OK. I need help with a business proposal!!!!

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piaffe

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Can anyone help?

We have found the perfect house for us; and the idea is that we buy it and I run it as a livery yard.

The only thing is, house is very expensive and need to pursuade Dad that its worth putting his money into it!
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So. Anyone got any ideas how to present a business proposal for him (or want to do me one)!!
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Details. 23 acres. 10/12 good sized boxes. Good hacking. 60x40 silica sand school. I would be running it.

I have no idea what average livery prices are at the moment (other than livery).

Any suggestions?
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I'm really sorry to dampen your enthusiasm but there is no way you would make a living on 10/12 liveries plus the repayment on what sounds like a hefty mortgage.
Unless you have a decent income from elsewhere I wouldn't risk it
 
Thanks. There will be 3 other incomes from the same household and the whole point is; if we can pursaude dad then we wont need a mortgage.
 
I would say if you want the most money try and do full or at least part, also if you dont have DIY it means you dont have people turning up at all hours to muck out etc, and they can all be fed at the same time etc etc.

Plus it means a higher profit margin for you doing full livery, as you can buy in bulk to cut your costs, while getting paid to muck out, feed their horses etc.

You can also attract extra income doing grass livery, at least people wont be mucking out at all hours and you will have enough land to have some living out 24/7. Plus it means no work for you really.

also thinking about worming programmes, charging a price to worm their horses, charging to bring in for the farrier etc, all add up to income!

Depending on how experienced you are, if you have the land and facilities you could consider buying horses, bringing them on and selling for a profit, as this is always easier and more lucritive when you have your own land.
Or if you know an instructor who can give lessons and split the profits, the list is endless I coudl go on all day LOL
 
If there is any way at all that you can discount the livery business from your proposal and still keep your head above water then this is the tack to take I think.

Its notoriously difficult to make money on anything horse related and a livery business needs to be looked at as a hobby and not an income IME.

Hopefully you can find a way round this but please dont saddle yourself with what could potentially turn into a major family argument.

Consider also that you may end up with a huge rates bill plus you must have insurance for third party liability.
 
Thanks! Thats very very interesting. Dont get the farrier bit though?
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I teach so that will help and quite like the idea of buying to sell on and schooling livery.
Was also thinking like, erm, horsey holidays? but have never been on one so dont know that much about it.
 
In reality horses just don't make money, and livery yards even less so. That said a lot will come down to what kind of return your father would expect on his income?

Will he still own the property and you effectively 'rent' it back or will he give you the money to buy the place yourself? Depending on the sums involved and with rising interested rates you would need to prove you could at least give a 5-6% return plus at some point repay the capital as he will easily get this in a safe deposit account somewhere at the moment. Anything less than this would hardly be considered a business and more helping out his family, which is brill for you if you can persuade him!!

I hope some of this make sense, but without knowing what sort of sums you are going to ask him to invest it is very difficult to work exact figures.
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Thanks for that. The idea is that we sell mums house and all move into this porperty. Im not sure dad would want to see the money, he doesnt need it, as long as its doing something useful and productive.

As you can tell its very very early days so everything is a bit vague. If I can present him with some sort of plan he is more likely to look at it seriously and then we can move forward and work out costs etc.
 
Just to help you - or not. Our Business rates were £5k/year, insurance £2k/year with a £1k excess. So you need to make £7k a year just to pay those 2 off. We stopped being a yard because of it.
 
Meant to have added; I am currently paying £20 a week for each of my horses- £240.00 a month.

Is that about the going rate? I pay for all my own food, straw, hay etc. There is a 20x40 crap school!
 
Before going any further make sure that you can run a business from the property. In many cases when planning permission is given for change of use for fields from agricultural to equestrian use ,stables and/or a menage there is a restriction that they can only be used by your direct familly.
 
You could try getting hold of a mag like Chiltern & Thames Rider or whatever's local to you. They have a livery advert section with prices so you could see what other local yards are charging for a similar service.

I'd also second HSBC as they have a start-up pack for new businesses which gives you a lot of suggestions & things to think about. And I think it's free - just pop in & grab one!!
 
All I can give you is this:

MY YO charges £25 per week DIY (straw included), £100 full livery, £120 ridden livery

She makes her own hay and we pay £3-50 per bale - she also makes her own straw

We have private hacking, horse walkers (x 2), a XC course (brand new), full set of SJs up in a field in the summer, plenty in the school for other use - she hays, free of charge, at 7, 12, 4 and 10

She has 2 yards, one a proper stable yard which houses 13 horses (3 are DIY, the rest are full and of those 4 are ridden too), then there is the old pig farm - there are 13 DIY horses down there, 4 of which are on shavings, which they pay for themselves

She is always adament that all she does is cover costs to upkeep and maintain the yard, and maybe some pocket money on top - she has 2 grooms who do 2 hours each in a mornng mucking out and they are paid £5 an hour

Hope that helps!
 
Part for me would be doing the horse once a day - ie, mucking out in a mornng but not doing evening stables, tho I do believe I am the only one that uses that term!! Full for us is everything except tack cleaning and riding, then you have full plus riding
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Oh and if you are on DIY she charges £5 for muck out in the morning and £2 for turn out/bring in (that includes rug changing)
 
Doesnt part livery usually include everything bar riding?

I suppose you can always tailor packages to suit peoples needs..

I would be willing to pay for someone to feed and turnout in the morning and bring in at night with me doing the rest..

ATM I pay £25 a week DIY for stable and grazing. We have unlimited turnout an indoor and x country course.
 
I thought part livery was doing them 5 days a week and owner doing it at weekends - I'm guessing it varies lol. I must be a mug, I put YOs horse out, change rugs, and because Chex and hers share a pen I do the hay and the water too - every day - for free!
 
Yes you can charge for turnout, bringing in, rugging, feeding, grooming, clipping, being there for vets/farriers ect, mucking out, the list can go on and on...

Its a good idea especially if people have to go away suddenly or cant make it up for one reason or another.
 
Hi there part livery(to me) is where the YO/groom does the horse 5 days a week and the horse owner for example does the horse fully at the weekend. Although there are many alterations on this! I currently have my cob on assisted livery, where i pay a lady £1 each morning to turn him out 2 days a week -however she does him fully on Mon/Wed/Fri for £5 a day! and i go down in the evenings on tues and thursday and fully at weekend. However my rent is only£20pwk so im saving initially.
 
I'm in a rush to go out right now, but my advice to you would be to build your proposal, look at your turnover and then your profit and then half the profit! This will give you an idea of what sort of money you will REALLY end up with.

Try to forget about putting your horses into the equation because they will just complicate matters and you really won't be saving much,.......and in fact anyone with business sense will see that if you have 2 or 3 horses of your own, then your horses will actually be costing the business money!

Forget about horsey holidays - the insurance will cripple you on this! Livery insurance is the cheapest to have, if you are opening a riding school with teaching then you are looking at significantly higher insurance rates.

For 12 horses on livery(assuming you can fill all of the stables), my best advice would be.....don't give up your day job.
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Sorry to be so quick and sharp but I really have to go so I don't mean to be sharp.
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