Many of us think the diversified farm is the pinnacle of farming.
Tons of research shows us how good it is for the land.
But you gotta earn the right to have a diversified farm.
What do I mean by that?
You earn the right by proving you can be successful & profitable with ONE species or product line before you can expand to two.
Or four.
Or six.
Here’s the thing, if you don’t learn what it takes to sell ONE product successfully with a healthy profit margin first, then when you add a second, you’ll go broke OR you’ll forever be pumping money into your business from your day job.
Your diversified farm will do you in if you diversify before learning the skill of being profitable.
Diversification of products dilutes your marketing. So you’ve got to have your marketing dialed in hard on the one product and working to bring you lots of profit before ever expanding to the second.
Most farmers fall in the trap of not having success selling their first product and they think the solution is to add another.
For instance, they start with 500 meat chickens and can’t quite sell them out.
So they add pigs, thinking now they’ll attract more people who want pork AND chicken.
Soon they’re not selling enough of both at a high enough price, so they think for sure when they add raw milk (or vegetables, or flowers) THEN they’ll sell and make money.
But it doesn’t work that way.
It’s about this point they realize they’re bleeding money and they decide to reach out to me for help figuring out why they aren’t making money.
I teach them how and support them in scaling back down until they’re strongly profitable with one focus.
Listen to this week’s episode to learn how to focus and build profit and THEN expand.
Once you nail this, you’ll be making a profit, finally be fulfilled and enjoy the luxury of time – I promise! And, you’re welcome.
Charlotte
