| | New interactive template makes it fast and easy to answer the big questions about where your business is going.
There’s no shortage of information out there on how to create a business plan. Books, websites and courses are lined up down the block for aspiring business planners in many industries.
Until recently, however, one industry has been largely underserved: agriculture. With its many and diverse sectors, multiple marketing options and family style of business, agriculture needs its own planning resources.
With the recent launch of Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development’s (ARD) interactive Business Plan Builder, Alberta farmers and ranchers finally have a comprehensive planning tool that’s made for them.
“A business plan is essentially a roadmap,” explains Kathy Bosse, Stettler-based New Ventures Specialist with ARD and the developer of the Business Plan Builder. “The roadmap simply tells how you’ll get from A to B. There may be different roads to get there, but it’s up to the business owner to decide which one they’ll take.”
A written plan can be shared and reviewed
Of course, farmers and ranchers are no strangers to the concept of business planning. While many now have detailed and comprehensive plans, others prefer to carry this same information around in their heads. It’s for these producers that Bosse and ARD created the Business Plan Builder.
“The point of writing it down is to share the plan and discuss it with others,” says Bosse, “such as family members, business partners, your accountant, lenders and investors. You also have the ability to review the plan periodically and know that everyone around the table is talking about the same thing.”
Three types of plans
Even within agriculture, there’s a large variation in business structures and objectives. Business Plan Builder provides interactive planning templates for three types of farm enterprises: primary production, agriculture tourism and farm-direct marketing.
Once you’ve downloaded your copy of the program and launched it, Business Plan Builder leads you through the basics of the planning process. You’ll be asked to provide information such as:
- your product and what’s unique about it
- the market and how you plan to serve it
- your thoughts on marketing
- your management team
- your financial position.
In some cases, you might need to do further research before completing these major sections. With Business Plan Builder, you can do some homework, return to the program and keep going. All told, the process of entering the information can take as little as one hour.
Business Plan Builder does the rest. You’ll have the basics of a well-considered business plan to monitor over time and share with others with an interest in the enterprise.
Ready to get started? You can download Business Plan Builder free, right now, from the Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development website. Visit www.agriculture.alberta.ca/bizinfo.
Don’t just file it. Live it.
How to make your new business plan a competitive asset for your farm.
Twenty years ago, a farmer or rancher with a formal, written business plan was a relative rarity on the Prairies. Today, it’s much more common, and not just because lenders increasingly want borrowers to have one.
“If you go to the trouble of writing a business plan, but you only use it to satisfy the needs of your banker, you’re really missing out,” says Larry Ruud, Vermilion-based Partner with Meyers Norris Penny. “If you’re doing a business plan, do it for yourself.”
In Ruud’s view, farm business planning has grown in step with the growth of management expertise in agriculture generally. Having a formal business plan not only keeps the banker happy, it serves as a blueprint for what the farm wants to achieve.
As more farms work with specialized production advisors, these advisors want to ensure that their agronomic advice integrates with their clients’ business goals. Family succession issues call for business planning, too. If the younger generation is being groomed to take over one day, they naturally want to know how the operation is preparing for an eventual transfer.
Regular planning meetings
Whether you’ve used Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development's Business Plan Builder, worked with an outside advisor or written it yourself, finishing your business plan is just the beginning. While some will file it and forget it, Ruud prefers to see clients use their plan as the guiding light of their farm.
“During the course of a farming year, opportunities will come up that you hadn’t anticipated,” he says. “Your business plan, while it needs an element of flexibility, helps you avoid making ad-hoc, reactionary decisions. You can stick to your knitting because you know the plan is sound.”
A plan is also important to getting all members of a farm management team singing from the same songbook. Ruud recommends holding a formal team meeting every two months – complete with agenda and note taking – to assess progress on the plan and make adjustments if necessary.
The Value Plus Workshop
(formerly called Growing Your Opportunities)
is coming to Airdrie, January 16 and 17th. For information contact:
Jodie Eckert at: jeckert@cfcwest.com or call 1-877-603-2329 |
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