Horse-riding is a lost art for many, once a staple necessity for all manner of trade, travel, and even warfare, now horses have the chance to relax a little more, to trot under the tutorship of good owners, and to race, commit to dressage, and spend time in the care of loving collectors.
As such, you may wish to spread some of this old knowledge regarding how to ride and care for horses. Developing an equine business from the bottom up will certainly target a niche market, but this market tends to be affluent, entirely dedicated to the craft, and utterly in love with your main asset – each wonderful horse under your care.
As with any firm, learning the best method of promoting your horse riding school will help you acquire the exact clients you’ve been looking for, and potentially curate long-term relationships that will reinforce your success. With that being said, it’s important to focus on how you’ll market your program directly after you’ve developed it.
Let’s consider what that may look like:
Make Your Lesson Structure Clear
Make it clear what your lesson structure will be about, and the preparation required before any child or adult is insured and allowed to sit on the horse. Horse riding is, of course, an art, and requires careful bonding with the horse, a smart and upright tutor, as well as a slow but sure progression. You can start out with safety lessons, learning how to groom and care for the horse, and then schedule small rides that slowly become more independent. This will help you weed out those who really want to learn, and those there for a quick pastime.
Be Transparent About Prices & Courses
It’s easy to think that horse riding is only for the affluent, but that doesn’t have to be the case. A well-structured lesson plan, selling courses or monthly subscription that provides a certain amount of horse care products, lessons and one-on-one tuition can be healthy options to offer. With intelligent payment routing, you’ll ensure that clients of all kinds will be able to pay you comfortably, preventing an invoicing disputes or miscommunications going forward.
Be sure that they understand the potential repercussions of failing to abide by safety protocols, including any extra costs resulting from negligence causing injuries or damages. In case they don’t pay their bill on time, debt collection agencies such as Jefferson Capital Systems reviews could contact them and represent your rights if there are valid claims against them. Communicating these policies and procedures clearly from the outset will foster trust while eliminating misunderstandings.
Foster Long-Term Client Relationships & Community Engagement
It’s healthy to foster long-term client relationships by engaging with your community. You might offer cross-promotions with upmarket local stables or engage with your local council to implement horse riding warning signs so motorists know to expect mounted horses down a small country lane.
Maintaining the land, caring for your horses, connecting with the local farrier group, and working out cross-promotions with local farm shop supply stores can be a great way to promote and cement your business into the local culture. Being able to vet your clients in advance thanks to proximity to the local community also ensures your horses will only ever be near those you can trust.
With this advice, you’re sure to promote a top shelf horse riding school in every possible manner that matters.