Day 20: The few things they don't tell you when you go self-employed

My very professional office and a not-at-all bored assistant

There are things they tell you will be hard and difficult when going self-employed. Things like tax returns and daily accounts and receipts and expenses and working 24/7. In some respect, they are right. These, however, are the easier of the difficult things. They are mostly all written into neat guidelines, endless websites, articles or even recorded on videos for all those who seek to find and learn.

Here are a few details they might not mention.

They don't tell you that when you do what you love doing you will always feel odd charging for it.
They don't tell you that if you seem like you love every working minute, you might be expected not to charge too much for that work.
They don't tell you that there will be some clients who will cost you more to provide your services for than you will receive for the service, be it in time or monetary currency - they will also often be those clients who you enjoy providing your services the most to.
They might tell you, but you will most likely choose not to hear this, that everything you do "in the business" must make it financially viable.

As I mentioned in my 2015 Goals post earlier this month, this year is very much a make or break for my little enterprise. It has to become as absolutely viable way to pay for my life (now and in my future as a crippled old lady) as possible. There are many ways of pursuing coaching career and working with horses. At some point one has to be honest with oneself. If my business skills don't match up to my equestrian skills, there is no chance for my own programme to be the sole income driver.

As I would hate the biz part to stay in a way of how I would like to live my life, I am spending time on analysing what costs what, how viable it is, what to do next and how to stay on the surface long term.
It's not that easy at all.

Evening invite for snacks and coffee :) 

Setting up a riding school from scratch - project impossible?

Let me say first, right now, I am in no position to set up a riding school, whether from scratch, from made ingredients or even from half baked ;) However, I have recently realised that this has been on my mind for over 20 years...
For a start, it's a crazy thought with numerous establishments closing left, right and centre, costs of keeping horses sky rocketing and prices of land and properties might as well be named "in another life sister".
My rational brain tells me - "Look around, places that make it work have a good deal of backers behind them and/or other businesses supporting them and/or follow the traditional system of quantity over quality". And I should listen to that rational brain and stay very clear from a thought of setting up a riding school.
Yet, I can't help but wonder...what if I did have a go....What if I did attempt to set up a little riding academy that isn't just a coaching programme but an actual place.
I can picture "No" balloons floating around me every time I let that question sound louder ;)

Did you know that there are maybe three books written about running stables as a riding school and none of them actually considers much else than a quantity oriented business model?
How about some guidelines for creating a viable grassroots rider academy, not from how-to-teach point of view but how-to-survive point of view?
Perhaps there aren't any simply because the demand for quality riding tuition at grassroots levels just ins't as great?

Right now, in general terms, you go to a riding school to learn how not to fall off a horse, have a bit of fun, meet like-minded people (also learn how to kick, whack and pull). Then you realise that to actually learn to ride well you need to loan or buy a horse. The amount of negative feedback on riding school instruction among horse owners is staggering. I feel this is not always fair representation and sadly some lovely places fall into the trap of a statistical waterfall but there is a lot of truth in that generalisation.

My question to myself is, how likely is it to successfully run my Aspire Academy as an actual brick & mortar business without filling it up with a Pegasus and his herd of unicorns...

Anyway, I thought I would let you know what's on my mind ;) I've been doing a little research in the above direction and funnily enough I've been inspired to do so by our new little Hampshire base. It is simply so wonderful to teach out of an independent yard, to let clients build relationship with the horses.

My young rider getting ready for her training at the Little Base (as I call it in my mind)

So yes, I feel like this theme will continue as I explore the avenues...If any of you dear readers out there run a riding school and would like to share experiences and advice, feel free to make comment section below your own :) If you simply are a business owner or have entrepreneurial instincts and would like to add your tips, please join in.

I am thinking less in line of copying existing riding school model and more in direction of coming up with an alternative set up where private and small groups (up to 4 riders) are possible. Where riders learn to ride with an emphasis on thorough basic training and where schooling puts horse's wellness in the centre of any methods used.

From news and updates, I am off to Poland next week to run a clinic there as well as see my family which I am very much looking forward to. I will be back on here very soon :)

Million Little Things

The most important thing I've learned is that tomorrow is equally distant and unknown as is the next week or the ten years later.

Love watching the sea, the water coming and going, coming and going. Water made up of billion of tiny molecules of invisible hydrogen and oxygen. The details.

The sand so fine. If you put the particles of it on the palm of your hand you would never have called it a beach.

And yet, here they are, creating the spectacular view of yellows and blues.

The most important thing I've ever learned in life is that it's the details what makes up the true meaning.

Million little things. Is what I appreciate.

Not heroic gestures but the hydrogen and oxygen of everyday life.

Because tomorrow...might never materialise anyway.

The most important thing I've ever learned so far is that my biggest weakness is also my biggest strength.

And today, I'm in peace with it.

Kingsley enjoys his daily TENS sessions I think. He certainly enjoys being turned out again too judging by the amount of rolling in the mud he does.

He doesn't really look any stronger through his right hindleg but he shows less response to me digging my fingers into his sacroiliac area on the right side. Whether that's of any significance I am not sure.

One of my employers is paying for me to go to: (YAY!!:):

BHS National Coaching Conference

The first National Coaching Conference hosted by the British Horse Society was held in 2008 and due to its resounding success another is planned for Autumn 2009.

The Coaching Conference is a day of presentations and seminar sessions from leading industry professionals that will typically include motivational speakers, sports coaches and sessions with other professionals from the equine and human sporting world.

It is supposed to be some time in November. Another interesting thing happening in November will be the first one of a series on Bio-mechanics of riding lectures my friend had told me about so I am very much looking forward to it :)