This is the second part in a three part series. The goal is to help you determine the Definite Major Purpose of your horse business.

Part 1 – Specializing in the Horse Business discussed the value of specializing in the horse business and how your personal passions in life can show you the way toward choosing a specialization.

Part 3 – Taking Action the Right Way in the Horse Business will discuss how to integrate Parts 1 and 2 into your horse business in an effort to provide you more daily fulfillment and more profitability.

Let's get started. How do you capitalize on your newly declared specialty that you determined in Specializing in the Horse Business? You have to learn to say NO. One of the most difficult, and most common issues professionals in the horse business face is the issue of being able to tell someone No.

Do you really need to say No?

Every horse professional longs for two things: More down time and more profit. If you fit in that category, then, Yes, you need to learn to say No.

Saying No is an art. That's why most people don't do it... and others are thought of as jerks ;) . Well, it shouldn't be that way. Here's the three step process to saying No and living to tell about it:

1. Know Why you Should Say No
2. Train Yourself to Say No
3. Train Your Clients to Like No

Review
You should have a concrete statement regarding your personal passion.

I am _____________________________

You fill in the blank. I am a coach. I am an educator. I am a researcher. I am a deal maker. Etc. Only you know the answer to this one. Don't think about your horse business and then try to see where you fit in. Determine your personal passion. Only then should you move forward to develop (or transition) your horse business to one that can say No. DMP Part 1 – Specializing in the Horse Business offers concepts aimed at helping you find that one thing you must have to gain fulfillment while your horse business prospers.

So, you know what/who you are. In order to start moving forward, you must also know what/who you are not.

1. Know Why you Should Say No
Saying No is not about what you don't want to do. It's about providing your clients with the best possible value you can provide.

You do need a list of things you don't do – What you are not. Part 1 helped you decide what you are. In the next step, you will have to determine what you are not. However, the list you come up with is for finding the real value your horse business provides. If you don't enjoy doing something, you will not do a very good job. Customer focused businesses always succeed. Money focused businesses succeed while draining the owner, or they fail.

To illustrate the concept of finding value, consider a professional trainer that starts two year old horses. This trainer is passionate about instructing and progressing young horses. However, this trainer has decided that one of the things he/she will not do is take a horse for only thirty days.

What is the first thing that has to happen?

This horse trainer better be good. And always working on improving their skill.

Side note: You should always be working at being better. That's what the best do. They aren't all of a sudden the best.

They are the best at always improving.

So, get off your rear and go learn from the best. If you've already done it, do it again. If you've never done it, go do it now, before you do anything else.

Feel free to give us a call here at RanchForeman – 210.222.8200. We'll help get you started.

Now that we have that behind us, let's revisit our colt trainer example. A thirty day started two year old has no habits. Yes, a good trainer should have them catching the correct leads, guiding properly, stopping, and maybe crossing over a little bit in a spin. But, there are no habits formed. An owner would rarely be able to replicate the results that the trainer was getting - even if they continued to ride the colt regularly. However, a ninety-day colt, though still quite green, has some habits. An owner could take this colt and get some, if not all, of the same responses as a good trainer. The ninety-day colt is also much more marketable for the same reasons. In today's market, putting $700 into a colt with no marketable pedigree yields you a colt worth about what you have invested. That's a very poor return on investment. Putting $2,100 into the same colt yields a horse worth at least $3,000 – probably more depending upon the trainer.

So, finding value for yourself and your client is the number one reason you have to learn to say no.

2. Train Yourself to Say NO
Part 1 – Specializing in the Horse Business dealt with your passion - Those things that bring you fulfillment - What you are. In order to learn how to say no, we're now going to focus on the other side of the coin - Those things that do not bring you fulfillment - What you are not. Ask yourself these questions to get started:

• What do you dislike doing?
• What do you refuse to do?
• What misunderstandings do people have regarding you and your business?
• What would you change about your personal life?
• What would you change about your horse business?

The third question - What misunderstandings do people have about you and your horse business? - is the best place to start. Ask your current clients what they think you do. Ask them what they tell other people about you and your horse business. You may be surprised by their answer.

Compose a list from some of the things listed above as well as activities drawn from the brief conversation you have had with your clients. Read the list over and over again. You'll start to see where you provide value and where you don't. You'll see the value for your horse business and you will see the value for your clients.

You want to focus on the areas of your horse business where those two value areas intersect – where value exists for both your horse business as well as your clients.

It's no accident that the intersect area in the graphic above is green. That's the color of money and that intersection is where most of it will be found.

