Archive for the ‘Starting A New Business’ Category

Hi There…Horsey Gal here with a new first time learning experience!  What do you do when somebody wants you to repair a filthy dirty, coated with mud horse blanket without laundering it first?

I received a call from a lady that needed a blanket repaired.  She said it was only a little dirty, and it needed a new leg strap.  She suggested meeting at the local feed store so I could pick it up. Read the rest of this entry »

Hi there, HorseyGal here with some Great News!

Do you have blankets on your horses right now that have little knicks that you are afraid might turn into big rips? And then on top of that, you don’t have a spare blanket to use while you get the one with knicks repaired?

Well here’s the great news! I found this adhesive that you can use to glue the rip or knick together until spring when you can get it repaired.

I was looking for blanket repair supplies when I found this great stuff calledRambo Stormsure Blanket Repair Adhesive

It’s inexpensive, easy to use, and it seems to work really well. It’s something I would recommend in a pinch. If you want to give it a little added stability, you could glue a piece of fabric over the top of the rip. This would work if it’s an actual rip with a gap between the two edges. So what I would do is, glue the square piece of fabric down. Then glue around the edges to seal it. This might give the patch some added waterproofing rather than using duct tape.

And then in the Spring time, you can either sew the patch down yourself… or have it done by someone else.

If you want to take a look at it, I have added the link for you. It’s really affordable, and nice to have around the barn.
I would really take advantage of this little goody! Rather having your horse go without a blanket while you wash the blanket, and then dry it, and doing the repair, which could 2-3 days, you could glue the patch and be done until Spring.

Hope this helps, and I’m signing off for now. See Ya tomorrow!

Click Here to find out where I came up with the idea of starting my own profitable horse blanket repair business.

Hi All…HorseyGal here again, reporting to you live from my work room!  Let me tell you…I just love this new blanket repair business!

I’ve been telling friends how much fun it is going to different barns and meeting new people.  There is nothing better than being appreciated for fixing blankets that look like they are beyond repair!

If gives such a sense of accomplishment, and pride to make something look so good when you are done!  I think sewing has become a thing of the past because of how cheap clothes are to buy.

I learned to sew from my mom when I was really young.  She made all my clothes because “off the rack” clothes were too expensive.  In fact she teases me that she would hate to sew patches…and I say give me a patch over button holes and making sleeves fit any day!

So here I sit with the smell of clean horse blankets, and see the accomplishments I have made and how happy my customers will be when they see their dirty old blankets looking pretty darn good!

I would say the trickiest ones I have come up against are the ones that have ripped the belly surcingles off.  Because you have to remove some of the heavy webbing in order to reinforce it so you can reattach the surcingle strap.

Those take a little more time and more fabric for patching.  I charge accordingly.  But if it looks like the repair is going to be more than what the blanket is worth, I call the customer to make sure they want it repaired.  I only do this if it’s going to way too time consuming to fix it.

I’ve had one complaint so far, and that was that I had used black webbing to replace a leg strap on a blue baker blanket instead of a blue strap.  So that taught me I had better have a variety of webbing on hand so that everything matches.  When in doubt, match it!

Okay…I’m going to sign off for now.  I will keep you posted on the horse blanket repair business!

To learn more about starting a horse blanket repair business…click here.

HorseyGal here today to report what  a great day I had with my new blanket repair business.

I was able to get my new blankets washed and repaired and delivered to my very happy customers.  I really wanted to impress them and to make myself available for new business.

Well this barn manager was so impressed, that she immediately referred me to a friend of hers.  It’s a really well known barn in the area, and to get that barn as a customer is huge!

So I went by there on the way home, and stopped in and introduced myself and let her know that a friend had referred me.  She was so excited to hear there was a new horse blanket lady.  It’s so fun!

So she went around and gathered all the blankets hanging on the stalls that needed repairing and we tagged them and bagged them and got them into the car.

Wow…I couldn’t believe how easy that was!  So when I got home I counted another 15 blankets!

Okay…I know this is hard to believe, but really it is that simple!  Now tomorrow my intention is to go by a couple of the feedstores in town.

Karen explains how she got the feedstores excited about her work.  So that’s what I’m going to do…take a sample of my work in and show them what I do, and drop off some fliers for them to hand out.  Maybe I can talk them into being a dropoff spot for customers.  Hmmm….

If you would like to more about how to start your own blanket repair business…click here.

Bet you’re wondering what’s up with my new horse blanket repair business??

Well I went out scouting for barns today…and Leapin’ Lizards! I found a barn that was so anxious for me to pick up blankets.  They rounded up about 20 of them!

Okay…so I got my sewing machine, and I practiced using it.  I went out and got a heavy duty used washing machine just for the blankets.  I made a place where I can hang the blankets to dry.  I made my repair tags, and my fliers and had business cards made!

Then the barn manager that had given my first bunch of blankets was thrilled with the work I did!  So that’s why I went out scouting for more work!

20 blankets times 15.00 each to wash…hmmm let me do the math   $300.00 for washing and then the repairs will probably be around 15.00 to 20.00 for each blanket.  So that adds up to about $700.00 .  Now that I have had some practice, I can get the patches sewn on very quickly, and the harder repairs are going quickly too.

Karen mentioned in her book that she contracted with a local laundry to do all her blankets at one time.  She was doing about 50-60 blankets a week.

I might have to look into that…or find a laundry mat that wouldn’t mind me washing the blankets there.

She recommend asking first…because you’ll be more likely to build a good relationship with the owner by being upfront about what you are doing.

Well…I have blankets waiting for me…and a nice chunk of cash for 2 days work.

HorseyGal could end up being pretty well off, if she keeps this up!

Okay horsey friends…I hope you take action and look into what this business could mean for you.

Talk later!

HOW A STRESSED OUT MOM OF TWINS MADE $3500 PART-TIME AT HOME REPAIRING HORSE BLANKETS