Planning

In the opening session of a recent Annie’s Project Class I coordinated, we addressed the topic “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Farm Women.” It was a take-off modeled on Steven Covey’s (1992) book, “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.” In his book, Covey highlights the seven habits of great managers. I think this is a valuable read for any business person. Another great resource for Ag business entrepreneurs is “The E-Myth” a book by Michael Gerber. His book talks about how most of us believe we can succeed as entrepreneurs, when in reality most small businesses fail.

Nowhere does the old adage “failing to plan, is planning to fail” more applicable than when preparing to launch a new business enterprise or service company. Regardless of the greatness of your product, unless you carefully plan in advance how to operate a profitable, sustainable business, your business success will be limited. The goal of the Maryland Rural Enterprise Development Center is to help you succeed in that planning process and this is why we have launched a new tool, Assessing Your Farm Business Plan.

The first issue (July 2020) of the "Maryland Retail Products Producer News & Notes". In this issue Ginger shares the results of a survey that was conducted.

Ever wandered around a farm show or equipment dealer admiring all of the new and fancy gadgets available to farmers today? So many choices, yet so little money! Small farmers must be especially careful of expensive machinery purchases as they buck the traditional “bigger is better” trend of large farmers with mega equipment, some pulling plows and harrow’s wider than your whole field. However, as a small farmer you will take the opposite approach, limiting large equipment options and focusing on specialized, value-added processes to garner more dollars from less land. Indeed, the cost of equipment today requires the successful small farmer to be both prudent and wise in equipment selection. What equipment is essential for the operation of the small farm? How can you avoid the common mistake of purchasing more equipment than the farm can support?