Prepping for A Busy Season
No matter how long you’ve been in the industry, something that is true for many bodyworkers is that the winters are slower than warm weather seasons. Of course this doesn’t mean everyone abandons us and we have no clients, but there’s a clear difference for many of us between cold and warm weather client loads. This varies depending on how harsh or mild the winters are, what you do during the winter - whether or not you choose to be a snowbird - etc. Regardless, with the warmer weather coming, many of us are gearing up for clients to remember that we exist and flood our phones with scheduling requests as if they never missed a beat. What are some busy season prep recommendations I have? I’m so glad you asked…
Check-in with yourself
This is first because I actually do think it’s the most important. I honestly like to do this at least quarterly, though I’ve gotten pretty good about checking in with myself as often as I need to. It’s a good thing to do before a busy season kicks off. So wtf do I mean and how do you do it? I literally sit down with a notebook, think about how seasons have gone, what I want, what I need, and I make notes and plan ahead. First, I consider how the winter went. What did I do that worked, what did I enjoy, what’s my overall feeling going into this next season? Then, I think about the previous year’s busy season. What did I do that I loved, what worked, what didn’t, what did I dread, what did I get excited about, what was my overall feeling when the previous busy season was coming to a close? With this information, I can decide where my focus needs to be. Do I need to make it a slower season than last year’s? Do I need to hustle? What do I actually have the capacity for? All of it.
During this process, being kind to yourself is top priority. If you’re reviewing the winter and it kinda sucked financially or emotionally, that’s okay. Consider this exercise to be just checking in with data and planning, not an opportunity to kick yourself for mistakes or slow seasons or not working harder or whatever. Be kind, honor your feelings, and plan accordingly.
Make tentative plans
Pencil them in, sticky note them, make a to-do list, whatever your system is. It’s time to get working on a draft schedule to map out how to start your busy season. Consider which clients stretched out their schedules during the winter, who had been gone for the winter, who went MIA, etc. Look at last year’s schedule for these clients, and whether or not it was ideal for their horses. Then, pencil in what it would look like in action. This is a good time to actually reach out to them and talk with them about the changes - remind them that you exist, that you’re working on scheduling, and that you recommend xyz for their horse. While I don’t claim anyone in this industry needs to be a strict professional, I do recommend that these types of interactions come from a place of “authority.” By that, I mean rather than leaving it open or being like “if you think it’s best” or “just let me know whenever” or whatever other bullshit we love to say because we don’t want to be pushy, I like to go with something like this…
For routine clients: “Hey! I am working on my schedule to kick off spring. This time last year we had X on a biweekly maintenance schedule and it was perfect for him with that workload. I’d love to get him back to that routine so that you can start show season off right! I have [these dates] available, let me know what works for you!”
For clients who came to you after the warm weather last year: “Hey! I am working on my schedule to kick off spring. I know X’s schedule was lighter during the cold months, but because you plan to do xyz [show, more riding, conditioning, whatever], I recommend that we try [x maintenance schedule - biweekly, weekly, monthly, whatever]. I’ve found it works best as a maintenance routine for horses like X. I have [these dates] available, let me know what works for you!”
Reach out to new potential clients
This obviously depends on what your plans for the upcoming season are - do you want new clients? Can you easily take new clients on? If so, this step is for you. It’s time to reach out to trainers, barn owners, or potential horse owners. Post in FB groups for local horse owners. Remind your active clients if you have a referral discount. Plan show advertisements if you like to do that sort of thing. Etc. This isn’t a time where we swoop in and offer free services, but we can strategically discount things in order to bring in new clients. This may also be a season where you want to cast a wider net and travel a little. If so, decide how far, where you want to travel to, and what your plan and goal is for it. Work out how to make it happen!
Vehicle maintenance
I know it’s like an “lol idk when I cleaned my car or got an oil change last” kinda thing sometimes, but if my partner saw this and realized I didn’t add it to remind my bodyworker squad, I’d hear about it. So… Now is the time to show your car a little love. Run her through a car wash. Clean her out. Give her a good vacuum. Stock up on essentials - air freshies, hand wipes, sanitizer, napkins, snack bags, whatever. Get an oil change, and any other routine maintenance you may have skipped, put off, or not known about. We spend too much time in our cars not to take care of them - and if you’ve seen what my passenger side floorboard looks like, that’s not what I’m talking about! We don’t want to increase our chances of ending up stranded on the side of the road and losing our cars to days in the shop because we didn’t get maintenance done - especially as people who are always pushing maintenance for horses!
These are the things that I absolutely, without fail, do every time the warm weather hints at returning. Planning for a busy season is one thing, but because we ARE our businesses, it’s important that we consider ourselves first. Feelings are a factor when it comes to the work we do, and making sure we aren’t overbooked and overwhelmed or burnt out or just straight up miserable is the TOP priority. Everything else flows from there. Other than the vehicle maintenance, please don’t neglect your cars, you need them lol. If you’d like more of this, a specific checklist, or someone to brainstorm with for the upcoming season, send me an email! I have options and I’d love to help.