The next step after the creation of the horses and boarder data will be the addition of any employees that will be tracking and maintaining the farm’s boarded horses.

Here is an example of what is required when adding an employee.

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Once an account has been created for the employee, an event can be assigned as follows:

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Here is what your employee will see when they log in to view their scheduled tasks:

The employee can complete this event and create their own events to track and provide updates for the horse boarder.

The basis behind showing you the process of this software is to demonstrate how easy it is to use. There are quite a few things that I have left out that will add to the experience of connecting with everyone involved.

I wanted to provide in these few posts the overall picture of how the software flows from farm owner to employee to boarder and back again. It is all about improving the communication with your horse boarders.

In the next post, I will demonstrate how the software pulls all of the billable event tracking into a horse boarder’s invoice.

Please feel free to leave any comments or questions you may have. I would love to hear your impression so far!

As with any software program, there will be some initial data entry. With LaRaedo horse farm management software, you will be required to create some basic information about the customer and their horse.

First you will create information about the horse as shown below:

Then you will click the ‘Save’ button and a new menu will pop up where you will enter information about the person who is responsible for paying the monthly invoice. In other words, if the horse is ridden mostly by a minor child, information about the child’s parent should be entered here.

The reason this is important is because once the customer account information has been created, an e-mail is automatically sent to that customer informing them of their new account and password and a link to LaRaedo horse farm software.

Once the account has been created and your customer logs into their account, this is what they will see:



Both you and your customer will be able to add files, upload photos, create notes for viewing of updates about their horse, training, lessons, etc. You both can send and receive alerts. And they will be able to view an ongoing calendar of tracking events and a history of billing statements including status (paid, outstanding, submitted).

This software will become the place for everyone to go to keep track of what has been completed and what needs to be completed. It will serve as a horse history and an easy way for everyone to know the future plans of each horse.

The next post will discuss the creation of events and how you and your employees can work together to keep your boarders informed about the maintenance of their horse that’s boarded on your farm.

The most important concept to this entire software is to keep your customers informed of the daily maintenance of their horse that is boarded on your farm. You as the farm owner know how much is involved on a daily basis and the incredible responsibility involved in caring for such a large animal. In turn, they as your customer need to see what they pay for every single month to maintain the health and well-being of their horse.

After you have completed the registration process, you will receive an e-mail as shown below.

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Hello Marie Taulbee:

Thank you for subscribing to the LaRaedo Horse Farm Management Software.

Login Access and User Guide software instructions can be found at: http://www.laraedo.com/user-guide

Your administrative account log in is: LaRaedo-Farm
Your Password is: laraedo

Click on the link below and begin enjoying LaRaedo: http://software.laraedo.com

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at the e-mail listed below.

Please read, as agreed to in the ‘Terms and Conditions’:

TRIAL SUBSCRIBERS: Automatic monthly charges will begin after the 30-Day Free Trial unless an e-mail is sent to info@LaRaedo.com or you cancel your subscription via PayPal prior to the end of trial period.

Thank you,

LaRaedo Support

info@LaRaedo.com

More Boarders. More Profit. More Freedom.

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Click on the LaRaedo link as indicated in the e-mail and you will be taken to the software home page:

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Now this is where the fun stuff begins. Once you have logged in, the first thing you do is review your ‘Account Settings’:

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To some readers, this may appear to be pretty basic but I have found that learning how to do things in pieces makes it much easier to remember than laying it all out in one big chunk.

I think that the basis of putting these steps into several blog posts is to show everyone how simple this program is and yet how powerful it can be for your horse business.

My next post will illustrate account creation and who really needs one.

Please provide me with any questions or suggestions below. I think that using the comments sections helps others that may have the same questions but just didn’t think to ask.

I created a product that I absolutely love. I have lived in its creation for nearly two years. It started with a simple idea and grew into a tool that can enhance the lives of horse enthusiasts everywhere.

I want to share my passion with you. So in the next several blog postings, I will demonstrate what this LaRaedo product is all about. Because I was thinking that it is all fine and dandy to have a web site that spouts the various features of a product but many might say ‘How the heck will it help me?’.

We all talk about how little time there is to bring anything else into our lives. But I am a firm believer that anyone can bring anything into their lives if they see value. I raised three kids, worked full time for 30 thirty years, got my college degree at night and still managed to get in an aerobic work out. If you see the value, you will do the work.

We are talking about your business, your life’s blood, your world. I know that it is easy to just do the same old, same old. Even when we know that making changes, although uncomfortable can be good. Just think, not too long ago, many folks didn’t even know how to e-mail someone. Now it is pretty common place.

