In our ongoing efforts to help people better understand who we are and what we do, Horse Sense just produced a new 10 minute video. One of the main things that came out of last year's Strategic Planning session was a need to translate what we do to folks to excite them and bring them to the farm. This video was designed to be the step in-between the phone call or conversation and the onsite demonstration.

We had it shot largely in one day using a "stunt family," while also integrating video from our Girls for Girls offsite event. Our cameraman was from the local ABC affiliate, who knew how to get a story and get it quick. He also already had the contacts among editors, voice-over folks, and music people. I recommend this route as this sort of person can streamline your efforts and maximize your dollar!

The end result is something we bring with us and show at all offsite presentations, and can send out to potential new clients, such as local treatment facilities and schools. We send the video to select offices along with a cover letter and a brochure, then follow-up with a call in a week or so with an offer of an onsite demonstration. We're excited to bring this new way of understanding out into our community, and will keep you posted on the results!

All the best,
Shannon

Are you living in a maze of file stacks in your office or in your car? Do you wake in the middle of the night with your thoughts racing about all the goals and tasks you need to accomplish and feel overwhelmed?  Do you find yourself forgetting appointments?  Do you tell your colleagues and friends that you need more than 24 hours in a day? If any of these describes you, read on.  You are a candidate to form the perfect alliance with a virtual assistant just like Shannon because:

1. Cloning isn’t an option.  While you may believe that you are the only one who can best serve the needs of your business and clients, cloning a human being has not met with scientific success.  It is a misnomer to believe that if you want it done right you have to do it yourself.  Rather the smart, savvy business person believes in the team and thinking outside the box to be successful.  A virtual assistant provides just that – a professional relationship with the same drive to have your business and client’s best interest at the heart of their business without the traditional setting of the workplace.
   

2. Two heads are better than one.  It takes a team to build a business properly.  A virtual assistant will support your needs while bringing a fresh perspective on problem solving and offering a diverse network of resources.
   

3. Time is money.  Experience the freedom to concentrate on your business rather than the routine, mundane tasks associated with running your business.  If your billable hours are $150 per hour then contract an assistant who can do the $35 to $50 per hour of work so that you can land the next new contract that reinforces why you operate a business.
   

VIRTUAL TASKS:  Shannon discovered in the growth of her business that she needed help with scheduling, communication, website maintenance, shopping cart assistance, database management, travel & speaking assistance, and a host of other administrative tasks.

VIRTUAL ACTION:  Like Shannon you can’t be more than one individual and you need the expertise of the team.  What tasks are stealing your time from productively moving forward?

• Make a list of tasks
• Talk the list over with a confidant
• Take action

Hey Everybody!

Well, I'm finally getting back into the swing of things after having been gone for two weeks, and am heading right back out to the Virginia Equine Extravaganza this weekend (If you're going, come see me! We'll have a booth across from the Parelli™ booth!). In the meantime, I've been pondering a bit what it means to be a small business owner, and wanted to share some thoughts with you, as you consider your options in Equine Assisted Practices.

Prior to Horse Sense, I was an English professor, teaching 3-4 courses a semester. I often also worked a side job while teaching, what with teacher salaries not being the best! Amongst the more meaningful side jobs I've had, I've worked as a Vet Tech/Assistant at my vet's office (to offset the 6 dogs and 4 cats we had while living in Dallas), at photo shops, and at various bookstores throughout my life. I enjoyed them all and learned a great deal.

Now to Horse Sense. I know when I first got the idea to "go into business for myself," I thought about simple things such as having lunch when I wanted to, and being able to take time off for things that are very important to me, but may not have been seen that way by my boss, such as taking a week off to attend the Parelli™ Savvy Conference in Colorado. Now, I knew that working for myself would be no "bed of roses," as I'd heard all the horror stories you've also probably heard about long hours and hard work. But among the things I thought I understood but didn't is the following: that I would work harder and longer at this job than I would at any other job in my life.

