MARKET STRATEGY

Step 1: Identify your niche

Even if you know exactly what type of farm you want to start, diving head first into just doing it is
never a good idea.
Learning to do market research is that step you really can’t skip, because while it certainly helps
if you know what you want to grow, you’re still going to need to know who is going to buy your
products, where you’re going to sell them, and how you’re going to do this, all while taking
competitors into consideration.
If you are already interested in a particular product, learn more about your local market. Check
out farmers’ markets, meet other local producers, speak to customers as you shop. Better yet,
survey farmers’ markets to see if any crops or products are under-represented.
Step 2: Find the right land

Once you’ve figured out what you’re going to farm, you’re going to need to decide whether to
buy land or lease it.

If you buy land, you’ll have complete control over its use, but you will also assume financial risk
for the success of your enterprise.

If you’re interested in leasing farmland, consider finding people who own land, but who aren’t
doing anything with it.

And if you can’t find anyone to lease your land, there are still a few options open to you,
including incubator farming, rooftop farming, and SPIN farming.

Things to consider when looking for land

1. It’s easiest to start local and go from there. You will likely already have completed your
market research by now and should have a pretty good idea of where your market is
located. 

2. It’s important to make sure you have a steady supply of water, so be sure to ask plenty
of questions and consider all of your options. How will you provide water for the plants,
animals, and processing needs of your business?

3. As with water, high-quality soil is a must for most farmers. Ask the current owner for soil
test results. Soil tests are often available through the local extension service and sellers
should expect to provide test results.

4. Depending on the type of farm you want, you may also need different outbuildings. A
produce stand or farm shop might require an up-front investment.
 5. Meet your neighbors. Offer to help your neighbors. Be a good neighbor. Farming used to
be so much more about community. It is so much easier to be successful as a farmer if
you have even the slightest bit of support from your community.

Step 3: Getting financed

Why Bootstrapping Might Be the Best Way to Fund Your Startup?

If you’re self-funding your business, you take all the risk. If your business goes under, you lose
your personal investments in the business. But, if you succeed, you also take all the reward.

In contrast, when you take investment from venture capitalists or angel investors, you’re
reducing some of your personal risk, because you’re financing your business growth with
someone else’s cash. But you’re also usually giving up some equity in your company.

Giving up equity or some percentage of ownership generally means that someone else shares
the payout if your business scales successfully and is then acquired. Keep in mind that venture
capitalists and angel investors are usually only looking to invest in businesses that have built in
an exit strategy—they get paid when you sell your high-valuation business. So do you, but not
as much as if you owned 100 percent of your company.

So, where does the money come from?

Bootstrapping doesn’t necessarily mean starting from nothing, with no money whatsoever.

Although definitions vary, most people call it bootstrapping when a founder uses credit cards, or
mortgages a home, or pledges some other personal assets as collateral to borrow the money.

How to make bootstrapping work for your business

The best way to bootstrap is to lever up from early sales, or even promises of early
sales. Because they can use it to get pledges or promises to buy, with pre-orders, before they
finish the product.

How much money does it take?

The bootstrapper is spending her or his own money. So, we tend to spend less than when we’re
funded by investors. We tend to add value through work, often for free, instead of paying
salaries.

The bootstrapper gets all the reward?

It’s only fair, after all. The bootstrapper takes all the risk, so she or he gets all the reward, too.

If you manage to build a company without outside investors, you end up owning it all yourself.
You don’t have investors as bosses (you do have customers, but that’s a different article). You
can make your own decisions. You may or may not have a board of directors, but if you do, it’s
not a threat to your continued employment. You eat what you kill, so to speak. You control your
own destiny.