Looking for advice on opening a DIY Yard in Leicestershire

[gghh04]

I'm looking into buying a house with land and stables in Leicestershire. It has 10 outdoor stables, secure tack room, feed room, 18 acres (6 permenant paddocks), a 50x25 outdoor ménage(will have mirrors and floodlights), barn which will be used for storage of hay, straw/bedding and trailers/lorry's. What prices should i charge? What do i need to think about/ do before investing into this property? All help is much appreciated!

 

[be positive]

Firstly are you buying it because you want some land for yourself and the house also ticks all the boxes, if so then running a yard will be a bonus rather than buying it to run a DIY business expecting it to provide you with a decent income which is unlikely in real terms, that said the facilities sound good, the grazing to stable ratio is better than many yards so you could attract a fair bit of interest.

I am unsure of the going rate for the area but most DIY yards with average facilities will charge between £25 - £40 per week, if you provide extras such as hay or bedding then that needs to be added on as will offering services to the owners who may require some help.

It will not all be profit, you need to factor in insurance, possibly business rates although small businesses are still getting relief it may not last forever, maintenance of paddocks, topping, rolling, harrowing which may mean paying a contractor, removal of muck heaps, maintenance of the buildings, dealing with tricky owners, the list can be extensive and for many will make the investment barely worthwhile unless it is a sideline or part of a lifestyle choice.

It is not all negative it can help pay the mortgage, give you an interest, bring in a new group of friends etc the other option would be to rent it as a whole which may bring in a bit less but would be far less hassle than dealing with 10 different clients.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

My advice is Don't!

Sorry but a very small experiment showed me that it is something I will never do again.

 

[popsdosh]

My advice is Don't!

Sorry but a very small experiment showed me that it is something I will never do again.

Something we can agree on !
If the OP is mentally stable contemplating it that will soon change.
My best day ever in my life was when the last of 40 DIYs left the yard !!!! Sad as that makes me.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

Firstly you need to sit down with your abacus (and/or your accountant!! - seriously....... ) and do some costings.

As others have said, you'll have to factor-in costs like insurance (you'll need employer's liability as well as public liability - which isn't cheap); also field/stables maintenance, stuff like safe electrics (get it checked by a professional & certificate to prove it); sundries like electric fencing (go for mains, cheaper in the long run), and erecting stables etc.

All of which will eat into your cash!

I am a DIY owner, my yard is attached to my house, and I've only got room for ONE DIY ever here. Have been doing it since 1992 and in that time have only had one really bad egg as a livery and thank god she only stayed for month before she took her prissy little self off to inflict someone else.

Because I'm a small set-up with only ever space for the one livery, I don't have the problems that the "big yards" have like liveries bitching etc., but know some yard proprietors who've torn their hair out from difficult bitching liveries who do nothing but squabble and complain!

You'll need to decide what services you'll offer, i.e. DIY, assisted, full, etc, and employ good staff (tip, pay peanuts and you'll get monkeys.....). Be prepared to rule with a Rod of Iron: if you have management/personnel skills or have been in a supervisory role in say the armed/civic services, or a schoolteacher, that will be a definite help in your New Career! Whatever, you'll have to grow a very thick skin as the buck will stop with you and you will have to make unpopular decisions on a regular basis and be prepared to have everyone gripe about it - people griping about their YO on here seems to be a fairly frequent occurrence!! That's the sort of thing you'll potentially have to deal with.

My advice, as a small DIY YO, is to be FUSSY, be very fussy. Insist on references from their previous yard and always a written contract. Don't take their word for it, go and SEE and talk to their previous yard owner if they say they've been at a place, and have a quiet word with their fellow liveries if you can; you might find out a thing or two!

Don't accept horses you're not happy with: if you don't want/aren't prepared to accept stallions for example, then say so! Or horses with sweet itch, or breakers or cribbers. Better to be up-front and honest to start with.

Have arrangements in place to quarantine horses if they come from another yard; here, the livery has a separate field to mine. She does a lot of competing, I don't compete, so it makes sense therefore to do this - I make no apologies for being cautious as far as bio-security is concerned.

I've met some lovely owners and absolutely delightful horses and ponies in the time I've been doing livery: I bought my old horse who was a real star from the OH of a livery at the time. My current livery is a real peach, she is lovely, and is an excellent example of how DIY livery CAN and does work out. You will make some lovely contacts, and hopefully be able to take an interest nay an active part in helping young people enjoy their horses, which is always rewarding, and see them going on to succeed.

But get it wrong, and it can be as big a disaster as the Titanic...........

Worth putting in every effort therefore, to get the best liveries you can. The best advice I was ever given was if you get a rotten apple in the basket, get rid PDQ before the rot sets in with everyone else.....

 

[Orangehorse]

From all the threads about livery yards in this DG I think most situations will have been covered. Obviously a good contract is essential and include what happens if the client stops paying, or walks off and leaves the horse (has happened). But think about policies about introducing new horses - keep them separate for instance to avoid fights and damage. And turnout in bad weather, etc.