Are there amazing perks and benefits? No doubt. But is there a trade-off? You bet. In yesterday's Asheville Citizen-Times Business section, a small business owner was quoted as saying: "I work harder now than I have in my whole entire life now that I own my own business." And I get what he means now in a way I didn't when I didn't have my own business. And I hope my writing this will help you understand it in a way that I didn't back then.

So. Do I love what I do? Again, you bet. But, as in the case of today, when I'm starting to get a cold, and just spent 2.5 hrs in a dentist chair, and want to go home and sleep all day, can I, just because I'm the business owner? The answer is yes and no. Yes, of course I can. But if not me, and if not today, then when and by whom?

But even at the end of my worst day, I'm still honored and delighted to work with the people I do, doing what we do, for the people we do it for. And, the best reason of all for me, we get to do it all with horses. That's being truly blessed.

Happy Trails!

Shannon

Hello fellow equine enthusiasts, and welcome to Mike’s CFO Corner.  The bucks stop here.

In my first installment, I will describe the kinds of challenges many businesses face, and hopefully give you some inside scoop on how well run businesses operate.

Some of the challenges facing Horse Sense and most other small businesses include slow and sometimes outdated financial information, an outdated financial plan, a lack of internal data that can be used to manage the business and make sound decisions, and holes in internal controls and policies and procedures.  Interestingly enough, all of these issues are generally not addressed by CPA firms!

The first step is to assess the current financial condition of your company.  This includes taking a look at how you are doing compared to the industry and other standard benchmarks.

Once you have identified any trouble areas, integrate into your business a way to address those problems in the future so that the company is always improving.  There are many techniques to gather and use financial data, make sure you use some!

The next step is to look into the future using a budget.  A more detailed description of the budget process will be posted on the trailblazer’s website soon.

Update your plan every month and compare to the actual results.  This step takes very little time, but you will see what is going wrong and you can fix it.

Remember, if you fail to plan, plan to fail.  I’ve never met a wealthy business owner that didn’t have a plan.

Mike Sowinski, CPA
Contact Mike

Hey Everyone!

Wow! What a wonderful trip to Europe, and what a great conference in Vienna!

I was excited and honored to be a representative from the United States at the European Association of Horse Assisted Educators (EAHAE) during the annual conference, which this year was held in Vienna, Austria October 6-7. Along with almost 100 others from all over Europe, my husband Richard and I learned and shared a lot about our passion and vision for the field of Equine Assisted Activities!

The conference this year was organized by Robert Koenes and his lovely wife, Edith, of HorseCoach Institute. They were able to arrange for a private tour of the Spanish Riding School in Vienna for the conference attendees, which took place Friday afternoon. What a wonderful behind-the-scenes tour it was! Richard and I had already been that morning to a public practice session of the Riding School (which is held most days from 10am-12noon), and had also already been to the Lipizzan museum earlier in the week. But on this special tour we went into the stables where the horses are kept and met a 30+ year old Lipizzan Stallion, not to mention all the other beauties. We then went to the tack room, where they keep all the gold-plated breastplates and cruppers the horses wear during the evening performances, along with the gold-plated bridles. It was quite a site!

After the special tour, EAHAE hosted a social dinner event for all attendees. We made new friends from Sweden, Australia, Germany, Austria and many other places that evening alone! It was a lovely way to ease into the new event, and Richard and I both got to practice some languages we haven't used in quite some time. Richard knew a little German and French and, although I studied French in school, every time I went to open my mouth, nothing but Spanish would come out!

I'm writing a short paper this week on the conference proceedings for all Trailblazer members, so I won't go into too much detail now about all the wonderful presentations and what we can learn from this event. I'm quite excited about some things going on in this organization, and can't wait to share more with you! If you aren't already familiar with the EAHAE, you can learn more about it at their website (link to www.eahae.org/index.htm).

After the conference, Richard and I spent time in Zurich, Interlocken & Lausanne (all in Switzerland), and Bayeux in Normandy. We're both WWII fans, and we got to see some humbling and impressive historical sites such as Omaha Beach, the American Cemetary, and the gunnery at Longues Sur Mer. We also got to see, in our trips through Switzerland, why Western North Carolina is often referred to as "Little Switzerland". It was like looking out our window, except it was all cows and not horses!

