Let’s cut the crap and get to the good stuff!

Posted by Brendon Walsh on 19 January 2016

Any business needs a real focus coupled with business strength. Sheep and beef farm businesses are no exception. However, sheep and beef farm businesses often don’t fulfil these 2 key business requirements. One of the big reasons is that the owners usually lack a definite focus that is highly relevant to them.

Business strength allow great profits, which in turn allows farm businesses to continue to provide their products and services, provide reward for ownership and risk taking, allow for growth, have capacity for change and provide what the owners of the business really want. Real focus provides boundaries for operations and thinking, leading to a much higher chance of success.

Producing meat and wool, having a holiday or two, generally getting by and being left alone by the banker or accountant will not provide ongoing business strength. However, because many farmers operate this way, we have a weak sheep and beef industry that isn’t really serving the needs of those who have the most at stake in the industry – the farm business owners themselves.

The #1 reason we do anything in life or business is because it is important to us. A strong and meaningful focus can be developed by any farm business owner and it must push them beyond comfort to do what it takes to create the success they really want. It starts with their vision.

The vision is of highest importance because it is the true overall goal for the owners and the business to achieve at some point down the track. Anything else is less important. Already it is a drafting gate – if something does not connect to this vision, the farm business owner should flush it. From there, a highly relevant mission (purpose), culture, major goals, strategies and actions can be developed.

Cutting through the crap of distractions and unhelpful thinking is crucial to get to the good stuff - the stuff that leads farmers to build lives and businesses they can be proud of. As I have seen and been involved with many times, farmers go to a whole new level of understanding and decision making when they do this. Industry issues get put in perspective and don’t take over their lives, and families start pulling together to harness they incredible energy they have at their disposal. Often, that energy is pretty dormant.

If you are a farmer, ask yourself what is most important to you above all else? Define this and keep working to define it. If you have farmer clients, how well do you know what is most important to each of your clients? Perhaps it is time to reconnect with them and ask them! You can bet it will make for a whole new level of understanding, business relationship and success!

If you are curious about how the GrowFARM® System can help sheep and beef farmers generate the profits they really want, contact me here.