We often have customers come to us with a great idea in mind but, they aren't sure what to do next to get their company off the ground. Starting a equine related business isn't that hard. You do have to follow a few general guidelines. First, you need to check with your county to see if your business is going to need to charge and record and pay Sales Tax. My county, El Dorado County for example, does not require you to pay sales tax on a service based business. Other states and counties, like in Texas for example you do have to charge and pay sales taxes for a service.
You also need to check with your county and see what type of business license you are required and what are the limits of doing business in your area. For example, if you want to start a home-based business in El Dorado County, you have to have a special license if people are coming to your home for the service and you have limits to your signage and advertising. You can't put up a billboard in the country on the side of the road for your business. You can advertise anywhere, as long as it isn't around your home. You can also do your equine home based business and market it however you like, but you need to check on the requirements to make sure you aren't violating any zoning issues. A commercial boarding business, might not be allowed in your area, so check with your county before you start any business venture.
You may need a special retail license as well, if you are selling tangible equine products. Next, we suggest you talk with a tax professional to find out what the best course of action is to setting up your business. You may need to consult an equine attorney to start your business, especially if it requires an LLC formation. Talking with equine professionals will help you determine the scope of your business and how to plan for it and avoid any liability in the future.
We suggest you talk with your family. You will need all the support you can get. You'll want to make sure your husband or wife is on board with your decisions and you have the backing of the money, time and support you will need to get things off the ground. You need to keep in mind, you may not make money right away from your equine based business. Even if you spend $1000s of dollars on equine marketing efforts, you may not make money right away. It takes time to establish a equine business and takes time to build your customer base. The old adage, if you build it, they will come, is not true in business! It may take keeping your job for a while and doing your business on the site to reach your goals.
You also need to set reasonable goals. There are so many equine marketing professionals and traditional marketing professionals out there advertising on Facebook, how easy it is to build your business and gain more customers, these get rich quick type of ads are geared at getting you to sign up for some kind of training or buy into some kind of "help" membership. Trust us, they don't work. They aren't there to help when it comes to getting specific questions answered and they only help you with the basics.
It takes time to build your business and your customers. You will need to set a budget for the year for your equine marketing goals. Your marketing budget isn't a specific formula, it is what you can afford and what you feel comfortable with. Once you have a goal in mind, we can help you spread it out to cover getting your new equine business launched and help you get customers to know it is there. We do that with a mix of online and traditional print advertising depending on your target equestrian market and customer.
We suggest planning yes....but over planning no! Sometimes you can get stuck in the trap of planning so hard, you miss the major market for the year and your window is over. If you own a stallion for example, ads and promotions need to be done in the fall to be ready for the spring and let people know about your stallion to get ready for breeding season. Horse magazines and equine publications generally have due dates a few months prior to the actual issue hitting the streets. People tend to get weighed down with all the details it takes to put a company together and then don't get things off the ground. There is a balance between getting it right and getting it done right. Sometimes you have to have a little faith and try things and see how they work and change it up next time, don't get stuck not doing it the first time because you might be afraid that it wasn't right. It is better to try and fail then not try! With advertising, there is always a do-over. Especially with online equine advertising through Facebook, we can tailor campaigns and start and stop them mid-stream if you feel it isn't performing the way you envisioned and we can change up the ad with different content.
We will write on picking a company name next time!
You also need to check with your county and see what type of business license you are required and what are the limits of doing business in your area. For example, if you want to start a home-based business in El Dorado County, you have to have a special license if people are coming to your home for the service and you have limits to your signage and advertising. You can't put up a billboard in the country on the side of the road for your business. You can advertise anywhere, as long as it isn't around your home. You can also do your equine home based business and market it however you like, but you need to check on the requirements to make sure you aren't violating any zoning issues. A commercial boarding business, might not be allowed in your area, so check with your county before you start any business venture.
You may need a special retail license as well, if you are selling tangible equine products. Next, we suggest you talk with a tax professional to find out what the best course of action is to setting up your business. You may need to consult an equine attorney to start your business, especially if it requires an LLC formation. Talking with equine professionals will help you determine the scope of your business and how to plan for it and avoid any liability in the future.
We suggest you talk with your family. You will need all the support you can get. You'll want to make sure your husband or wife is on board with your decisions and you have the backing of the money, time and support you will need to get things off the ground. You need to keep in mind, you may not make money right away from your equine based business. Even if you spend $1000s of dollars on equine marketing efforts, you may not make money right away. It takes time to establish a equine business and takes time to build your customer base. The old adage, if you build it, they will come, is not true in business! It may take keeping your job for a while and doing your business on the site to reach your goals.
You also need to set reasonable goals. There are so many equine marketing professionals and traditional marketing professionals out there advertising on Facebook, how easy it is to build your business and gain more customers, these get rich quick type of ads are geared at getting you to sign up for some kind of training or buy into some kind of "help" membership. Trust us, they don't work. They aren't there to help when it comes to getting specific questions answered and they only help you with the basics.
It takes time to build your business and your customers. You will need to set a budget for the year for your equine marketing goals. Your marketing budget isn't a specific formula, it is what you can afford and what you feel comfortable with. Once you have a goal in mind, we can help you spread it out to cover getting your new equine business launched and help you get customers to know it is there. We do that with a mix of online and traditional print advertising depending on your target equestrian market and customer.
We suggest planning yes....but over planning no! Sometimes you can get stuck in the trap of planning so hard, you miss the major market for the year and your window is over. If you own a stallion for example, ads and promotions need to be done in the fall to be ready for the spring and let people know about your stallion to get ready for breeding season. Horse magazines and equine publications generally have due dates a few months prior to the actual issue hitting the streets. People tend to get weighed down with all the details it takes to put a company together and then don't get things off the ground. There is a balance between getting it right and getting it done right. Sometimes you have to have a little faith and try things and see how they work and change it up next time, don't get stuck not doing it the first time because you might be afraid that it wasn't right. It is better to try and fail then not try! With advertising, there is always a do-over. Especially with online equine advertising through Facebook, we can tailor campaigns and start and stop them mid-stream if you feel it isn't performing the way you envisioned and we can change up the ad with different content.
We will write on picking a company name next time!