Now you know your specialty (A). You know what you are not (B).

Sticking with A and B transforms saying No. You can say No by simply saying Yes to your specialty. Every person you inform about your specialty becomes a customer, or they become a spokesman. No one has ever told me about a professional that does lessons, boards horses, trains horses, has clinics, raises horses, breeds horses, hauls horses and shows horses. But plenty have told me about a damn good cutting horse trainer, or the finest full care boarding facility, or top of the line colt starter. You are now that horse business.

Why?

• You refer clients when you know they aren't the best for what that client needs.
• You always work to improve your specialty and inform prospective clients of that specialty.
• You focus on work that is challenging, but inspiring, so as not to burn out.
• You eliminate work that does not fit the Definite Major Purpose of your horse business.

Train yourself to say No by implementing those four elements.

3. Train Your Clients to Enjoy 'No'
Training yourself to say No only goes so far. The next step is to actually do it. Acting like you're too good to perform a certain task is a great way to put yourself out of business. However, if you are asked point blank if you will put the first thirty days on a colt and you have decided not to do that, don't you dare start doing it again.

So what do you do?

Saying "No" isn't so much about actually saying the word as it is about being aware of the specific services you provide and then creating an environment that incentivises your prospective clients to use those services.

Finding value has been the topic thus far. Now let's consider presenting value. People want to get the best deal they can get. That's never going to change. So, don't tell your customer flat out that you won't do it just because they are watching their bottom line. Truth is, you are about to help out their bottom line.

Let's revisit the example from earlier about our horse trainer who excelled at starting young horses. Now, you are that trainer. Tell your customer that you would love to start their colt, but you require a ninety day minimum. Thirty day colts simply aren't far enough along for most people to continue using. Also, let's say you charge $700/month. You can tell your client that when they put $700 dollars into a colts first thirty days, that colt ( unless it's a well bred prospect ) will be worth about whatever they have invested in the colt up to this point in this down market – if they're lucky. But, if the horse owner puts $2,100 into that same colt, that colt is now worth $4,000 - $5,000.

There is one catch to all of this. You better be presenting value and not B.S. If you take in a colt for ninety days, you had better hand back a colt worth $4,000 at least. This notion of always improving your services and being the best at your specific niche will be covered in more detail later on. It relates very closely to the Sidenote above, but we will publish some help with this topic as well on a later date.

So, what have you done here? You have essentially turned down a "break-my-colt-in-thirty-days" gig. Your prospective client can do two things:

1. Decide not to spend the money and leave.
2. Hire you for ninety days instead of thirty days.

If option (1) occurs be sure to ask them why. Do not be pushy, just curious. Here's why...

If they simply "Don't want to spend the money", Option (1) results in having someone out in the 'wild' telling people you put the first ninety days on horses rather than "you break colts". It also frees up your time to work horses that are probably better than one whose owner doesn't want to spend an extra $1,400 on. Either way it's good for your fulfillment and the bottom line of your horse business.

There is a negative possibility, though. They may not think your service is worth the money. This is why you asked "Why?" in the first place. If this is the case, you had better get off your rear and go learn more about the niche you have picked out. Specializing and saying no carry a greater responsibility - you have to always be seeking to be the best in your niche.

Being true to the four elements of 'Training Yourself to Say No' will always result in more satisfied clients when you present value first.

• Your client will have more confidence in a trainer specifically focused on their niche.
• Your client will want the newest knowledge from a trainer that is always improving.
• Your client will know exactly what you do and so it's easy for them to tell others.
• Your client will know if they have a need that you can't fulfill, you'll let them know who can.

Train your clients to enjoy No by implementing those four elements.

Conclusion
This exercise is more conceptual than it is motivational. In other words, get your list together of things that you want your horse business to exclude. If you feel like you are already on the road to being an expert in your niche, then by all means, start saying no. However, if you're following this series in an effort to transform your horse business, or start a horse business, then hold off on actually saying no for now. Read Part 3 Link and then go from there.

The action to be taken right now is to understand exactly what your horse business WILL NOT provide. The example above deals with a trainer. Your horse business may be vastly different from a trainer, but there are still misunderstandings that may exist between you and the public, and there are still mundane tasks that you should not be doing. These tasks steal time from you that should be spent doing the things you enjoy, that you can become known for, that actually make you more money.

Further Reading:

• Specializing in the Horse Business: Definite Major Purpose Part 1
• How to Take Action in the Horse Business: Definite Major Purpose Part 3