During my first few years working as a riding instructor, my least favorite part of the job was asking for money. I hated bringing up the fact that my students needed to pay me, and the task of requesting payment made me supremely uncomfortable.
I think a lot of riding instructors (and other horse business owners) feel the same way. It doesn’t matter why you’re trying to get paid—riding lessons, horse training, boarding, whatever—because you still have to hold your hand out and demand a freaking check.
Shifting Your Point of View
The world would be a lot easier for us if clients just paid us what they owed every month (or week) like clockwork. Our finances would always be in line and we’d never have to worry about how we were going to pay the light bill.
The problem isn’t with getting paid, in my opinion, but with the mindset of most horse business owners. We like to think of ourselves as a laid-back sort, just going with the flow, and demanding payment like a sleazy bill collector makes us feel dirty.
Three words: Get Over It.
I had to. It took me a long time, but I finally felt a shift in my perspective that changed my life. I realized that I wasn’t begging for handouts or trying to finesse a loan from Wells Fargo. I was simply demanding remuneration for services rendered. I earned that money, and so did you.
As soon as you start thinking of it in those terms—like a horse business owner rather than a mere service provider—you’ll find it much easier to get paid. It might not become easier to confront that Mom who always forgets the checkbook on her daughter’s riding lesson day, but it’s a start.
My Collection Process
I can only tell you what has worked for me, then let you work out the details for your own horse business. My collection process might not be a good fit for you, and that’s okay. Just modify it to a point where you feel comfortable and remember that you deserve to collect unpaid bills.
Send Out Invoices. The first step to getting paid in the horse business is to demand payment as early and as regularly as possible. Send invoices even to those clients who pay you on time every month because you’re setting up a system. Everyone is treated equally until the money doesn’t materialize. (Find a template for invoices at the end of this post.)
My advice is to send out invoices two weeks before payment is due. For example, if your horse training clients are supposed to pay on January 1, send out invoices on February 15. This way there is plenty of time for Mr. Postman to carry your invoice to the door.
And yes, you should always mail invoices. You never know when a client will fail to come to the barn for 45 days straight, and you don’t want to take the chance of not seeing a client when you have the invoice in hand.
Charge a Late Fee. Any smart horse business owner knows that some clients will fail to pay for as long as possible before giving it up. In other words, those clients are testing you to see how far they can skate along without giving you your money. You can stop this habit by charging late fees.
Let all of your clients know that late fees will be imposed for payments that are not on-time. Set a specific dollar amount (e.g. $5 per day until the bill is paid), and charge it consistently. And to make sure no one says but I didn’t know about the late fee, print up a notice and have all clients sign it.
Set a Cut-Off date. If you fail to pay your light bill, eventually the power company is going to turn your lights off. They figure if you can’t afford electricity they aren’t going to provide it for free. You need to adopt the same mentality.
Let me repeat it again: Do not work for free. Decide, for example, that if clients have not paid you by the 20th of the month, their riding lessons or horse training, or whatever, are discontinued until the bill is satisfied in full.
Tomorrow I’ll go into more depth on how you can increase your chances of getting paid in the horse business. Until then, find a template below for invoices that you can send out to your clients. Just personalize the template with your contact information and logo, and you’ll be all set.
Horse Business Invoice (.doc)
Feel free to use this invoice free of charge for your horse business. If you need it in a different format, please leave a note in the comments and I will try to accommodate you.
About the Author: Laura Jane Thompson is the Editor in Chief of Riding Instructor University and the Feature writer for the horses section at Suite101. Follow her EquiTips on Twitter.
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