Being a Farrier is half of the equation

Sean McDonough, Kansas

  We have had quite a dialogue this year about our “Business” and how to do business. I was fortunate enough to be a mid-level manager For Industrial Distribution Group Inc., based in Buckhead, Ga. For 8 Years. They gave me the autonomy to continue my craft almost at a full time level; I could leave my office any time and go shoe horses. I also was fortunate enough to earn a business and marketing degree during that time. I compare it to a factory. It’s the difference between someone who assembles parts in the factory, and the person who owns and runs the factory. We own and run thousands of little factories in the United States. 
  Budgets. If you don’t know where you’re at, you don’t know where you’re going.                                     
 Accounting Systems. The days of putting your receipts in shoebox and taking them to   H & R Block are over if we want to be successful in small business.

  Who is the biggest Employer in your area? Many parts of the country we work in are metropolitan. If you want the good money, You have to do the legwork and go find it. Research you’re demographic.
 Name branding. Get a copyrighted logo for your cards and all correspondence. When potential clients see that logo, they see Your face.
 We used to have staff meetings every week and quarterlies in Atlanta. The first thing the CEO of our Corporation Would Start our meetings off and tell the division managers “Where’s the money next quarter? Let me see your budgets.” The year I left that corporation did 800 million dollars in revenue nationwide. I will be speaking at the convention on this subject and am eager to talk to all of you. We earn every dime we get. We all are our own CEO. There is more to this than buying some tools and bending some iron.
Sean McDonough
Certified Master Farrier
Kansas