Over the last few months, I’ve been working with a farmer on her business plan for building out an on-farm processing facility. She wants to take her heritage breed pigs and create custom, value-added charcuterie. It’s a big investment of …
I started using QuickBooks in 1997 when I had my catering business. Though I always thought of myself as a “numbers person,” I had no idea about balance sheets or liabilities or even equity. As I went through the initial …
A beginning farmer asked me recently, ‘I want to sell my products to restaurants. I know many restaurants usually buy from Sysco… so how do I price my products to compete with Sysco?” In short: you don’t. As I’ve long …
Melissa and Sam King own and operate MSK Farm: a diversified vegetable farm with a value-added kitchen. On the farm, they grow vegetables that they sell to wholesale and retail clients. In addition, they take some of their farm products …
“Behind every successful business owner is a team of supporters who helped them succeed.” I was thinking about the more outdated (and sexist) version of that quote the other day as I listened to Emily Round share her QuickBooks experience …
I spent the Thanksgiving break at one of my favorite places… at Even’ Star Farm in southern Maryland… and home of my dear friends Brett and Chris. You may have already heard the story of how we met – Brett …
For Robert Ellis, of Crooked Oak Farm, his Square device is a necessary evil of selling at the farmers’ markets. He accepts credit card payments because he’s committed to top-level customer service, and most customers prefer that payment method. But …
Over the Labor Day weekend, a black couple went to a “pick-your-own” (PYO) farm outside of Boston to savor the waning days of summer and enjoy a little farm experience. As they walked back from the orchard to the farm-store …
Dear Julia: We are talking more seriously about hiring a bookkeeper – finances just keep getting de-prioritized as on-farm work needs to get done – and wondering if you have recommendations and methodology for working with people around sensitive data …
A few years into my catering business, I started to notice a seasonal trend. I was booked from October through December; slow January to March; busy again from April to June; and then slow from July through September. Contrary to …