Hi again,
As some of you all know, I am working on my price list and Business guidelines for 2011.
I am doing a bit of restructuring.
In the past, i have had a $10.00 discount for Shoes and a $5.00 disc for trims for 4-H horses on an 8 week schedule. One horse per customer.
a $5.00 S/ $2.50 T disc , if the horse is not on schedule.
and theres been times where a kid gets his/her first horse horse, and its a little bit of a pain in the ???.
and Ive shown these kids some things to do, daily, and the next time I come back it SHOWS!
These kids, that give it theyre all, and spend the needed time to work with theyre horses feet, and the change is obvious. Ive given them the discount.
Well, heres the bleeding heart in me , I just feel the need to reward kids for theyre effort, and not all of them get free money from mom or dad.
These kids are our future, we need them to stick with horses, we need them to raise theyre own kids with horses.

So, i'm kinda wonderin,, should I do away with this?
Am I undermining my business, with just a handful of kids?
Anyhow all input is greatly appreciated, as I am at a crossroads on this matter, and I'm trying to set up 2011 guidelines to make my business work for me.

Thanks for reading ,
John Conner

No Discounts !!!
A Discount just means you can work for Less ,and the Clients Talk .
The reward is that you take you Young owners serious and they grow up with you .
Or will you Be prepared to make them Pay more if they don't meet your idea of Training?

Your Price is your income you Need to live , if you get kicked or hurt are those Clients going to Support you ?

John, it's not your responsibility to support someones hobby. If they can't afford a farrier, they can't afford a horse, and it will not be well taken care of. Maybe you should bring them some hay when you come.

Regards

PS. We all do horse owners favors sometimes, but don't make it part of your business.

I don't know John. At some point you have to do what make you feel the best. You have to sleep at night. I have at times shod a horse for a kid that is at a cross roads and not charged them at all. If it keeps them with horses and off the street.
I wouldn't by any means work on a dangerous horse. But we are all human. If the kid is trying and the horse is getting better I am happy and can to a better job. If the horse sucks the job sucks.

But now that I think about it I did have a wise man once tell me that when you give a discount to someone you give away part of your retierment.....

I guess that in the end you should do what you can afford. I'm no help at all.

Rick and Ray gave you great advice. Stop thinking of giving discounts. Set your price and let your customers make the decision. If you want to do things for 4H then do other things (like hosting a small free clinic to pull loose shoes, or what to do if the shoe ever becomes loose trail riding, etc) , but don't discount your shoeing prices.

Truer words etc......good to be reminded of them! Had a somewhat long time customer who likes to collect horses go and buy herself six ponies and two more full size. Then she asks if I can give her a discount, her words where "do you think we can work out a package deal?" I said in my nicest way possible, no, that I was giving her my best price already. So I did all the big ones and they are going to load all the ponies into the trailer and haul them an hour away to some guy who will trim ponies for $10 each. After I stood my ground (which years ago, would have been alot harder for me to do) I found out that most of these ponies were young and hadn't ever been done.

John, What you do with your labor is your own business. If you feel like giving a discount or shoeing a horse for free once in a while go ahead. Once in a while I'll give a good customer a discount on something or trim one of their horses for free. This doesn't mean I am a chump, it just means I appreciate these people. I volunteer some services at a local horse rescue as well. If you can not afford to do any of this then dont. Sometimes being the nice guy is a lot more trouble than its worth.

-josh

Well,,, Alrighty,
I do get the point. You all made perfect sense.
Very Good advice. Thank You.
And I will follow that advice .
I have done it that way for around 14 years or more.
Luckily , I moved to this area 2 years ago, and just started up my business again last year.
So , this is why i'm restructuring, myself and the way I do business.
Before I get myself in a pickle.
I feel as if , i gave out boots, and said " here , walk all over me" LOL
And, I do realize, I need to change the way I do business, or I'll just get burnt out again.
As Always
Thanks
John Conner

Its not about being Ebenezer scrooge before his dreams started..

I find it best to have fixed prices and stay with those what ever...But offer a service and that can be free for things now and again..

Ray_Knightley wrote:
I don´t charge anything from certain people. You know; they may be importing rugs, they may be vets, chiros, massagers, saddle fitters, or some other breed that I forgot.

Juhani Takanen wrote:
Beauty Queens??

Juhani Takanen wrote:
I used to have "contacts" and friends like that at the place where I had my business before. Found out though that horse people talk to each other. Suddenly someone asks you why Mr so and so gets a "special deal" why he doesn't. Then you end up with a lot of services instead of money for your retirement.
So when I moved to new location some 250 kms away I decided: No "friends" no "contacts" from the start.

Discounts are not the way to go, Occasionally, perhaps a gift - Shoes for the price of the trim they wanted when money is tight, or a special deal for everyone " I'll do a foot care clinic at the fairgrounds Saturday, First ten kids to sign up get one horse trimmed for $10 and everyone gets my explanation of what's needed" - That's fine, but any discount offered on a regular basis to only certain people is trouble.

When people have asked me for group discounts I usually say "If your looking for the cheapest guy in the county, I don't want to be him".In one case when a local upscale dude ranch called to say they were getting some leased horses and would like a discount, I said "Those are

---

's horses aren't they?" They said they were they were and I replied "They were turned out last fall with shoes on and right now, both their feet and their attitude is bad, I won't even do them for regular price".

I simply ask my clients not to discuss our a ranged prices, it all depends on how the client takes care of me. The most important is keeping schedule. Then I have clients use me for equine dentistry as well, these clients are on my A list and I cut them a break when I can. But most of my clients respect my work and appreciate my service.

I view things differently. I may or may not give a discount. Depends on the situatio.

What I focus on is charging more for educating. :confused: :confused: :confused:Confused are you let me explain.

I want to educate the horse owners whether or not they are 4-H; as we all want to do. So I have:
Green Fees: $10.00 If a horse poos and it is not cleaned up immediately and I or the horse must step in it... there is a fee.
Mud Fees: $10.00 If the horse is lead up with muddy feet or dried mud to the knees... I charge.
Clean Up Fee: $10.00 if the child does not clean up after I finish with their horse I charge.

I casually mentio these fees while I shoe and talk with the kids and parents. Then if it reoccurs I WILL charge. The idea is to teach them about responsible horse ownership for the farrier. Never have I had to charge the same client twice for any fee. Parents are understanding especially if you remind them that you did tell them. For example... IF there is more than one horse to do and they showed up from a muddy pen I might say, " How about you wash those feet off please? I sure would hate to charge a mud fee." Then explain what it is and the other fees. IF the second horse shows up immediately after, I might mention it again. Its funny watch the other 4Hers scramble to avoind the fees.

Good Luck!
Tony