2020 was a hard year for the vast majority of us, and I believe most of us are hoping 2021 will be better. Many of us, including our company, have been affected by the pandemic directly through a change or loss of work or at least a change in routine. While the new year will not immediately change anything, it is always nice to have a fresh start and review the past year. At our end of the year meeting, we get to sit down and discuss how the year went, if goals were met, and what goals we have for the upcoming year. This past year of course was a bit harder, but even so, there were some bright sides to the year.
Positives:
- Lots of continuing education from attending both the International Hoof Care Summit and the American Farrier’s Association as well as several online webinars and of course countless hours studying
- Kia was able to speak to farriers about marketing through an online conference hosted by the American Farriers Journal
- We had 2 articles in the American Farriers Journal this year
- Business was actually fairly good most of the year as an essential worker
- We were able to provide about $30,000 worth of discounts to our clients
- Neither of us have been sick with COVID-19 yet
- We were able to make a donation to the Indiana Eventing Association in honor of each of our clients
- We were able to upgrade our rig
- We passed out candy to the community on Halloween
- Good friends helped get at least some horses done during challenging times
- Kia began learning to trim horses, and did a great job
Challenges:
- COVID-19
- Clinics, competitions, and horse shows cancelled
- In the middle of November, I ended up with a laceration on my right hand. What I thought would be a quick 2 weeks of healing turned into a month and a half of not being able to use my hand.
I have to thank everyone for being so patient with the lapse in scheduling during this difficult time. While we always try to stay on schedule and keep horses taken care of, there are unfortunately sometimes things that happen. The good news is that we are now beginning to reschedule as I am able to get back to work in at least some capacity.