Area" could be geographical or it could be the discipline. For example, if you want to move/expand from shoeing long footed show horses to jumpers, you may have to take some proactive steps to meet some jumping people and get them to check out your work.

I didn't miss Smitty's point either but he's on a different continent. I cover an area larger than his country and almost certainly shoe fewer horses. his father was a farrier and he served a 4 year apprenticeship. By the time he hung out his own shingle he probably knew every horse and horse owner in the area.

I started similarly but that was 150 miles away. I worked for someone that was well established and just stepped right into a business. All I had to do was not lose it. I got back into shoeing the same way. I called people I knew and told them I was back and walked right into some work.

Things haven't gone so well close to home. Mostly trims in the mud on rank horses and people don't want to pay more than the Amish charge. I lost one client who had a single horse they kept shod to the Amish ($35) and one horse because I was working out of town and couldn't get there until the weekend.

There are some barns in range but they don't know who I am. In each case, someone is doing their work today. I'm going to have to take some of it away. First, I have to get my foot in the door.

I have an Arab place 10 minutes walking time from my door. Worst looking work I've ever seen. I don't mean to brag but I have money that says I could do a nicer job blindfolded. It must be cheap but the lady seems happy.

There's a lot more to it than the quality of your work.