Farming as a small business � skills needed

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Many people have quite a romanticview of farming, normally people whohave never worked on one or beeninvolved with any type of farm oragricultural business. A farm is amulti-complex business, that canrange from a very small acreage orsmallholding to a multimillion dollarenterprise employing many differentpeople.

Although the size of a business suchas a farm can vary widely, many of theskills needed to run and manage afarm are similar whatever the size ofthe business. A farm is perhapsunique in some ways as a business inthat it is often, if not always,inseparable in many ways from theresidence and home life of the person

or family running the farm. This raises special challenges as well as a number of uniqueopportunities for involving family members in the nature of the work being undertaken on the farm.

Governments are very keen to encourage people to go into farming both as a small business and as aform of employment more generally. There are a number of government schemes both in the US andCanada which aim to promote farming as a small business. These schemes offer some financialincentives by way of training, provide some type of mentorship for people entering the profession,and generally provide support and encouragement by way of long-term advice and help.

Many people wanting to enter farming as a profession are not quite sure where to begin. There are awide range of options available, which can be both a curse and a blessing. It is a good idea tounderstand that the nature of farming can vary hugely.

One of the important considerations is what type of produce/feed you wish to farm, and what size ofland you wish to farm your produce/feed upon. If starting out as a small business, it is a good idea toknow the potential for growth, both in terms of being able to aquire more land if needed, and thelikelihood of government support or help if needed as well.

Running a farm of any size will mean involving the family both in a home and a business life wherethere is little if any separation. This means that internal and external boundaries will need to be setand adhered to in order to create some semblance of family life aside from the business. In time it is

likely that your children will want to be involved in the workplace.

This can be a very healthy environment as many young people work on farms, but can also bechallenging in terms of changing the nature of your relationship with them.

In addition there will be many employment challenges as much of urbanfarmingco.wordpress.com/the labour required might be seasonal depend on where you live. You may need to provideaccommodation for your employees. You will need to understand the seasonal fluctuations in incomeand expenditure, as well as having a sound grasp of all normal basic business practice.

You will need to have a strong understanding of issues concerning plant and machinery, as well asdetailed knowledge of wide health and safety issues, as well as any local/state/federal legislation thatmay be applicable.

Health insurance may well be an issue you will need to understand and deal with. There are anumber of rural health initiatives which can help minimise cost and provide better cover.

The essential skills needed for an entrepreneur who decides to run a farm or any type of agriculturalbusiness are firstly those that are needed to run any type of business in terms of management andfinancial acumen. In addition the challenges outlined above need to be challenges that theentrepreneur can embrace and turn to his or her advantage, and if they can, they can combinerunning a potentially very profitable business with a lifestyle that many people would wish toemulate.

Author's Bio:

The author writes about issues relating to agriculture, farming and tractors, with a special focus onmanufacturers such as Kubota and in particular compact tractors such as lawn and garden tractors.