Running a boarding barn business is full of challenges, including financial ones. If your barn isn’t bringing in the revenue that you need to stay profitable, there are plenty of ways that you can change that. These five tips can boost your barn’s profitability without requiring any substantial changes to your business model.
Raise Your Rates
One of the simplest and fastest ways to increase your boarding barn’s revenue is to raise your rates, but this needs to be done carefully. It’s a good idea to get into the practice of evaluating your expenses on a yearly basis and making rate changes as needed. Calculate the cost of keeping each horse for one month and make sure that your boarding rate more than covers that expense. Be sure to also compare your rates to the rates of other local boarding barns with similar amenities. By changing rates annually, you can avoid significant rate hikes that could cause boarders to choose to leave.
When raising rates, be prepared to give your boarders at least 30 days’ notice. Do this in writing so that boarders acknowledge their awareness of the change.
Increase Your Training Offerings
While boarding can bring in profits, training tends to be more profitable, and it can be the key to increasing your revenue. If you’re already offering lessons, consider branching out into more training activities, like putting initial training on unstarted horses or providing training board to current and prospective boarders. Bringing in even a few horses for a month of training board can be highly profitable.
Fill Empty Stalls
If your barn has empty stalls, start focusing on how you can fill them. Consider increasing your marketing and offering an incentive to bring in new boarders, like including a few lessons with the first month’s board.
Alternatively, you might consider renting out a block of stalls to a trainer who wants to bring in a small program. This can be an effective way to fill stalls quickly, and you won’t necessarily have to take on the extra work that comes with extra horses.
Offer Additional Services
Look for additional ways that you can generate income. If you’re offering basic boarding, consider offering complimentary services like grooming, clipping, braiding, and exercise riding. You might also offer to hold horses for the farrier or vet for a fee. All of these options can expand your boarding barn business.
Expand Your Barn
If your barn is already at capacity but you’re turning boarders away, expanding your barn can position you to increase your revenue. If you renovate and increase the number of stalls in your barn, you can increase your profits from boarding, lessons, training, and other services that you offer. Expanding your barn can also give you the chance to add on more storage, install a new tack room, or create a second feed room so that the barn functions better and more efficiently.
If you’re considering putting on an addition, contact us today. We’d be happy to discuss your project and help ensure that it’s a success from beginning to end.