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Hello Welcome to yours2share's March 2010 newsletter. Reservations systems Successful horse sharing Plus a selection of recent ads to whet your appetite. Reservations systems Most private syndicates quickly find they need some kind of reservation system so that people can easily see who and when partners are using the shared asset. If they have an arrangement where free time can be booked on a first come basis, then they need the system to enable them to make the reservation too. Ideally this should all be on-line so everyone can access it. Over the last couple of months several on-line reservation systems have come to my attention, so I thought I’d let you know about the three that look the most interesting. The first is My Reservations which has been created by Bill Hosie, a yours2share member. Bill has shares in both a light aircraft and a boat, so he has a good understanding of the requirements. The system can either be slotted into your own website (many syndicates have a website about their boat, plane etc), or can be a standalone system hosted by My Reservations. I’ve had a play with the demo. For £45 a year, this gives you all the basic functionality you need for a straightforward syndicate and it’s very easy to use. Then I stumbled upon Divvy which is free to use and appears to allow lots of flexibility and sophistication. You can manage reservations on multiple items, and can take payment with reservations. I’ve also had a play with Divvy and set up a reservation system for a client who wanted a system to handle booking at several cottages. Because it is so flexible, it is a bit harder to understand. For a straightforward syndicate, it could be overkill and a bit frustrating if your computer skills aren’t too great. Finally I heard some good reports about Booking Bug so I had a look. This looks like the most sophisticated system of all and costs the most at £10/month for the basic package. This looks like it has all the functionality of Divvy and more, but has a simpler user interface. I haven’t played with the system, but what I could see of the website looked straightforward. As well as the basic package which would suit a private syndicate, there are business packages suitable for a whole range of booking and reservation requirements. There are also several more booking systems designed specifically for sharing aircraft and I’m sure lots more for the hotel and bed and breakfast/holiday lettings market, but these three are some of the best I’ve seen that would work for a wide range of shared assets. If you’ve used any other system and have views, good or bad, please let me know, either by replying to this email, or by commenting on my blog post about reservation systems. Sharing horses yours2share now has well over 300 horse share ads, from all over the UK from Devon to Ayrshire and Cardiff to Surrey (lots and lots there!) I’ve recently spoken to several people who have successfully found sharers through yours2share. I’ve also spoken to a few who have found a sharer, it’s worked well for a while, and then the arrangement has ended and they are back advertising again. In some cases this is because circumstances changed, but in a couple of cases, it was because the owner of the horse was unhappy with some aspect of the sharer, and in both cases one factor was that the sharer simply didn’t turn up sometimes. If you are going to share your adored equine friend, I strongly suggest that you do two things. Firstly make sure the person is suitable. This doesn’t just mean that their riding skills and knowledge of horses are sufficient; it also means are they reliable? Will they turn up on a grey Wednesday in November when it’s pouring with rain? If they have agreed to do some duties in lieu of payment, will they conscientiously do this every said wet Wednesday? You don’t need to take their word for it, ask for two or three references: from an employer, teacher, previous owner of a horse they have shared. And then ring them up. You can tell a great deal from a simple phone call, much can be gleaned from what isn’t said. If your prospective sharer is under 18, call (and preferably meet) their parents and make sure that they know about, and are happy with, the arrangement. Again this will also help you to acquire that warm happy feeling, or not. Secondly, spend some time discussing how the sharing arrangement will work, in detail, and then write down everything you have discussed in an agreement. Here are some of the things you need to discuss. Ideally this is proper contract; you can buy a template contract from our friends NetLawman. But even if it is just a statement of all the key points you’ve agreed which is signed and dated by you both, this is better than nothing. In effect the written agreement is proof that you’ve thought it all through and agreed how you will do things. It means that you are much more likely to have flushed out any misunderstandings. Do these two simple things and your horse sharing arrangement is much more likely to be successful. Ex Race Horse For Share, Billericay, Essex Horse sharer wanted, Nutley/Ashdown Forest, Sussex Experienced horse sharers required, Much Hadham, Hertfordshire And finally, here are a few of yours2share's recent ads that I really like. Selected ads are entirely my choice, but the quality of the pictures is the key factor. Remember this if you are posting an ad!

1/8 share, 3 bedroom semi-detached villa in Marbella golf resort, Spain Sailing worldwide, 10 memberships available, Staniel Cay, Exuma, Bahamas 1/7th share in a Socata TB20 for sale, Leicester, Leicestershire 1/2 share, LEGEND 29.5, Brighton Marina, Sussex Share gardens and allotments to grow fruit and vegetables 1/4 share Brand New Sealine SC35, Gosport, Hampshire Sea house resort community, equity share, St. Lucia's Marigot Bay, Caribbean Helicopter share, new group, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire Double bedroom, Monday-Friday rental, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire

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