One of the better guys in my area decided he didn't want to travel much anymore so he wanted them to haul in. I picked up several 3-6 head stops, one with 11. I thought it was a good idea as well
Same is happening all over, including myself. Go and give out your name and number to the animal hospitals. I have gone back to my old shoeing places where I used to shoe in the 1990's; and picked up an old client from 14 yrs ago; and giving my name back out that I am willing to come back to the area. They are going to tell everyone they know in the 4-H club. Might pick up another 4 horses on top of the 2 I just did. there is no diversified shoers out there or can shoe with a Forge!! {yes, George G.}!!!! ; and gave my name and new number to the animal hospital; and they are happy to see someone who can shoe out there. So don't give up; just have to go in a new direction and grow your business.
But Travis only charges $25 to drive 150 miles each way and shoe a draft horse all around with hand made shoes and gives a $20 discount for resets . . .
Also, if pay in Cash; give a discount......... guaranteed to get your money, no checks or credit or billing out. disadvantages is don't always work that way.
David I am just a few minutes south of the TN state line. I can be in Atlanta in a couple hours or so.
George, I built my barn so I could have clients haul to me..it works most of the time when I am a hour west of my place and I get a call an hour to the east past my place...it is kinda hard for lot of them to actually haul to ya on a 6 week schedule unless there is no way I can get there..I hate windshield time..do enjoy alot of the scenary as I go..
No five is my starter, it went/goes up depending on time spent getting to an area, I shoe a few here in town and I charge the$5.00. ray
George, time management i believe as you stated is the key, but i disagree that an Amish farrier would agree that the shop is the answer, many Amish farriers that I know, travel out, hiring folks with motor vehicles haul them and their supplies to accounts. What the shop allows, if you can make it work, is that it allows you to say, shoe a horse, then while say waiting for the next horse ,that may be late, turn to your forge and make up tomorrows shoes, shoe the late horse and the next one , take lunch, and make more shoes till the next client shows. What I do /did was repair and build wooden wheels,carts,refinish carriages if I had no shoes to make, now I reset a horse , and cut the lawn , or cut and or leather pads,or fill boxes etc., no matter what it is, while waiting for the next horse i do something that makes money or that will make money, I call it "putting my xtra time on the shelf". The shop,and the keeping of folks horses for more time than the time taken to shoe or maintain their hooves presents a # of additional costs that may off set the travel, ie.. time to repair damage,added liability, clean up, late pick up,to name a few. What they do is manage the time, they don t slingshot back and forth in a day , they go to multi horse stops. If a single horse acct. calls, they charge so many dollars to shoe the horse and either the horseowner comes to pick them up or the owner covers the cost of hiring the driver. That added cost usually stops the single horse owner from using the Amish farrier if it were only for price. Or so I ve been told by my friends who are Amish /Mennonite. Regards Ray
07 dodge daully with a 12' horse trailer converted into a shoeing trailer i drive between 100 to 150 miles a day Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
If you're near Chatsworth, there's a saddle club up there that's pretty active. Have a lot of rides and shows and such. I know a couple guys who hardly ever get to participate because they bring their shoeing rigs to every show/ride and watch their kids. I know it's not as good as regular customers but it might be enough to get you over the hump financially. Also, it might get your name out there to a new group of horse owners. Hope that helps David
I did that for a while, hitting all the shows I could or was asked to do. It helped just to get your name and face out there. One thing, before you go, make sure you got some business cards on hand to give out. Be Prepared!
David, thanks for the info. I have shod several horses there at that saddle club. Typically those folks are looking for the best deal possible and quality of work is of little concern to them.
I average 25000-30000 miles a year. just redeployed from a 3/4 van with a v-8 to a toyota tacoma with a peppy v-4. almost doubled my gas mileage. fuel is my biggest business expense. with my spartan setup in the mini pick up i can do everything with the exception of drafts as the big draft shoes do not fit in my tiny whisper baby forge or on my 75 lb nc bigface anvil.
I'm still in the getting started stage, have about a quarter of the book I'd like to have and am looking at something between 2000 and 3000 miles a month, but I don't get nearly as many stops per trip out or as many horse's per stop. Then again I live so far in BFE that I'm doing good to get anything within 25 or 30 miles.
