Work life balance. I'm doing it wrong.

Got me there. The last one which turned out to be nothing more than the horse was being worked to hard on the hard ground did get told that if the horse can stand and eat comfortabley it is not an emergency. I do need to get better at educating some of my clients though.

Do you have any tips for the best way to do this? please?

wait few days before going. most of the times horses will live. confuse owners; ask them to test digital pulse, if the horse is nodding while being lunged, anything. make them do something before you´re willing to go there, and all of a sudden there´s no rush. and those few that do everything you asked them to do are worth visiting

thanks that is helpful,

Give each client a written copy of your service policy. The best way to do that is to mail out a newsletter. Start by thanking them for their business. Then explain how after reviewing your business plan you realize you need to increase your fees. Then spell out your service policy. So in one letter you express your gratitude, give yourself a raise, and lay down the law.

Dam!! Are you people that nice all the time. My advice is to take up heavy drinking after hours . Its a lot easier to tell ya clients to bugger off & get a Fricken life . Get an answering machine. Have your after hours message that they wont leave a message. Mines City morgue you kill-em we chill- em. If their dumb enough to leave a message.Well I'm not ringing them back .Any bleeding hearts wanting to chew ya ear off for a good 1/2 hour on the does & don'ts of their horsy . Piss them off. If they start telling you how to shoe the bloody horse. Tell them they should buy some tools & shoe the bloody horses them self . If they keep going on about it. Then just pack up ya tools get in ya ute & drive off on the basted, it saves your sanity. If ya wont to be a horse owners lackey for the rest of ya days then bend over backwards for them. But I don't . Stuff the lot of them I say . My motto is get them on grab their money. My phone never stops ringing & they all know I'm the biggest A hole going .

Gota agree with George about Jack. The other benefit to this system is that it's really fun. When a client whined about the cost of her horses, I just started loading up the tools I had out and said, " well your going to save a ton of money today", and drove off.
Another aspect, is when you get into a conflict and say that they can just get someone else to do their horses, most of the time they'll back down and become one of your best stops.
One way to raise your fees is to tell your customer that the fee is more now.

This may be redundant but

All people have a permanent thought in their head that never goes away-"except for me".

People DO change their tune when they find out they're expendable.

Sometimes I have to block in times on my calender that are Not negotiable-your blocks of time that are yours and yours alone , and need no excuse to any caller, just I can't do it then. Put your own time off on your calender first, then schedule around it.

My favorite thing to say to women who complain about my prices...

Me: Where do you get your hair done?
Them: Oh at _____ Salon
M: really? Super Cuts can do the same thing for like $12.50 why don't you go there?
T: Well..... (awkward laugh)

Gets their attention and makes a point...yes there are cheaper places for hair cuts...and guys whackin' and tackin' for $60 for a full set of shoes...but that doesn't make it worth the "great deal"

Thanks guys( and Karen) that is certainly some perspective I wasn't coming up with myself.
Much appreciated ... all of it.
Thanks

Ya Need a nice bloke Alicia that's ya problem . Then ya wouldn't have time to be buggerising around all day every day with all them painfully dull dumb arse horse owners. That's no life for a pretty girl wasting it away on a bunch of ungrateful's. That will never be grateful. Horse owners are dysfunctional selfish F###s no two ways about it. You only get one life girl & time marches on. So don't waste it all up on entertaining cock heads.

I've always thought horse owners were about the goofiest bunch around, except for someone who would crawl under those horses with hot metal and sharp objects.

Got a bloke Jack. That is really why my lack of free time has been bugging me. I don't want to wait for ever to spend some time with him.

I can't speak for jack, of course, but he may have meant to say "Ya Need a nice rich bloke......"

Nooners in the break room. Awesome.

A rich bloke may have made the day to day easier but perhaps not worth while.

You can cry more comfortably in a Mercedes than on a bicycle.