Running a small hobby farm can seem like a fun business idea - but it’s quite a lot of work! To make sure that your farm will be profitable and self-sustaining, you’ll need to invest in the right land and use tools like a customer data management platform for smart decision-making. Working with RealtyTopia can help you with your property search. Plus, here’s how to finance your farmland purchase, monetize your farm, and more.
Choose the Right Property
Buying farmland is a major financial decision, so you’ll need to carefully choose land that will fit your specific business plans. FarmLoans recommends researching the local climate and weather patterns, the soil quality, access to water sources, and the land’s topography and drainage. You’ll also need to consider a property’s zoning and land use regulations.
Financing Your Purchase
If you don’t have cash upfront to buy your new property, you might have access to other financing options. The Farmer’s Business Network recommends looking into loans that are specifically given to farmers, as well as commercial loans.
How to Monetize Your Farm
There are so many ways to monetize your farm. While growing vegetables, fruits, or herbs or raising livestock seem like obvious options, you can also think beyond these business models. For example, NerdWallet states that you could establish your farm as a wedding venue, host guests at a bed-and-breakfast on your property, grow hops for local breweries, or even try beekeeping! This is an opportunity to get creative.
Planning Crop Production
If you will be growing crops on your farm, you’ll need to stick with a comprehensive, structured plan for crop production and harvesting. To make a “crop plan,” you’ll make a spreadsheet with a list of the crops you want to grow along with key growing information, and then determine how many plants you can grow in your available space. Then, create a visual crop map of your farm with a succession plan in line with seasonality and harvesting times. Next, you can set up a calendar that tells you when to plant and harvest each crop, as well as where you’ll need to plant it. You can color code these documents so that you can easily understand the information at a quick glance.
Customer Data Management
As a business owner, you’ll want to gain an in-depth understanding of your customers, their pain points, and their general demographics. It’s a good idea to invest in a customer data management software program. With a program like this, you can analyze consumer behavior, segment audiences, and identify trends in your customer base.
When you have access to all of this information, you’ll be able to personalize marketing outreach, communicate easily with your customers, and base your business decisions on concrete data. This will enhance the overall customer experience in the long run and boost loyalty, which paves the way for growth and profitability. Plus, by storing all of your customers’ data in one centralized location, you can ensure security.
Hiring Help
Even if your farm is small, you can’t tackle every project on your own. Instead, you’ll probably need to hire some help! You may want to advertise locally for job openings. Make sure to assess your labor needs well before the busier seasons of the year begin so that you’ll be prepared in advance.
Managing a small farm might seem like a far-off dream. But you can turn your vision into a reality by making smart business decisions. With these tips, you’ll be able to determine which property is best for your needs and conveniently manage your customers’ data.
Ready to search for the perfect farmland? RealtyTopia can help! Fill out the contact form on our website to learn more about our services.
Written By Guest Contributor Emmie Heath
Share this story