There are different investment programs one can embark on in Agriculture. As lucrative and promising as the agribusiness might sound, there are procedures that must be observed before embarking on this journey.
Investment Procedures Includes:
Research. visit as many farms as possible before venturing into any kind of farming. Online research may be an added bonus but please don’t rely on them as we have many people who preach what they don’t practice but parade themselves as experts. They are marketers and all they care about is their pocket.
2. Start small. Going into farming with your paper projection can be very tempting as you want to make all the money fast but I suggest that you exercise caution and start small. It’s a new terrain and you need to learn all you can before putting in all your hard-earned savings.
Don’t spend so much on infrastructure while you are short of funds to stock up the same building. As a rule of thumb, don’t spend more than 40% of your capital on infrastructure. The same applies to buy animals, don’t stock animals, and start feeding them cheap feed because you are short of funds. Always buy animals you can feed conveniently.
3. Reduce your expectation. It can be very frustrating when you don’t get the result you want especially in farm biz. I always advise newcomers to reduce their expectations to 10% of their initial projection. You will still make the 100% projection but very few make it at the early stage.
4. Management is key. Sound management practice can never be underestimated when it comes to farming. Keeping good records, especially financial records and produce records is important.
5. Get a mentor. This will fast track your success but get a mentor that practices what they preach not a sugar-coated marketer.
6. Kaizen. Continuous improvement should be your overall goal but be careful not to change ways that have worked for you too quickly because of marketers as all they care about is their pocket. Change is inevitable but do it gradually.
7. Be patient. Farming is not an overnight success kind of biz. It takes DISCIPLINE to succeed in the farm business.
8. It may take time before you recoup your initial investment especially if you will put up infrastructure. Manage your expectations as farming is not a gold mine like people preach especially for new start-ups.
10. Farmhands are the angel/devil of the farm business. Just like Everyman has a king and a fool in him, find ways to get the best from them. Most of them are illiterate and they don’t have the kind of pieces of training you have acquired over the years.
Be deliberate about training and motivating them to get what you want as your success or failure may weigh heavily on farm hands if your system is less automated. Take them as your team member and respect them but don’t reinforce bad attitude.
Get good seeds or animals. You want to get the best from your produce but you can’t do that without getting the foundation right. Get improved seedling /breed.
Give your seeds and animals what they require to grow optimally. Farming is garbage in garbage out. If an animal requires 50% enter based energy, 25% protein, and 25% fiber but you are giving the same animal 100% fiber. You will not get the required result, same applies to plant
Reinvest your profit back into farming. That’s the best thing to do
Add value to what you produce.
Finding a market for your produce before they are ready for the market will make farming a very interesting venture for you.
When you face challenges always reach out for help.
One Response
I have made many losses because I wanted to begin big. Your advice has given me a wise counsel. Thanks so much.