Equestrian Entrepreneur Q&A: India Wilkinson Answers Your Questions (June Issue)

Question:

How do you stay motivated when running a business? Some days are slow, and I'm finding it hard to get excited about my business on those days.

- (anonymous)

India’s Answer:

Such a great question, and I think every business owner deals with staying motivated, especially on the days where it doesn't seem like anything is happening. Believe it or not - motivation is not the key to success - it's discipline. If you depend on motivation to build your business - you will find that it's going to be sporadic and based on emotion. So many things can affect motivation - personal/family issues, website/ordering glitches, customer's buying habits etc. If you implement a disciplined approach to your business - the consistency is what will pay off over time and also create good habits. Scheduling time (and sticking to it) for income producing activities (you will have to determine what those are), social media, customer reach outs, thank you notes, creating content, photo shoots of products/horses/services, working on testimonials, Google business site and reviews, etc. You will find that being super disciplined in your approach to growing your business will result in feeling very accomplished - nothing better than checking things off your list! On those slow days - I give extra time to the things I can control like pre-scheduling social media posts, creating reels, following up with clients etc. I always appreciate those days because when things are crazy again, and I don't have time to do them - they are already done. I love this quote, "Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments." - Jim Rohn.

Question:

How much time should I spend looking at my competitors' social media/websites/etc? I find myself going down a rabbit hole once I get started and waste a lot of time - should I worry about my competitors?

- (anonymous)

India’s Answer:

Also a great question, and something everyone deals with in business - thank you for asking this. It's super tempting to be obsessive over what the competition is doing, but it is not productive at all. In fact, it can be destructive because it can start to make you question things about your own business. I experienced this myself when someone created a business very similar to Mane Street Market and were mimicking my posts on social and actually directly going after my customers. After about a day of freaking out - I decided that I was going to block them on social so that I couldn't even see their posts. I remembered a Masterclass that I watched with Sara Blakely (inventor of Spanx) and she talked about competitors and copy-cat companies. "The outward focus on comparing what others are doing or trying to do is counterproductive. The better approach is to focus on your consumer and provide them with a better experience and product." I literally just turned off the noise in my head and got back to work, and it's been fine ever since - I have no idea what that company is doing or if it's still around.

I do think it's a good idea to spend a little bit of time each week looking at websites and social media sites for businesses that you admire, even if they are in your own field. You can learn a lot from what others are doing and maybe gain some inspiration for your own business. Put a timer on it though - maybe 30 minutes once a week and use it for "business research" and take notes of things you like and maybe things you see that you could use to improve your own customer experience.

*send your questions to support@manestreetmarket.com

India and Justin

India Wilkinson

Owner of Mane Street Market

India is a lifelong horse owner/competitor and has decades of experience in the marketing/sales industry, with the last 15 years specifically in the equestrian marketing arena. India offers her expertise in helping sellers market their sales horses and buyers find their new equine partner through Mane Street Market. Her vision is to match up buyers and sellers on a premium online platform.

Please visit www.manestreetmarket.com and/or download the free Mane Street Market app to see our available sales horses. Be sure and reach out to India at support@manestreetmarket.com if you have questions about marketing your sales horse or equine service.

This article is from the June issue of Equine Business Magazine