Create a Strong Business Plan For Long-term Success on Your Farm

By definition, farms are — or, more accurately, should be — treated as businesses. In one form or another, farmers produce a product, bring or send it to a market and get a paycheck in return for their toils. So doesn’t it make sense that economics, the Almighty Dollar and the financial bottom line should call the shots?

April 1, 2023 | Source: Eco Farming Daily | by Paul Dorrance

This is an excerpt from Paul’s book Farming Without Losing Your Hat, published by Acres U.S.A.
Reprinted with permission from the publisher.

In the beginning of farm entrepreneurship, there will come a time when you must turn your attention to educating those around you. I’m not talking about your built-in support network; those who would love you and cheer for you even if you were contemplating leaving your steady day job to join a nudist colony in Alaska. I’m talking more about those who will need a little time and a lot of convincing to come around to this cockamamie scheme you are planning, those who will think that starting a pasture-based livestock operation and marketing your products directly to consumers is crazier than your nudist colony idea. Think bank lenders and Farm Service Agency bureaucrats. They won’t be able to see your dream, much less help you fund it, unless you are able to put some concrete ideas and numbers on paper.