Smartphones have become necessary tools for farriers. As shown in the 2014 Farrier Business Practices Survey, 63% of farriers use a smartphone as their preferred business management tool.

Most people use smartphones for common applications, including text, email, calendar, social media, navigation, calculations, games and search engines. However, there is a tremendous amount of computing power in smartphones that allow developers to provide more advanced services and information in the palm of the
user’s hand.

It is time to use these tools in case you own a smartphone and haven’t moved beyond Facebook and Candy Crush. These apps can improve your bottom line and the efficiency of your farrier practice. Most are available in your phone’s app store, but others may need to be purchased through a website. Many of these apps also can synchronize with desktop or tablet versions.

Farrier Business Management Apps (Prices Vary)

There are several farrier business management software programs with apps accessible through a smartphone available to farriers — Ambrit Software’s Farriers Manager, Backroads Data’s iForgeAhead and TTI Enterprises’ EEDS Farrier (read more about using these programs on Pages 34-37). The costs vary, and payment can range from a single payment to monthly. Access also varies. General accounting programs, such as QuickBooks, are also available as smartphone apps. One downside to these is that they require more customization that those specific for farriers and lack client record features.

Full disclosure, my husband, Matt Cooper, uses iForgeAhead for his farrier business software on his smartphone to…