I realize that some will say “I have such a small farm, it is just not necessary because we all know each other and there is no need to keep track of everything”. I boarded on a small farm and although I did speak with the owner often; once a month I would receive an invoice with one large dollar figure on it. No itemization or description. I guess I was to assume that any and all extras were included in the monthly bill.

And then there are the larger farms that just don’t have the time to be bothered keeping track of one more thing to do. I also boarded on a large farm and found that it was extremely difficult to find anyone that knew what was going on. It was hectic and unorganized which left me feeling frustrated and not sure where to go for help.

I’m not saying that this horse farm management product is going to make everything better for everyone but it will definitely improve the way you do business now.

With all that in mind, I’d like to begin by talking about the first step to gaining access to this simple horse management program. When I say first step, I mean exactly that….

REGISTRATION – There’s just a few items that I’ve placed in captions that help explain things so that you have a great experience using LaRaedo right from the beginning.

The next post will speak about the log in process and setting up your account settings.

Thanks and if you have any questions, please share them as comments below. I will be sure to provide the answers.

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Robyn Schamante owner of Great Escape Stables located in South Lyon, Michigan.  We talked a bit about the history of her boarding and lessons farm and the plans for its future.  We discussed how she uses technology to help her stay organized on her farm and methods of staying connected with her farm customers.

And off camera, it was also fun hear her talk about her future vision of using web cams on the farm in the arena and aisle ways.  Even though she resides on the farm property, she envisions bringing in additional technology as a means for her and her customers to visually know how things are going on the farm.  I think that this may become a trend for many farms as a way to open doors to customers to view lessons and watch the grooming of their horses, for example, while away from the farm.

She also stressed how extremely important it is for all horse farm owners to run an efficient and organized farm.  Too many things can get overlooked or just not get done if the farm does not provide a system or process to follow.  Using the many computer related methods available to most everyone today such as mobile phones, e-mail, and websites to name a few can help farms keep the streamlined edge.

I hope you enjoy this short video and share it with your farm friends.  What technology methods do you use on your farm to help make it run smoother and more efficient?

There is so much talk about social media these days and its ability to stay in touch with those you already know as well as creating new business connections. This post is suggests a few ways horse boarding farm owners can use ‘local media’ to connect with their boarding and lesson customers.

It has been stated that nearly 80 percent of all business will either come from or be directly influenced by word of mouth. So it seems reasonable to say that taking great care of your current customers has a tremendous influence on the attraction of future customers to your farm.

Staying in touch with your customers is key to keeping them at your farm. What better way to do this than use a simple software solution that does exactly that? By investing just twenty minutes or less each day you can:

• Update your customers on the daily maintenance of their horse
• Keep them informed on their horse’s training progress
• Link them to training or lesson videos and upload photos of their horse in action
• Instruct clients on a plan to improve their current lessons and
• Most important – let them know how well they are riding

I recently read an article in Equestrian Professional, which summed up quite a bit of the importance of staying in regular touch with customers:

“The last thing you say matters, because its the first thing your client gets asked!
For your student, the “how was your lesson?” question is often a loaded one. It can cause them to assess themselves as a rider and without the ability to explain what they did well; this simple question can erode a rider’s confidence as they try to examine and then to convey “how they rode”.

To compound the problem, when a rider is unhappy or confused about how they performed, what started out as a friendly “how was your day?” type conversation can turn into a “why am I (or you) paying for this?” argument, during which your student must defend their largely inexplicable and expensive sport to their family or friends. “ read more…

So even if you don’t subscribe to LaRaedo and find out how easy it is to stay connected with your customers, be sure to take the time TODAY and let you customers know how much you appreciate them and how well they are progressing.

Remember that keeping your current customers happy is one of the most effective ways of obtaining new customers. What ways do you use to keep everyone informed of their riding skills and how well you cared for their horse today?

Not too long ago I offered a contest for all horse boarders to celebrate why their boarding farm was the best. I vowed to write another contest post for all the farm owners to talk up their great horse boarders.

This contest will run for one week, starting April 6 and running through midnight of April 13 (EST). The winner will be selected from those farm owners leaving the most unique and genuine comments about their horse boarders.

The winning farm owner will receive an $25 gift certificate to Amazon.com.

It requires a great dedication and responsibility to own a horse and participate in the sport of horsemanship. I have seen from my experience as a horse boarder that there are various types of horse owners.

I’d like you to share with us the wonderful experiences that you have enjoyed with your boarders. Recall those memories that made you feel that running a horse farm and caring for other people’s horses is all worthwhile.

What makes running a horse business worth it to you? Who do you recall that just jumps out at you and makes you say to yourself “Yes, this was the reason I went into this business”.

So leave your comments below. I look forward to reading and Good Luck on the contest.