As part of last winter’s sixth annual International Hoof-Care Summit, two veteran farriers tackled two dozen of the most frequently asked questions concerning all aspects the footcare industry.

For the third year in a row, this “Point/Counterpoint” presentation session was among the highlights of this annual mid-winter event that is hosted by American Farriers Journal.

This latest unrehearsed and fast-paced session sparked a number of viewpoints for Summit attendees to evaluate for possible use in their own hoof-care business. In this article, Tom Curl of Vero Beach, Fla., and Mitch Taylor of the Kentucky Horseshoeing School in Mt. Eden, Ky., share their thoughts on the pricing and payment situation.

Q: Your accountant looked at your books and said you’ve got to put through a 7% price increase this year to keep from losing money. How will you get it done?

Taylor: One way to do this is by providing quality service. If you provide quality service and are professional about it, you can generally put through a price increase without difficulty once or twice a year. If you do this, a 7% increase shouldn’t seem like that much to your clients.

Curl: Recheck the numbers to make sure you really need to increase prices by this amount to keep from losing money. Even if you lose a couple of clients due to the 7% increase, you should be OK since the overall price boost will help.

Q: A long-time client owes you $675 and you know she’s having money problems…