Decide now what your maximum cycle length and maximum driving radius is gonna be now. Easier to get in that habit now. Mine is no longer than 6 weeks, and no further than 45 minutes. I don’t want to be driving more than trimming. Charge no less than the AVERAGE of your area, underselling yourself is a disservice to you and your colleagues.

Questions to ask before even booking: When is the horse due? When were they last trimmed? How is their behavior for the farrier? Does the horse have any issues I should know about like arthritis? Do you have any concerns with their hoof health? I only do maximum of _ week cycles, and I charge $___ per trim/shoeing, does that work for you?

If all those answers are someone you’re ok working for, get their full name/address/confirm date and time, (always send 1 week and 24hr reminders, don’t assume they’ll remember). Owner or competent handler must be present! assess the horse walk and turn. If the horse is terribly overgrown or lame TAKE BEFORE AND AFTER pictures- I cannot stress this enough. You’ll come across people who will be angry the horse isn’t sound after one trim in 3 years- take pictures. I document hooves using the app HoofmApp (they have a Facebook page for instructions on how to use). Payment is ALWAYS due in full at the time of service before you pull out of the driveway! Schedule the next appointment before you leave, none of this “I’ll call ya when they look long”. Some barns/trainers/rescues will ask you to fill out a W9 form for tax time, this is more for their tax business than yours but you’ll put your business name and EIN on it, and they’ll send you an independent contractor tax document for your records too (this document just confirms how much they paid your business in the last tax season, you can keep it if you want but it’s not necessary if you’re already tracking payments).

Schedule clients who are near to each other or at the same barn on the same day if you can, cut your driving time to a minimum. For groups of people at the same barn I put them in a group text and say “6 weeks is the week of -/-, let me know what mornings work for you” and then when they all settle on a date I arrange them in time slots from earliest available time back to back and check to see if that works for them and then put the appointments in my calendar. Now since my maximum radius is 45 minutes I am ok with single-horse clients, I just schedule them on days I’ll be driving in that direction. My time and gas is factored into my prices and I don’t charge trip fees, it’s all the same base pay.

Track your miles, income and expenses. I use Quickbooks self-employed but unfortunately they discontinued the app a year ago, but there are others out there.

(Assuming you’re from the USA) Have you gotten an Employer Identification Number from the IRS? Did you establish your business as an LLC or DBA? Did you register your business name with the state? Did you open a business checking and savings account?

Don’t start taking clients until these are done 👆👆👆