When I first decided to write on this topic, I put a post out to my social media channels and groups. The question I posed was: What would you include on your horse business dashboard? Then the response came: What’s a dashboard? So I knew that this was a timely topic for the horse industry. Dashboards are used by many other businesses in other sectors to monitor their business throughout the year. Dashboards strive for simplicity of presentation of data related to your Key Performance Indicators, or KPI. Key Performance Indicators include areas such as: Marketing, Sales, Financials, and Operations. The data is often presented as trend lines, charts, and other visuals. This is how they came to be known as dashboards – when driving your car your dashboard provides at-a-glance insight into critical areas of the car’s operation. And so it is with your horse business dashboard also.

I consider the development and use of a dashboard as a best practice because it really helps you to keep your finger on the pulse of your business. I’ve seen several references during the months of June and July that it’s time to check on your business now, half way through the year. Granted, this is a good time to check on your business again, and not leave it to an annual checkup. A better practice is to monitor it monthly however, and the then after watching the changes from month to month, take a step back at the six month mark and look strategically and objectively at what all the monthly incremental changes might mean.

A couple years ago I was doing horse business presentations at the Everything Equine Expo in Vermont. Most of the people that attended the presentations were horse business owners looking for a new way to look at their horse business and marketing. I asked everyone to introduce themselves and say what they had for a horse business. As the introductions were being made, I was pleasantly surprised to find a young woman, Alexandra Glover (aka Alex), attending that didn’t have a horse business yet and plans to when she has finished college. She was interested in the presentation topic which focused on identifying and attracting your target market because she will be studying business marketing at college. I was fascinated to hear her say that she is going to start college this fall – that it had taken her awhile to figure out what she wanted to take in college. Turns out she is 18 years old and will be attending Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA this fall. I’d like to share Alex’s story here because she represents the future of the horse industry and she is a shining example. Her ability to focus on clear goals, present herself professionally, and look for ways around obstacles will stand her in good stead in any endeavor – and they are key qualities that entrepreneurs (or should I say equipreneur) embody.

Do you remember the game "This is a witch, this is a watch" from when you were a kid? Everyone sits in a circle and you passes one object one direction and the other object the other direction, everyone repeating the "This is a witch - a what - a witch" mantra (or watch depending on where you sat in the circle). Then when one person receives both objects at the same time and the cross-over begins....well....pandemonium reigns. This same reaction frequently occurs when horse business owners grapple with which tool might best suit their current situation: strategic plan, business plan, feasibility study, or annual operations plans. I get a deer-in-the-headlights look when I suggest one tool as compared to another. Is it a witch or a watch; a strategic plan or a business plan?

Have you always wanted to start a horse business but hesitate to do so because trying to figure out how to start it is like a big black hole? Do you know what steps to take, when to take them, or if your idea will even fly? Or have you just started a new business and you’re not certain if you’ve missed something? Are you clear on how to proceed with the myriad of business decisions that you’re encountering at warp speed?

I am changing the name of business planning to planning for success. When I start to talk about business planning, people begin to get anxious or they glaze over. Very few get that sparkly interested look in their eye and really engage. I’ve discovered that there is a fear of business planning, mostly because business planning is foreign and unfamiliar territory. I’ll bet that when I start talking to people about planning for success, they will respond in a more open fashion, be curious and want to engage.

As part of the horse industry, I’m sure that you have encountered breeds that are misunderstood. Business planning….ummmm…..planning for success is like that too. Many people say that their plan is in their head. And what there is of it may well be, but there are usually many missing elements. Just by articulating it and getting it onto paper, you provide yourself with the opportunity to read it back to yourself and see if it makes sense to you. This gives you the chance to improve on it, before mistakes are made and bad decisions have cost you a ton of money and time. No one wakes up and says. “Today I am going to make bad business decisions.” Yet, if you don’t actively engage in business planning…..ummm….planning for success….in a committed fashion, you have elected to make ill-informed decisions that may be devastating to your business.