In case you didn't know, I write several short posts like this each week on Instagram - check them out @diegofooter.

Someone asked me what advice I would give someone starting a farm business.

Below is what I came up with.

I broke it down into steps - order matters.

This is not the plan for getting farming tomorrow; it's more like the plan for getting farming next year.

The goal of these steps is to build experience, save money, and gain confidence while figuring out if you really want to do this, all while spending as little money as possible and making it easy to pivot. While this example is geared toward farmers, I think it would easily translate to any other business.

Maybe this comes across as too perfectly laid out. I get it. But it has to be better than winging it, maybe?

I have a feeling many people start at Step 15 and then have to go backward and figure out the rest on the fly while the financial clock is ticking.

I would love to hear what you all think about these steps and what might be missing or needs to be cut.

STEPS FOR STARTING A MARKET FARM (OR ANY OTHER BUSINESS) AS A BEGINNER

1. Practice - Start planning, growing, and tracking costs like a farm business. Get used to doing the necessary things.
   1. Use land you have access to and the least purchased equipment possible.
   2. If you don’t like what you are doing, you can quit with limited damage.
2. Volunteer at a farm. See some of the ins and outs of a professional operation.
   1. Do you like doing this type of work in this type of weather?
   2. If you don’t like what you are doing, you can quit with limited damage.
3. Take a live, in-person workshop. Get a comprehensive overview of everything it takes to run the business while having a chance to ask the instructor and other attendees as many questions as possible.
   1. An in-person workshop forces you to have skin in the game while having "mandatory" attendance, something most online workshops lack.
   2. If you don’t like what you are doing, you can quit the journey now with limited damage.
4. Work at a farm. See the day-to-day operations throughout the year.
   1. Ideally, for an entire season.
   2. If you don’t like what you are doing, you can quit with limited damage.
5. Start paying off bad debt -> credit cards. Prepare yourself financially if you decide to start a business.
6. Start building a savings buffer/business fund. Prepare yourself financially if you decide to start a business.
7. Sell something you grow. Most people have never sold anything.
8. Figure out where you can farm. How much land do you need, where is it, how much does it cost, how much work does it need?
9. Figure out when you can farm. When would the farming take place around the rest of your schedule?
   1. When could you start operations?
      1. Infrastructure build-out first, then grow, or at the same time?
      2. Growing - start growing when?
10. Market research. What does the local market look like?
    1. Demand
    2. Pricing
    3. Saturated Areas
    4. Popular Crops
    5. Where are the good markets?
    6. When is crop X being sold?
       1. When is everyone selling it?
       2. When is no one selling it?
11. Pick a farm style and farmer to emulate, and start building your system and plan based on that. Having a formula is helpful, but don’t hold the formula as absolute truth. Be prepared to adapt.
    1. Limit innovation and extreme sustainability measures at the beginning. Focus on starting a profitable business first.
12. Write a quick and dirty business plan. MVP - Minimum Viable Plan. A written plan forces you to think everything through. It also gives you a document you can give to others to critique.
    1. How much land do you have to work with? You don’t have to start growing on all of it in your first year.
    2. What are you growing?
    3. Create a starter crop plan considering successions.
    4. Where will you sell?
    5. What are the estimated costs?
    6. What does pricing look like?
    7. What are your estimated hours required per week at different points in the season?
    8. How much do you have to invest in the business?
       1. Are you allowed to add more?
       2. When could the business be profitable?
       3. When does the business have to be profitable?
    9. Financial Goals: 1. First-year sales goals.
    10. What are the absolutely necessary equipment and infracture you need to purchase?
    11. What does success look like in year one?
13. Discuss the plans with relevant stakeholders in your family. Is everyone on board with the time and financial commitment? Is everyone on board with their new roles?
14. Pay a farmer in your area or region to consult about your farm and business plan. Try to find holes and weak points in your plan.
15. Start growing - either as a business or a hobby. Learn by doing, not by not doing.
    1. Caution “learning” too much. Taking more classes, watching more videos, and reading more books is not progress.
16. Be prepared to adapt and pivot at every step along the way.

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I am pretty sure I missed some things. What's missing?

Let me know if you are new and want to see more content like this.

Diego

P.S. If this will resonate with someone, please share it.

Did you know I have several podcasts?

Carrot Cashflow here.

Farm Small Farm Smart here.

Farm Small Farm Smart Daily here.

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