Equine Business Management: Book Four (Essential Equine Studies)

Fantastically helpful-thank you. Helping me to understand how to set up an equine business of any kind.Thank yoou so much. Exceptional book.

Very good quality, very informative with questions and tips. Nice paper and clear wording, professionally written and helped lots with college work!

Mention horses, money and new business together in the same sentence, and even your most loyal friend may just question your sanity. Few people - not just horsemen and women - when confronted by the need to account to the taxman for every last penny, relish the prospect of time `wasted' in the office totting and tallying; demands for legible financial records and cashflow planning reports will have many frantic to escape. Add in the intricacies of VAT, Employment law, and risk assessments, and you can see why many still adopt the cardboard box system of filing, free child-labour and espouse the seat-of-pants method of flying to run their business.However, as the responsibilities of accounting and accountability increase, new enterprises need to be built on strong, well-designed foundations to survive, and older businesses need to shape up; this is where this new publication comes into its own. Intended for degree-course college students to grasp what is required in the outside world, this book serves very well as an excellent resource for any individual considering starting a new venture. Whilst directed initially at the management of new equine-related businesses, the greater proportion of the advised principles and practices are equally transferrable to a new or existing business in almost any area of commerce.Some people may already be familiar with much of the business-related vocabulary, but an extensive glossary helps dispel much of the thick fog shrouding utterances by even the greyest-suited of accountants. The book is clearly structured, and succeeds in unhurriedly ushering the reader through the various aspects that should be considered when going into business for the first time - from the most basic considerations when identifying what to sell, to whom and for how much, through drawing up a business plan, preparing initial and longer-term figures and costings, and raising initial finances. Progressive analyses of skills, markets and risks are encouraged, and the general feeling is of it having been written by someone who really knows the pitfalls to be encountered and avoided. A fledgling business owner would be well equipped to meet their financier if the suggested steps were followed as methodically and comprehensively as they have been detailed.The chapter on recommended financial records is comprehensive; many are shown to be simple and straightforward in their maintenance, with others a little more daunting if numbers have never been your strong point. Nevertheless, the author successfully justifies the need for each by explaining their role within the larger structure of the accounts, and uses carefully annotated examples to talk through each suggestion. Interestingly, there is no insistence that the computerisation of everything is essential, so for those for whom spreadsheets are still a way of making a bed, this book still has a great deal to offer. Although it is made clear that computers, specialist software and book-keepers will generally make your life easier by reducing repetition and workload, many of the printed examples are laid out as though bound ledgers are being used, and will look pleasingly familiar to the technophobe.Ever a daunting subject for the small business to consider, the author hugely demystifies VAT. Although many may never have to become involved with it, her clarification is most helpful, and the illustrative tables succeed in being very understandable. Whilst aiming to be as current as possible, the author also reminds us that regulations change and that further advice should be sought, citing various useful resources for further reading. She repeats this advice when addressing the matter of Employment, its associated law, endless acronyms and triplicate numbered forms, all of which she covers in a thoroughly embracive manner. A small business may take some while to grow to a level where practice of this advice is likely, but to have a detailed insight into the implications for a business even at its earliest age is very beneficial for planning growth. One of those `buzz' topics - Health and Safety - rears its grizzly head in the final chapter, and is dealt with extremely competently. It is clearly an area into which the author has put extensive work and no stone is left unturned, providing a very valuable headstart for many having to tackle this aspect.It is clear, in the current economic climate, that one cannot afford to be dismissive of the need to incorporate and follow best practice in any business, new or old. This book serves as a constructive and instructive manual written in a methodical and confidence inspiring style. Following its content to the letter may not guarantee success, but it will remove many of the causes of failure by highlighting areas that might pass the `average' person by.

I used this book to help me write a business plan for a hypothetical business idea as part of my Equine Studies Foundation Degree.The book was extremely useful in explaining new vocabulary and showing examples of balance sheets, profit and loss accounts and cash flow forecasts.