How to Make Money from Your Hobby Farm
Photo by Frances Gunn on Unsplash
Becoming a part-time or full-time homesteader is a solid life decision. It’s good for your overall health and wellbeing and is a fun way to live besides. Of course, even as someone able to live off the land, you’re not entirely free of the trappings of modern civilization. There will be bills to pay – utilities, mortgage, and miscellaneous day-to-day expenses. Unless you’re planning on getting a job in the nearby town or city, you’ll need to find a way to make money from your hobby farm to fund your lifestyle.
Fortunately, monetizing your farm shouldn’t be too hard. The demand for food and farm produce keeps climbing, according to the AGMRC. With some forethought and directed effort, you could have a profitable operation up and running in no time. In this mini-guide, we offer some tried-and-tested advice on making money as a homesteader.
Homesteading is running a business
First and foremost, if you’re serious about generating a long-term, sustainable income from your homestead, you will have to treat it as a business. Essentially, be prepared to invest time and money, learn new things, be practical, and take some risks to succeed. Like with any business, you will get back what you put into it, and your decisions will determine your success and failure.
Research the demand in your region
Businesses thrive when their offerings are in demand. To maximize your chances of generating a steady income stream, make sure your efforts align with local demand. Take a look at profitable homesteads in your region and what they grow. Ask yourself who your ideal customer is, and what you’ll do for them.
Evaluate your resources
To make money, you have to utilize the resources at your disposal efficiently to meet demand.
● Your space: Consider your available space, the nature of the soil, the weather, and accessibility (location). Would the space be best utilized for growing food, raising animals, or something else entirely?
● Seed money: How much money can you afford to invest in your endeavor? Can friends or family chip in?
● Knowledge and expertise: Do you have special knowledge of agriculture, horticulture, or similar you can harness? Are you willing to learn something new?
● Help: Do you have someone who can help you with your business or will you be doing it alone? Hiring people is also an option.
Find monetization opportunities
Once you have a good grasp of local conditions and your available resources, you should be able to pinpoint ideal monetization opportunities. The best are the ones in-demand locally, easy to implement, and affordable. Below are some suggestions:
● Sell traditional farm and animal produce: You can sell plant- or animal-based products like fruits, vegetables, flowers, tobacco, dairy, medicinal herbs, meat, honey, and more.
● Process goods: With some investment, you can sell processed goods – think cheese, ice cream, beverages, sauces, yogurts, wine, and tobacco products.
● Cater to tourists: Tourists are often willing to pay for a taste of the “rustic” life. You could launch a bed and breakfast, provide a farm stay or experience, be a glamping destination, and more.
● Teach and educate: If you have homesteading skills, you could teach them to other homesteaders and make money that way – from formal lessons, workshops, and even online lessons. It’s also possible to make money as a homesteading blogger (or by starting a video channel and similar).
● Rent your space: If you don’t want to actively homestead or have more space than you need, you could rent out your space or outbuildings. Campers, vacationers, and even other homesteaders may be willing to rent from you.
Successful homesteaders often do multiple things at once and establish several income streams.
Create a business plan
A business plan is highly recommended if you’re a new business owner. It gives you a good overview – and some much-needed perspective – on your operation, goals, and finances. Writing down your goals forces you to be specific about everything, which is necessary if you want to achieve something concrete.
Consider forming an LLC
Forming an LLC may also be a good idea. It protects your personal assets by separating them from your business ones (say if you’re ever sued). Other advantages over going it as yourself or forming a Company are less paperwork, more flexibility, and some tax perks. You file the paperwork yourself, which is time-consuming, or use a lawyer, which is expensive. Using a formation service is usually the best way to start an LLC – it’s cheap and convenient[JS1] . States have varying regulations around LLC formation. Check the rules carefully before moving forward.
Form a brand
Brands make you more recognizable and credible in the market. Customers are more likely to buy from or do business with brands as compared to a no-brand. Forming a brand isn’t hard – simple brands win, says HBR. Define your personality, come with a catchy name (and slogan), and make sure you communicate the brand at every touchpoint.
Market your products effectively
Like every other business, you will need to market to succeed. Homestead offers several self-promotion ideas: word of mouth, being present at farmer's markets, creating a website, writing a homesteader blog, using social media, cross-promotions, and social media.
Manage your business like a pro
To succeed with your business operation, you will have to manage it carefully. Needless to say, only well-managed businesses remain operational. Here are some suggestions:
● Look after your money: Consider the return of investment (ROI) on everything. Always have enough cash on hand (working capital) for day-to-day expenses, experimentation, and innovation.
● Delegate: You can’t do everything alone – and shouldn’t. Other people can offer perspective, skills, and knowledge you don’t have. Make sure to delegate and ask for help when you need it.
● Save for emergencies: Emergencies – like machines breaking down or errant weather – can throw a wrench in the works. Consider setting up an emergency fund to handle unforeseen situations and expenses.
● Use software: You can use apps to help you run your homestead. Consider using productivity tools, bookkeeping apps, timekeeping apps, and to-do lists to stay organized and in control.
Conclusion
It could take a while for your efforts to bear fruit. Be patient. Also, be open to learning – ask for advice from experienced homesteaders if you ever get stuck. Keep your chin up and be persistent – and you will be sure to succeed.
Sterritt Strategy is a publishing company that assists entrepreneurs, startups, and innovators through media initiatives. We here at Sterritt Strategy are looking to expand our content base to include a wide range of non-gaming life and business strategy content, if you think you have a great article like this one contact James R Sterritt at james@sterrittstrategy.com.. All views presented in this post are solely the opinions of the writer. Neither Sterritt Strategy Publishing, Ltd. nor its owners and operators are in any way represented by this content. Sterritt Strategy Publishing Ltd. is acting solely as a host and editor.
We are pleased to show our first guest blogger on a topic of life strategic thought while doing things, we here at Sterritt Strategy are familiar with personally.
Tina Martin used to work in business administration. It wasn’t long before I got tired of working my tail off to make someone else a lot of money. I decided to pursue something that actually inspired me: becoming a personal fitness instructor. The more I built my client base, the more I realized that the people I worked with had a lot of personal improvement goals, not just those regarding their physical health. So I took another leap of faith and decided to start offering life coaching services.
My life quickly changed for the better once I made the decision that MY ideas matter, that I’m the author of my own life story, and that I can and should be my own inspiration. I believe that if we all took that same approach to life, we’d all be much happier and the world would truly be a better place for it!
I decided to start this website as a side project in addition to working with my clients so I can reach as wide an audience as possible, and encourage them to put their dreams first. After all, if you want to truly be happy, be your own inspiration!