Hi, I’m Julia Shanks, author of The Farmer’s Office and 3-time entrepreneur. Since 2008, I’ve been working with farmers and market gardeners around North America to help them get a handle on their numbers and build financially sustainable businesses.
I came to this career after 15 years of working as a chef, getting an MBA in entrepreneurship, and launching my own businesses. Though I’m not a farmer, I know the challenges from my years of cheffing. I know what it’s like to work on your feet all day, in a hot kitchen (maybe as hot as a summer field of squash and tomatoes), working with sharp objects, burning and cutting myself. I know what it’s like to worry about payroll and finding new customers. And I’ve had to think long and hard about how to price my catering events so that I can cover my costs, pay my workers, and have something left over.
Now, after working with hundreds of farmers) and seeing similar challenges, I wanted to package up what I learned, along with the tools I created, to help as many farmers as possible achieve financial sustainability.
My goal with this course is to
- ensure you understand your costs,
- so that you can price your products for profits and
- have the tools you need to communicate your value proposition to your customers.
