Horse business owners are as entitled to payment as any other entrepreneur. If your clients don’t pay on time—or at all—you cannot continue to offer your services. Everybody loses.
But don’t make the mistake of assuming that your clients think about payment from your point of view. They’re thinking about their own income and expenses, and they view your invoice in terms of how it affects them.
We’re all egocentric to a point. Your job as a horse business owner is to structure a payment policy that will encourage customers to hand over the dough.
Spread the Word
A horse business payment policy only works if your clients know about it. You can charge late fees up the wazoo, but if your clients don’t realize a late fee exists, good luck collecting it.
Your payment policy must be put in writing and distributed to all clients. I recommend printing up a copy for each new customer, then asking that they sign a second copy for your records. This way, they can’t say later they didn’t know about your policies.
Make It Clear
Tell your clients exactly how your horse business payment policy works, step by step. Pretend you’re explaining the terms to a four-year-old—be specific, clear and simple.
For example, a riding instructor’s payment policy might look like this:
- Payment for riding lessons must be made one month in advance.
- Payment must be rendered by the first of every month.
- Late payments incur an automatic $10 fee, plus $2 every day until paid.
- Students may not ride in a given month until payment is rendered.
- Students lose their slots after 15 days of non-payment.
It’s clear, simple and effective. Students know that if they don’t pay by the first for the entire month in advance, they will have to pay $10 plus $2 for every day the check is late. If they haven’t paid by the 15th of the month, their lesson will be given to someone else.
Apply it Across the Board
Don’t let your horse business payment policy slide for anyone, regardless of the circumstances. I see it all the time: a horse business owner becomes friends with his clients, and therefore doesn’t say anything when the check is “lost in the mail.” This might seem like a charitable and friendly response, but it’s suicide for your business.
Because when you let one person slide, you’ve got to let everyone else slide, too.
There might be occasions where a client experiences a legitimate financial hardship. In that case, you’ll want to review the situation in detail and make an appropriate, business-conscious decision. However, if you’re willing to give clients a break when they get laid off or suffer an emergency, you need to have a clear plan for dealing with those situations.
For instance, you might put a line in your payment policy that looks like this:
“If you are unable to pay your invoice for any reason, due to legitimate financial hardship, you must discuss it with us prior to the date on which the invoice is due.”
You might also add that you reserve the right to enforce your payment policy regardless, and that a signed agreement will be necessary for alternate payment arrangements.
Think like a business owner, not like a friend or fellow horseman. Otherwise, your payment policy won’t be worth the paper it’s written on.
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Payment Record template - The Horse Business Guide to
Getting Paid - Kiss Unpaid Bills Goodbye
- Horse Business Plans 101:
The Objective
About the Author: Laura Jane Thompson is the Chief Equestrian Officer of Riding Instructor University and the Feature writer for the horses section at Suite101. She believes that any horse business can succeed provided its owner practices smart strategy.
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