When Cicero, Ind., farrier Cody Bogard graduated from shoeing school a little over a decade ago, his mentors assured him that he didn’t need to worry about getting clients. He would have more work than he could handle in a couple of years if he did two things: show up on time and return phone calls.

“The only problem with that plan,” Bogard says, “is the phone has to ring first.”

Bogard’s first year out of horseshoeing school, he was one of six new farriers in Hamilton County — an area with a horse population of about 4,000. As a result, business was a little slower than he expected. Bogard felt fortunate to know established farriers who would let him ride along or share a client here and there. But he also knew waiting for the phone to ring was not a business plan —and he would need to do some marketing to grow his client base. Establishing a business plan early on and hiring a dedicated marketing person helped Bogard focus more on shoeing and less on social media.

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