building a sustainable business a guide to developing a business plan for farms and rural businesses

[...]... How can you build a balanced and sustainable business one that reflects your values and is successful—in the long run? Unlike most other business planning tools, Building a Sustainable Business: A Planning Guide for Farmers and Rural Business Owners takes a whole-farm approach You will consider traditional business planning and marketing principles as well as your personal, economic, environmental and. .. BuilDiNg a SuStaiNaBle BuSiNeSS 25 TASK 1 26 BuilDiNg a SuStaiNaBle BuSiNeSS PLANNING TASK Farm History and Current Situation— What Have You Got? tWO TASK 2 A clear understanding of your farm operation’s history and current situation is the second building block in the foundation for your business plan Your evaluation of alternative strategies for your farm and your efforts to persuade others that the strategy... grower and marketer located in Princeton, Minnesota Frank had operated his family business for 17 years when he drafted a business plan to ready the catalogue portion of his business for sale to an outside buyer and to map out a long-term plan for onfarm nursery stock sales, tourism, and homesteading education Greg Reynolds, Riverbend Farm: Organic Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) vegetable grower and. .. Key Management Areas: • Marketing • Operations « Human Resources • Finance The Four Key Management Areas: • Marketing • Operations • Human Resources « Finance 12 BuilDiNg a SuStaiNaBle BuSiNeSS Within each Planning Task, the four key functional planning areas are addressed: marketing, operations, human resources and finances In Planning Task One, you and your planning team (family, business partners,... processor for example, sale of grain to a local elevator, milk to a creamery, or hogs to a slaughter plant • Sale through a grocery wholesaler or retailer for example, sale of processed, packaged chickens through a local retailer, sale of a branded pancake mix through a natural foods distributor, or sale of fresh vegetables through a natural foods cooperative • Direct marketing for example, sale of fresh... financial management, increasing the number of B&B guests, and developing an apprenticeship cheese-making program on the farm Dave and Florence Minar, Cedar Summit Farm: Largescale dairy graziers located in New Prague, Minnesota They operated the farm together for 30 years before preparing a business plan in 1999-2001 The Minars’ primary planning objective was to evaluate on-farm milk processing as a. .. You may want to begin by team member and then determine what values you share as a team If you are uncomfortable sharing personal values, focus on the environmental, finance and community values that you share Values Identified by Individual Plan ning Team Members: - Human health - Animal health - Christianity - Financial stability - Open communication - Healthy soil and water - Beautiful landscape... shared values among your planning team members.You may want to begin by simply listing the values identified by each team member and then determine what values you share as a team If you are uncomfortable sharing personal values, focus on the environmental, finance and community values that you share Values Identified by Individual Planning Team Members: TASK 1 Values That We Share as a Planning Team: BuilDiNg. .. strategy to reduce year-toyear income volatility and to create permanent work for several of their adult children Dave and Florence shared their worksheets and business plan with MISA You will see examples from their planning experience and their final business plan for the newly created Cedar Summit Creamery throughout this Guide Frank Foltz, Northwind Nursery and Orchard: Edible landscape nursery stock... the values that bring each of you to the table Planning Task Two asks you and your team to document business history and take stock of your current situation In Planning Task Three, you will clarify a future vision for your business as well as develop goals and a mission statement that reflect the values you identified in Planning Task One Planning Task Four addresses the crux of your business plan: