Although it may take some time to initially set up the program (entering clients, horses, your services list, etc.), a good computer software program can save you significant amounts of time every week, with an additional time savings at tax preparation time. 

Forge Ahead by Backroads Data is the farrier software program that is used throughout this article as an example of what a software program can do to make your shoeing business more efficient.

1 Eliminate Repetition.

Make sure that names, addresses, prices, etc. are only typed once into a computer software program. As an example, wherever you need to specify which client, which horse, which service or price, a software system should present you with a drop-down list and you simply click on the one that you need. In addition to saving time, this eliminates typing errors and makes your work consistent. Since you only type “Aluminum shoes — 4” one time and then select it wherever necessary, it always looks the same.

2 Accessible Information.

Many people, and even some software pro­grams, consider chores like billing for work completed and scheduling future work as separate tasks. While in a sense they are, there is important information from one that can make the other easier to do and a computer program should facilitate these opportunities. With the Forge Ahead program, the task of creating a bill for work performed on a horse automatically updates the horse’s “Last Visit” date. That date is used when scheduling to inform you…