Country Farm and Business Management
Farm and business Management (FBM), is the practice where you coordinate all aspects of your farming operation to maximize income and profit. A broad set of skills and knowledge is used in this process including planning, management, economic analysis and marketing.
The following are key practices for the management of country farms and businesses:
Marketing – selling your products and services to consumers. Finance – borrowing money to fund your business. Risk management: ensuring your business is protected against disasters.
Financial – creating pro-forma budgets and actual enterprise plans to help forecast revenue and expenses; calculating financial ratios; setting goals.
The first step is to write down a plan of how you are going to accomplish your objectives. This will help you to think through the different functions involved in your business and to identify weaknesses.
You’ll need to find out if your property is zoned as production land or if zoning laws limit the kind of production that you can do. Check with your township or county if there are any restrictions and how they might affect your plans.
You will also require adequate public facilities such as parking, signage and customer service. These will be required to accommodate customers and visitors to your farm/ranch and should be maintained in compliance with zoning, food safety and environmental laws.
Ultimately, your business will need to be self-sustaining and a viable source of income. It is important to have enough income off-farm to cover all living expenses as well as save for future business.
