Feeling bummed...and a little burned.

[Jennasis]

I'm just feeling a little down today and thought I could turn to my fellow DIS'ers for a shoulder to lean on, if not a sympathetic ear . In a nut-shell, our business is doing not-so-great. It's a cyclical business so we have our UPS and our, well, downs. We are in a down and have been for a few months. Enough to spur DH into going out and getting a sceond full-time job (working here on the farm was his first full-time job with me).

My downer today? Well, I was placing an ad for our business in the newspaper and on one of the websites that caters to locals and I stumbled across something a little annoying. Granted I TOTALLY saw it coming, but the notion of it didn't really affect me until just now. What I found in both of those places were ads from competitors, one of whom are friends of ours. There is competition between farms around here, and we certainly aren't the only farm. But what finally irked me is that these friends of ours, who now own/run a farm about 5 minutes away didn't move here to NC until Sept of last year. DH and I moved here in 2003 after a long search for the perfect farm. These friends were people I worked with on my old farm back in NY. After they found out I had moved and that my new farm in NC was doing well, they moved (practically next door) and set up shop ! Of ALL the places in the entire country for them to not only move to, but to try to establish a competing business...it just boggles my mind that not only is there another "shark in the tank" but that they specifically chose to move into "my turf" from 600 miles away!

Originally they assured us that they wouldn't be doing exactly what we are (which is offering boarding for horses, riding lessons and horse training). They said they were only going to offer boarding (still a huge competition there. Boarding is what pays our bills). Then today I found an ad they placed looking for a riding instructor to come to their farm and offer lessons out of their place . I called them to ask if they wanted to go see a movie this weekend and she casually mentioned that they have two new boarders moving in and an instructor who would be offering lessons. Plus they are charging more than we do AND their facilities are less than ours.

Yeah, I know the nature of business is competition. But today I'm feeling a little bummed that my friends specifically chose to swoop into my town and try to horn in on my business. I'll get over it...after all, my barn really IS better than theirs I am very sensitive lately and have been getting the feeling that I am being burned by people who called themselves my friends. I just needed to get it off my chest.

 

[Cthia]

Sorry about that.

I am sure with the warm weather coming around there will be enough business for you both.

 

[luv2nascar]

sorry you are going through a difficult time with your business and friends.
Sending you some good wishes that things improve shortly.
I kind of understand what you are going through as my BILs are farmers and having a rough time with their business and personal relationship currently. They just can't get along and the business is suffering. They are currently trying to split the business and go their separate ways. Bottom line is both will probably end up out of the farming business. Farming is a hard business there days. I wish you all the best.

 

[Jennasis]

Thanks guys! I still do like my friends. They're decent enough people. It's just like Bogie said though; "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world...you had to walk into mine"

 

[ToTLaugher]

to you.

I wish we lived in your area. We are trying to find riding lessons for our DD. We would be happy to give a fellow Diser our business!

Hope things pick up for you soon!

 

[Cindyluwho]

As a business owner, I constantly have to remind myself that "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery". Big hugs and I know you'll do fine!

 

[grimley1968]

As much as "non-compete" agreements are a pain in the rump, this sounds like a situation where a NCA could have been helpful. Maybe if you're able to get back to an "up" situation, and you're doing better than your friends, you could maybe tactfully broach the subject of a NCA. That might force your friends to offer something substantively different than what you do.

I'm sorry this is happening to you, though. No offense, but they don't sound like such great friends. The least they could have offered is to simply go in on your business with you to make it bigger, or simply do something different.

 

[jlaspoq]

Good luck to you!

Nicer barn, cheaper rates..... sounds like you have the advantage!

 

[Mkaz]

I'm sorry for what you are going through.

We had a situation with friends of ours a while back. They just seemed to copy everything DH and I did. After confiding in another friend, he told us that imitation was the sincerest form of flattery. I never thought of it that way before. After that we no longer let it bother us. HTH

 

[canwegosoon]

First of all I was in the Resort Motel business-also very competitive.

Can I give you some advice:

You need a Marketing Plan and a Business Plan if you don't have one.
Since Competiton is increasing you need to basically put what you wrote in your post into an ad. "We have better facilities, ours are larger, we are more experieced etc". Also start think ahead like flexible lessons(along the school calander-so people aren't paying for lessons they might be missing)
I don't know a ton about your farm, but you have to offer services to fit different segments of your customer base(private, semi-private, group and birthday party) Also you could offer a coupon with a longterm lease to lock in your customers, or offer a coupon for referals(they get $XXX and new customer gets$XXX).

Think of what can be done in the off season for you(eg-school tours, scout/birthday parties, preschool pony lessons, etc) Also what else is comptatable with your farm-herb farming is big here or organic veggies/flowers etc. Can you rent parts of your farm for town yard sale or you organize a yard sale with multi vendors...etc.

ALso I would stop being so friendly toward somone who is try to steal my business. I understand you might be working with other farms, but she didn't need to be in direct competition with you in the same area.

I wish you all the best. If you have any questions please PM me.

 

[Jennasis]

Canwegosoon: WOW! It's like you're in my head! Most of what you've mentioned are things we've already enacted or are currently advertising. We do programs through the girl scouts (girls can get their horsemanship badge after a 2 hour class we offer), we have the exclusive contract for all horse programs (summer camp and educational) from the county recreation department, we are the only barn in our county and the neighboring two that does any advertising (we have a yellow page ad, ads in all the local papers/online and flyers in the feed store/vets office/tack shops), we also have a terrific relationship with our vet and farrier and they provide referrals from their customers. We recently instituted a new "sale" program where new customers who mention seeing our ads can take $50 off their board until 2007. That program worked TERRIFIC when we tried it about 2 years ago. When we do advertise we always mention our amenities, particularly ones that are exclusive to our facility (like having an indoor arena), and we allow people to prepay for some services (like lessons) for a discount. My teaching schedule is very flexible and I pretty much let my students dictate when they want to schedule lessons. In the summer I find myself teaching much later into the evening because it is lighter longer, and in the winter I teach more on weekends and during the early afternoon.

I so appreciate everyones kind words. I can't believe I was feeling so sorry for myself yesterday, but today I am pulling myself up by the bootstraps and forging forward!

 

[Disneyrsh]

Good luck to you!

Nicer barn, cheaper rates..... sounds like you have the advantage!

And that's just what I'd put in my ad!

With friends like that, who needs enemies!!!

I'd like to add here in atlanta horseback riding birthday parties are seriously big business here for the rich and shameless. You might want to try advertising in the private school newspapers, or put up flyers around private schools, most of them have bulletin boards in the common areas of the elementary schools.

We used to send our kids to a private school, most of the parents are loaded and looking for an unique birthday party for their kid-my seven year old has been to pony parties, ice skating parties, pottery making parties, rock star parties, chocolate making parties, sheesh!

Coupons are also good, get an 8 year old girl on a horse for one free session, man, it's like crack for suburbanites! (this from a lifelong horse lover)

 

[tw1nsmom]

Another corner of the market that you might want to look into is the therapeutic horseback riding market. I can't for the life of me remember what it's called, but DS had a therapist (PT,OT?) that was certified to provide therapy on horseback. If there was a way to hire a person like that and become a certified county provider, you might be able to get business through insurance companies and local service agencies.

 

[jenks0718]

As a business owner, I constantly have to remind myself that "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery". Big hugs and I know you'll do fine!

So true

 

[SC Minnie]

Business is business and these people don't sound like they are really your friends. But since they are there and competing with you like others have said you have to fill a niche in the market and make your place stand out from the others. It may take a lot of advertising and word of mouth to begin with but will be worth it. Good luck!

 

[Jennasis]

Another corner of the market that you might want to look into is the therapeutic horseback riding market. I can't for the life of me remember what it's called, but DS had a therapist (PT,OT?) that was certified to provide therapy on horseback. If there was a way to hire a person like that and become a certified county provider, you might be able to get business through insurance companies and local service agencies.

I am the head coach for the county's Special Olympic equestrian team. I think they call it "hippotherapy".

 

[laura001]

Hope your day gets better!!