2:12 minutes that turned into 13 modules
A yard manager opens Toolyte for the first time. She runs a farm with boarding, lessons and its own training work, managed until then with a calendar, notes and spreadsheets. Instead of filling in a form, she talks about what comes up. No preparation, no consultant.
What she said
I run a horse farm and I want to create feeding plans, hay, concentrate feed, mineral feed, monitor the water supply, stable and pasture management, machine servicing, pasture servicing, I want an overview of when I need to order bedding, straw or shavings and so on, manure disposal has to be organised, pasture care, fences, grass, parasite management, then health checks for the horses, recording vet appointments, vaccinations and deworming, scheduling the farrier, then I want to manage boarding contracts, write invoices, track payments, keep customer contacts up to date, organise insurance, meet official requirements, then keep documents and records, then I want to hand out tasks to my staff and organise cover for holidays and sick leave, then I generally want to coordinate riding lessons and appointments, a lesson schedule, assigning trainers, then organise use of the arena and the indoor school, plan competitions, courses and events, assign horses to lessons, document our own training work, then repairs to the stable, safety checks, then the hay delivery, feed orders, entering vet costs and insurance, wages, lease and rent and operating costs, so that I have an overview.
Which module came out of what
On the left is what was said. On the right, what became of it. Eighteen statements turned into 13 modules with 192 fields; topics mentioned more than once land in the same module.
- 1
I run a horse farm and I want to create feeding plans, hay, concentrate feed, mineral feed, monitor the water supply
- Feeding plan
Each type of feed becomes its own field in the "Feeding" group. The water check belongs to the "Checks" group.
- 2
stable and pasture management, machine servicing, pasture servicing
- Facility
- Machine
Stables, paddocks and arenas become records in the Facility module. Machine servicing gets a module of its own with service data.
- 3
I want an overview of when I need to order bedding, straw or shavings and so on
- Order
- Supplier
An order carries an order date and a delivery date and points to the supplier.
- 4
manure disposal has to be organised, pasture care, fences, grass, parasite management
- Facility
- Task
Recurring care lives in the facility’s "Care and checks" group. Individual jobs become tasks.
- 5
then health checks for the horses, recording vet appointments, vaccinations and deworming, scheduling the farrier
- Treatment
- Horse
Every treatment points to a horse and carries the "Next appointment" field. That is where the reminder comes from.
- 6
then I want to manage boarding contracts
- Contract
- Customer
The contract points to a customer and a horse and gets a start, an end and a scope of services.
- 7
writing invoices, tracking payments
- Booking
One module for income and expenses, with an amount and a due date.
- 8
keeping customer contacts up to date
- Customer
Contact details, status and responsibility in three field groups.
- 9
organising insurance, meeting official requirements
- Insurance
A policy and an official requirement are both records with a term. Hence one module with the "Valid until" field.
- 10
then keeping documents and records
- Treatment
- Contract
- Booking
- Insurance
No module of its own: records become a field group inside the module they belong to.
- 11
then I want to hand out tasks to my staff and organise cover for holidays and sick leave
- Task
Responsibility and cover become staff fields in the "Planning" group.
- 12
then I generally want to coordinate riding lessons and appointments, a lesson schedule, assigning trainers
- Appointment
One module for every appointment, with type, participants and trainer. No separate timetable.
- 13
then organising use of the arena and the indoor school
- Appointment
- Facility
The appointment points to the facility through its "Venue" field. Double bookings become visible.
- 14
planning competitions, courses and events
- Appointment
Competition, course and event are values in the "Type" field, not modules of their own.
- 15
assigning horses to lessons, documenting our own training work
- Horse
Two yes/no fields on the horse: "Lesson horse" and "Training horse".
- 16
then repairs to the stable, safety checks
- Facility
- Task
The facility gets a "Safety" group. The individual repair becomes a task.
- 17
then the hay delivery, feed orders
- Order
- Supplier
The same modules as for bedding. Nothing new is added.
- 18
entering vet costs and insurance, wages, lease and rent and operating costs, so that I have an overview
- Booking
The cost types become values in the booking’s "Type" field.
Record your own voice message
You need no list and no preparation. Just talk about what comes up on your yard.