In growing your equine assisted business...there is the foundational work that once laid, can make growing and scaling far easier.
For instance, when you began - you didn't just obtain horses and start with inviting people over to do the work, or at least I hope you didn't. You went through training to learn HOW to partner humans with horses for transformational outcomes. There was foundational work to learn and then polishing that work through application takes time and focus.
Growing and scaling your business with horses is the same - it requires some learning and application as well.
The starting point is the clarity in your focus so that marketing and garnering clients is easier. We began the 90 Day Growth And Profits program this week and helped equine assisted practitioners begin a new trajectory of clarity and success. They, like me in the beginning, had some work to do in getting clear about where to focus first.
About clarity...
If you said to me, "Lora, everyone can benefit from working with horses." You would not get an argument from me at all. I could not agree more. However, if you take the approach of marketing to everyone - you might as well market to no one.
Why?
Because the messaging gets too watered down and vague. It gets confusing about what happens and who specifically it is for. Confusion doesn't sell.
There are three main points to clarify when considering your niche - the group of people you want to work with. A niche is NOT a demographic.
According to Dr Google, a demographic is defined as the statistical characteristics of human populations (such as age or income) used especially to identify markets.
When getting clear about growing your business ~
To help you get started and tap into flow - does the content you are offering with the horses juice you? Or are you chasing money? Chasing money will leave you doing just that...chasing. You want to do work that engages you. Your energy in the work you do matters. Grinding into doing work that you either don't care for or have much knowledge in is going to leave you frustrated and drained. The people you want to help will feel your lack of energy in the work as well.
Who is that content for, specifically? Remember, this is not a demographic. It is a cross-section of people that have a situationally specific problem. A demographic may emerge within this cross-section of people.
What are the problems your content solves?
What is the unique process with horses that you take the people through in solving those specific problems?
During class, it was discovered that some were wanting to serve multiple populations and it included the focus of wanting to serve the business community because there is more money there.
Let's have a closer look - if you wish to serve at risk youth, veterans, first responders and corporations...how do you effectively market to them? Sending one flier to one group and another flier to another group is throwing good effort at struggling.
The truth of the matter is this - the more you narrow down the WHO you serve, the more people you serve and the more money you make.
WHY?
Because your message gets crystal clear to the point that the person you want to work with connects with your marketing to the point of feeling like you are in their head.
Your work becomes rich and productive because you are focused on a specific cluster of issues. The potential and possibilities here offer you the ability to create more content because you are getting clear on what your audience needs beyond the intial problem(s) they began with.
I am not saying you can't serve more than one niche - what I am saying here is - get one up and self-sustaining before picking up another one.
The other worry I often hear is the fear of leaving people that need help behind.
What if that weren't true?
What if you actually attracted more people in because you were crystal clear about the work you do with horses?
There is further foundational work like pricing, programming, processes, and branding. The deeper aspects that make the growth and scaling to new heights far easier once in place. All topics for future blogs. :)
COMFORT ZONE -> FEAR ZONE -> LEARNING ZONE -> GROWTH ZONE
Consider this when growing your business - most live in the comfort zone. That area where it is familiar, even if it isn't what is desired, it is predictable. When you reach for more, you enter the fear zone of uncertainty - KEEP GOING - choose the learning zone - learn HOW to grow your business and you will enter the growth zone.
Find someone that can pull you forward and hold you accountable to moving on through the fear zone. The growth zone is so much fun!
There is still time to join the 90 Day Growth And Profits program to set your business with horses on a new trajectory of clarity and success. Check it out here.