The traditional view of a working stable conjures up images of a physical, typically hands-on business that has not changed much over the years. While there are still few futuristic inventions for the thankless tasks of mucking out and little to do the jobs on those cold winter mornings for you, many stables are finding management much easier with the investment in new technologies. This has managed to revolutionise productivity. Below, we discuss some ways you can employ tech to improve productivity in your stable.
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Smart Barn Apps
Most homeowners will be familiar with the concept of a smart home. This is a building which has its main systems controlled via mobile technology, usually a device or phone application. The benefits are that many systems can be automated or done remotely, often saving time and money. You can find plenty of advice on how to design one at https://www.homebuilding.co.uk/advice/how-to-design-a-smart-home.
The uses for these in barns and stables are practically endless and may go some way to easing up the aforementioned thankless tasks on cold winter mornings. Temperatures can be controlled remotely, but more attractive is the prospect of cutting down on day-to-day administration. Schedules for feeding and training can be automated and even the allocation of stalls within stables is possible.
More vital for larger stables is that multiple people can connect. This ensures communication is smoother and allows you more time to concentrate on tending to your animals. All of this can have a marked increase on productivity.
Finding Investor and Buyer Assistance
Having an online presence allows you access to a worldwide audience. This can be both a blessing and a curse as you are now competing on a much bigger scale. While social media and marketing are one important part, there are also opportunities open to entrepreneurial stable owners you may not find in other niches.
While the concept of a racing syndicate is nothing new, the ways to become part of it have changed. Websites such as https://raceshare.com/ have democratized ownership, taking syndicacy to a wider audience. This site allows people to invest in horses for a lower entry cost. As a stable owner, you can increase productivity by connecting to their dedicated buying teams. They tend to spend around £80,000 on each horse. This direct relationship can save you the time spent sourcing buyers and clients, going straight to the source.
GPS Tracking
For those who let their horses roam over large expanses of land and fields, then GPS tracking can save you a lot of time. By attaching a short tracker to the horse, you can map its location making it easy to find them when the time comes for it to return to the stable.
These trackers can also increase security. With the addition of geofences, you can create alerts that are triggered once the horse moves beyond your boundaries. This is a great tool should you be a victim of theft. Wherever the animal is taken, as long as the tracker stays attached you will be able to follow it. There was an increase in rural theft in the United Kingdom last year of over 20% according to https://crimestoppers-uk.org/news-campaigns/campaigns/rural-crime-2023#:~:text=Rural%20crime%20impacts%20rural%20residents,an%20estimated%20%C2%A349.5m., so this is something you really can not afford to miss.
There are many more uses and technology is bound to bring additional changes. Some of these tips will be more useful than others depending on the size of your business and its goals. However, even just a few of these technologies should help make running a stable easier or contribute to increased efficiency and productivity.