Blog

Just writing this out, the question doesn’t really make sense. But in recent months, several clients have asked me this question, though from the perspective of investing in the business to increase sales. Turned around like this, it almost makes …

Your numbers tell a story about your business. How profitable you are? Where the cash is going? What markets work best for you? How you set up your Chart of Accounts — and how you record transactions — directly impacts …

The New Year offers a time of self-reflection and an opportunity for a fresh start; to do things better this year than the year before. I won’t suggest a “resolution” for the New Year, but rather a gentler approach: to …

Dear Julia, Are you familiar with profit first? I started reading about it but then hit pause because I know your class starts soon. I don’t want to be getting into two different processes and ultimately confusing everything. Unless your …

“The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won’t. It’s whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere.” – Barack Obama Justin and …

The stress is debilitating… you’re working round the clock to plant, harvest and sell; and you look at your bank account, and there’s nothing there. This is supposed to be the time of year when you transition from a net …

“The August Feeling.”  That’s how one farmer described to me that bone-tired feeling of peak-season… when crops and sales are in full-swing, and despite working as quickly and efficiently as possible, there just aren’t enough hours in the day to get …

I often compare bookkeeping to exercise… it’s something we know we should do and the benefits are clear. With regular exercise, you can maintain a healthy body – it helps to keep your weight, blood pressure and cardiovascular health in check. Is it …

On March 9, 2020, I was scheduled to fly to a conference in Peoria, IL. The conference organizers had booked me to speak about farm business management and offer speed-coaching. At the time, it felt like a milestone as I …

“That cannot be the way to write clearly.” I had shared the introduction of my book, The Farmer’s Office, with my uncle Roman and this was his feedback. The manuscript was in its final stages of editing before heading to the …

I got an email the other day from a farmer/student, Will. He was working through the homework from our class, had a bunch of questions, and wanted to schedule a coaching session to go through them. Something troubled me about this …

Steven had an itch on his back for a couple of weeks. At first, he thought it was just a bug or spider bite… nothing unusual since he works in the fields most days. He figured it must have been …

Talia has been raising and selling livestock for the last 5 years. She sells the chickens, pork and beef at farmers’ markets and direct to her customers who pick up their orders from her farm. Up until this point, she’s …

I’ve long espoused the skills needed for a successful entrepreneurial (farm or otherwise) business: financial acumen: you need to know your numbers and what they mean operational proficiencies: you need to be able to produce a high-quality product efficiently marketing …

This was the feedback I got from one of my culinary school instructors. I recall the specific drawing that prompted this: I had sketched out the plate presentation of a trout dish with green beans and risotto. I submitted the …

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 …

“When Hershel Shanks moved his family to Israel in 1972, he thought he would finally be able to write his novel. He was on sabbatical from his legal practice after a year in which he had argued a U.S. Supreme Court …

When I first wrote The Farmer’s Office, I naively thought that if farmers just understood why bookkeeping was so important, they’d be motivated to implement new business management practices. If I had thought about some of my own behaviors and …

You’ve heard the term “flip-flopper”. It’s typically used in politics and it’s a derogatory term for someone who makes an apparent change in policy or opinion. I’ve always been baffled by the idea that changing an opinion was a bad …

If you’ve raised children, or been around a five-year-old, you know how curious they can be… asking why about everything.  It can be irritating to hear the incessant “whys,” especially after a long day working or a poor night’s sleep. …

It’s not an open and shut case. How to make a decision to weather the winter. Pamela Palmieri has owned and operated Reid’s Pub since 1982. When covid hit, she was in an enviable position: she outright owns the building, …