It's great to be back, and I look forward to hearing from you now that we're home!

Happy Trails!

Shannon

PS: stay tuned to learn about a conference we're planning at Horse Sense in Fall of 2008 that will bring all of you to our Little Switzerland! It's guaranteed to jumpstart your EAP/EAL business, and get you on the way to a great program! More will be revealed soon!

I recently had the privilege of participating in and facilitating some of three days of team building and strategic planning for the Horse Sense Team. We celebrated successes, generated new ideas and got fired up for the coming year and all the exciting changes ahead at Horse Sense. Yes, there were a few chickens in the room (literally, there was a chicken launcher present which provided entertainment and distraction when the conversation got too heavy! – ask Brenda where she got it!) but overall, we had an extremely productive and positive three days together.

Why Team Building?

1. People understand themselves better –their strengths and natural preferences – and it increases self awareness and responsibility.
2. Staff understand their teammates better – what are their strengths and gifts, how do they uniquely view the world?
3. It improves communication between staff members and ultimately efficiency and effectiveness in the office.
4. Have fun! Work can get heavy sometimes if you’re doing a lot of therapy and managing a lot of paperwork. Coming together as a team to laugh and play is a critical element for long term success and satisfaction.

Inspired Action: What have you done lately to build a sense of team with your staff? Schedule a team building day soon! You can find someone in your local area or consider working with me, Shannon’s coach, to facilitate a day long communications styles workshop using a powerful personality assessment. I love to travel!

Why Strategic Planning?

1. Having a vision is critical for long-term success. It allows you to think BIG and consider possibilities for your business instead of just focusing on “what do we have to do today?”
2. The process itself is powerful for celebrating successes, generating new ideas and setting clear goals to support the viability of your business.
3. A strategic plan gives you a “flexible container” to work within. As you make decisions for your business, you can always refer to your strategic plan and ask “will this take us toward our goals or away from our goals?”

Inspired Action: Do you have goals? A clear plan for your business? Consider whether doing a strategic planning session with your team would be beneficial. You could find someone locally or contact Brenda Dammann who spearheaded Horse Sense’s strategic planning process.

--- Coach Elizabeth
www.elizabethbarbour.com

Hey guys!

We just spent this last Saturday doing an EAL group with teens from a local Hospice organization. We had four teens, four horses and all
day: it was wonderful. Laura and I facilitated: it's a population we've been wanting to work with for some time, and one that is close to my heart, having lost my father at a young age.

After introductions and such, we began with observation of the horses from outside the arena, and then went into "Moving Closer", which is basically an invitation to introduce yourself to the horses in any way you like. The two boys and two girls were very receptive and eager (a big change from the "challenging" clients I usually work with!). We then did some catch & halter, and the doors swung wide open. The kids were drawing comparisons between the horses and their families, and emotions (and tears) were out there for all to see. The morning had such an intense and charged atmosphere, but the horses kept us all grounded and present (bless them!). When asked what difference the horses made in their feelings, one of the teens compared himself to a spring or a coil pulled thin, flat and tight. But when the horses were around, he said, that tight line returned to a coil, that once again had give and spring to it. It was a wonderful visual for us all.

After an intense morning, we had lunch and then started into some afternoon activities out in the outdoor arena (it was a beautiful fall day...blue sky, a hint of coolness in the air). In the middle of an activity, Scout's Honor, our leopard appaloosa, decided to lay down. And he didn't just lay down...he sprawled! And he stayed down for a long time. Hook, the other horse in the activity, decided that was a fine idea, and dropped down with him. It was one of the most unique things I'd seen: the six of us in the arena, a beautiful day, and both horses zonked out. Every few minutes the horses would halfway sit up, and then they'd think better of it and lay back down. 

Laura and I and the kids took the hint: CHILL OUT! Enjoy the day! 

So...we agreed that we'd hang out until the horses told us to get back up again. We sat down in the arena and joked and told stories, until the horses told us different.

And it's days like this that feed the soul, that go in my "Undespair" box. Hope it's given you a lift as well!

Shannon