Ask Red Renchin why he’s been able to run a highly successful multi-farrier business and he’ll answer in one word: EFFICIENCY.

In 1969, Renchin started shoeing in northern Wisconsin after leaving the U.S. Air Force. Finding a limited amount of winter shoeing work, he soon moved to “greener pastures” in the southeastern Wisconsin area.

“When we later had a downswing in the economy around Milwaukee, some of my shoeing barns lost a few horses and that affected my income,” says the Mequon, Wis., farrier, who specializes in hunter and jumper work. “So I started driving to the Chicago area to shoe additional horses.

“My furthest account is 105 minutes away. If you want to shoe the good horses, sometimes you have to go to them.”

Today, he utilizes three or four employees in his multi-farrier shoeing business. They work together most of the time as a team, but they also go off in separate ways to shoe horses in several barns at the same time. Efficiency remains high as every piece of equipment is stored in the same place in each of two identically equipped trucks.

Keep Good Records

Renchin relies heavily on Clincher and Quick Books computer software for bookwork and scheduling. “It only takes me about an hour a week to do all my invoicing,” he says. “I’ve also found effective scheduling can make or break your shoeing business.

Renchin’s software programs provide cus tomer information, individual horse information, scheduling, billing, invoicing, financial statements, a record of bank…