Most farriers know that if you work in the business of hoof care, your clients are not just horses but the people who own, ride and care for them. For as much work as you do on equine feet, your people skills are going to be where the rubber hits the road. If all things are equal — the better a farrier can understand clients (and employees) — the more successful a farrier’s business will be.

Through my work as an attorney, I’ve identified what I believe to be one of the biggest challenges facing business owners, particularly in service industries, and that is we are living in a multigenerational world. Right now, we have seven generations of humans that are alive and contributing to our population. Taking a one-size-fits-all approach to clients (and employees) will likely leave you frustrated and those you work with dissatisfied. The goal of this article is to help you better understand the differences between the generations you serve — and employ — why they matter, and how you can use that information to build a better business.

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Baby Boomers and Beyond

In basic terms, a “generation” is a group of people who were born around the same time; you might also call these groupings a “birth cohort.” Members of a generation will likely exhibit similar characteristics, preferences and values. The generations we are most familiar with include Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z (Figure 1).

High-level generalizations…