Think Like A CEO: Three Weekly Habits That Will Grow Your Equestrian Business
- Nicola Kinnard-Comedie MSc, BHSAI Int. SM | NKC Equestrian Training
- 7 days ago
- 4 min read
Running an equestrian business has challenges, and one of the biggest shifts required from a business owner is from a ‘hobby job’ mentality to thinking like, and behaving like a CEO or business leader.
Now before you picture someone sitting in a corporate office wearing a suit, that's not what I mean.
Being the CEO simply means taking responsibility for leading your business, rather than just delivering the service. It means being in the driving seat, and not letting your business drive you.
Whether you're an equine bodyworker, riding instructor, saddler, photographer, trainer, real estate agent or tack shop owner, your business needs someone spending time working on it—not just in it.
Here are three simple CEO habits that can make a huge difference.
1. Your Big 5 Actions for Each Week
You most likely have a ‘to do list’ as long as your arm, and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the number of tasks on your plate. It’s also very easy to fill an entire week with jobs that feel productive but don't actually generate any income.
Replying to emails.
Tidying the office.
Reorganizing your website.
Designing another logo.
Colour-coding your diary.
These tasks all have their place, but they aren't usually what grows your business.
Instead try focusing on a ‘big 3’ or a ‘big 5’ actions for the week. What actions are going to move the needle forward in my business? What 3 or 5 actions are going to generate revenue?
For example, these could be:
Contacting five previous clients who haven't booked recently.
Recording an educational video answering a question you hear every day.
Meeting with a local vet or another equestrian professional to build referral relationships.
Following up every outstanding enquiry.
Inviting past clients onto a new clinic or program.
If those three things get done, you've moved your business forward—even if the rest of your to-do list isn't perfect.
2. Hold a Weekly CEO Meeting... With Yourself
One of the most valuable appointments in my diary is the meeting that nobody else attends.
Every week I spend around 30 minutes reviewing the business, and I have a meeting with myself.
Sometimes this is literally in my car whilst I wait to collect my children from school, sometimes I take myself to a beautiful cafe or restaurant. Your environment can really help you focus and direct your energy, but also make this work for you!
No phone.
No clients.
No distractions.
Just thinking time.
I ask myself three simple questions:
What worked well this week?
What didn’t work well?
What am I taking forward to next week?
I’ll use this time to look at my scorecard which breaks down big goals into week by week tangible actions. This means I’m looking at revenue, marketing and sales in one go.
Most equestrian business owners don't have a strategy problem.
They have a thinking-time problem.
We're so busy doing that we never stop to analyse what's actually working.
Think of it like reviewing a post competition performance. Whether it’s on the drive home from an event, or the days after you’d reflect on what went well and what could improve next time. Your business deserves exactly the same attention.
3. Let AI Give You Feedback
AI is an amazing tool for business growth, and one way I use tools like Claude or ChatGPT is to review launches, promotions, clinics or at the end of a month.
As equestrian business owners we aren’t robots. We have emotions and feelings, and not everything is smooth sailing all the time. is just for writing social media posts.
With the right prompts AI can look at weak areas, or help you to understand why results might not have been consistent. Within minutes AI can often spot patterns that might have taken hours to identify yourself.
AI won't replace your experience, your intuition or your knowledge of horses.
But it can become an incredibly useful thinking partner that helps you make better decisions, faster.
Final Thoughts
The most successful equestrian businesses aren't necessarily run by the people who work the longest hours.
They're run by the people who regularly step back, think strategically and lead their business like a CEO.
This week, challenge yourself to adopt just these three habits:
Identify three revenue-generating activities.
Hold a weekly CEO meeting with yourself.
Use AI to review and improve one aspect of your business.
Small habits, repeated consistently, create extraordinary businesses.
After all, horses improve through consistent training—not one perfect session. Business works exactly the same way.
Nicola Kinnard-Comedie
(Msc, BHSAI Int. SM)
Nicola is the owner and founder of NKC Equestrian Training, delivering horse care training to horse owners and business and mindset coaching to equine practitioners.
Nicola is a qualified riding instructor and has over 20 years industry experience, and now uses her coaching skills to assist equine practitioners. Nicola decided to combine her experience of equestrian science, sales and marketing, and teach this to others. Nicola works with veterinary physiotherapists, massage therapists, osteopaths and other equestrians across the world to help them build their dream business. Nicola's work focuses on harnessing the power of your mindset, together with cutting edge marketing strategies to support equestrian business owners to realise the business of their dreams.
You can find out more about Nicola here: www.nkcequestrian.com
This article is from the August 2026 issue of Equine Business Magazine
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