Four Lessons from Students Who Don’t Pay
Every riding instructor deals with this situation at one point or another. Default has become the rule rather than the exception, and there is nothing more frustrating than not getting paid for your work.
When students don’t pay for riding lessons, the whole system breaks down. This is especially true for riding instructors who depend on every payment to put food on the table—and in their horses’ buckets.
So how can riding instructors tactfully and effectively handle students who don’t pay?
I taught one student a few years ago whose mother always “forgot her checkbook” when she dropped her daughter at the barn. The girl was the sweetest thing you’ve ever met, enthusiastic about the horses and progressing steadily in lessons. However, I wound up teaching several lessons for free because her mother just didn’t pay up.
Finally, I got tired of asking politely for the money every week. I pulled the mother aside and explained, in courteous but firm tones, that if I didn’t receive payment in full by the following week, I would have to strike her daughter from my program.
I got the evil eye and a turned-up nose, but she had a check in my hands by the next day.
Lesson the First: Make Your Position Clear
Riding instruction, as I’ve mentioned several times on this web site, is no different from any other business venture. Clients (read: students) will walk all over you like rubber stall mats if you don’t make it clear that you expect payment.
It wasn’t until I figured out how to assert myself that I finally started getting paid what I was owed. Granted, you will occasionally find students who don’t pay regardless of which strong-arm tactics you pull out of your tack box, but as a rule, you’ve gotta stand up for yourself.
Unfortunately, I didn’t learn that particular tool until I’d set up my business as a riding instructor. It was quite a shock for my students when I finally started demanding payment for services rendered and providing consequences for students who didn’t pay.
Lesson the Second: Lay It All on the Line
When your students first show up at your facility and request riding lessons, it is a good idea to have a welcome packet prepared. This packet will contain all the information your students need to excel in your lessons, from the types of clothes they should wear to how you structure class.
This is a great time to make your payment policies known. You should include a document in your welcome packet that informs students of the price of lessons and when payments are due. Have each student (or student’s parent) sign a copy of this document to signify they understand your policies.
You can also set up the document as an agreement made between two parties. For example:
I, the Student, agree to always pay X amount for riding lessons by the first day of the month
This makes it very clear in advance that you expect a certain amount of money in the pocket of your breeches by a certain date. It could be a weekly amount payable on the student’s lesson day or some other structure, such as monthly in the example above.
Of course, telling your students when payment is due and actually receiving it are two different things. If your students believe they can skip a few payments without any consequences, they probably will. It’s human nature for people to see what they can get away with.
Lesson the Third: Establish Consequences
When I finally realized I wasn’t operating my riding instruction business like a professional, I decided I would take a page from the books of other entrepreneurs. In addition to having my students agree to pay me a certain amount on a certain date, I also created a late-payment policy to encourage timely remuneration.
Different riding instructors will have different policies, depending on their business preferences. I, for example, charge a $5 late fee for every day the payment is not made. After the tenth day, no more lessons will be given until payment is received. It’s very simple, and I don’t make exceptions.
Other riding instructors might charge a late fee in the form of a percentage of the total due, or perhaps you would prefer to charge a flat late fee regardless of how late the check is. This is your decision.
The problem is that some students will walk right through those consequences and still refuse to pay, which is why steadfast devotion to your own policies is essential.
Lesson the Fourth: Make No Exceptions
If your students know that, despite your payment policies, you’ll let them slide every once in a while, you’ll still have a problem. Don’t rely on the kindness of your students’ hearts to line your bank balance. Sorry, it doesn’t work.
Instead, hold your students to the payment policies set forth above. This is never a pleasant situation, but you have to decide right here and now that you deserve payment for services rendered.
Other Articles in the Series:
- Can Riding Instructors Make Money?
- The Rock Star’s Guide to Setting Fees
- Four Lessons from Students Who Don’t Pay
- The Secret to Increasing Riding Instructor Revenue
- Do You Make These Financial Mistakes?
- Warning: Do You Charge Too Little for Riding Lessons?
- Are You a Business Savvy Riding Instructor?
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