Requests I’ve gotten from persons wishing to learn Feed Formulation last year made me decide to offer an in person coaching service.

I’ve already had someone travel all the way from Akwa Ibom state specifically for this learning event. We met at the
Agric. Development Authority premises and had a great time visiting feed mills along the Oko Oba, Agege road.

Apart from developing Automated Excel Software (like my popular Livestock Ration Formulator), I also develop and implement web marketing systems, in addition to freelance writing for clients and on my own websites/blogs.

This is why the attention I pay to the Cost-Saving Farm Business Ideas service is designed to be on a needs basis.

If you’re interested in booking a similar session, I provide relevant details below

1. To “teach” you practical feed formulation in person, one-on-one, will require a 100% advance payment of a non-refundable fee of N50,000.00.

This will get you a 4 hour session with me, in which I will take you through the theoretical aspect of using the Pearson Square Calculation to formulate your livestock ration.

This will be followed with the physical selection, weighing and milling of the feed ingredients in the appropriate quantities at a feed mill.

You will get a printed and bound copy of my popular Practical Livestock Feed Formulation Handbook at NO EXTRA CHARGE (N8,000 value).

2. I’ve had some ask me if I’ll provide on-farm practical training on livestock feed formulation.

First of all, I do NOT run a farm currently. I am a multipreneur, earning income using a variety of skills.

As is stated on my Cost Saving Farm Business Ideas website, I plan to establish a Farm Business Support and Extension Advisory Services Center at some point in the future.

But for now, I do NOT run a farm.

However, a read through the website will reveal I have reliable farm business exposure, experience and network of contacts with farm business owners within and outside Lagos.

Now, I’m not sure how much experience or knowledge you have of feed compounding, but the truth is most of what it entails can happen right in your bedroom – and you’ll only need to step out when you want to measure out the different ingredients in your formula, so as to take them down to the feed mill.

What I’m saying in essence is that typically a farm owner, if knowledgeable about feed formulation, will do his/her calculations, and then measure out the different quantities of feed ingredients based on his computed feeding formula.

S/he will then grind them all together to the right consistency for the livestock s/he aims to feed.

Indeed, you may find you go from your home, to the feed mill FIRST, and only arrive the farm when you have the milled feed ready for use in feeding your animals.

Simply put therefore, “on-farm practical training on livestock feed formulation” is not really an issue to worry about.

Once you understand the practical science of feed formulation, and gain insight into how to select good quality ingredients (with reasonably accurate nutrient composition data), you are good to go.

A Suggestion For You

It’s up to you to decide, but I believe unless you doubt your ability to understand written notes and follow step by step guidelines, you would save a lot of money by simply purchasing the feed formulation handbook, and/or the software with it’s user guide and video tutorials. This entitles you to get FREE support via phone and e-mail whenever you need help.

Learn More About The Feed Formulation Handbook & Software

You can learn more about my Feed Formulation Handbook and software by visiting this page:
http://iff.spontaneousdevelopment.com/wp/feed-formulation/

Among other things, you’ll:

A. gain access to links leading to a video demonstrations of the spreadsheet software being used to formulate a ration

B. read answers to Frequently Asked Questions from past buyers and enquirers

Get The New/Enhanced Ration Formulator

Below is a screenshot showing newly added user interfaces in the software. Price is N12,500.

It now provides 7 additional rows for feed ingredients, making a total of 19.

Past buyers get this new version free.

Download the PDF guide from
http://www.tinyurl.com/rfpdf2013

How The New Ration Formulator Works

Included in the attached zipped folder along with the app is a workbook named “RF-Export.xls”.

This is where the Ration Formulator will export each of your derived formulas when you click the Export Formula button.

Please note that all 3 files (i.e the app, the export file and the PDF userguide) MUST always be kept in the same location when you’re using the Ration Formulator!

IMPORTANT NOTES ABOUT USING THE NEW STORE FORMULA BUTTON:

The app also enables storage, edit and export of derived ration formulas.

It is assumed that you will use the floating data entry form FIRST, to generate a new ration formula, before you try to store a formula using the newly introduced form.

So, before anything else, you MUST FIRST click the “Use Automatic Form” button. This will prepare the spreadsheet to allow changes you’ll be making via ANY of the floating forms.

When that form loads, if you have no wish to use it to generate a formula, close it.

(NB: If you do not do the above, you are likely to encounter problems making use of the new form for storing formulas.)

Next, proceed as follows:

1. Click button labelled “Store THIS Formula…” to call up the newly added formula storage/retrieval form.

2. Storing a formula:

To store the formula currently displayed in the Ration Formulation table, type the name you want to use for it into the “Name” field and click the “Store This Formula Here” button.

3. Deleting a formula:

Clicking the “Erase ” button will generate a confirmation prompt that you must click YES on, if you wish to have the corresponding formula and name erased.

You will visually notice the update done by the app, as the formula’s name is removed from the form to complete the process.

4. Don’t Forget To SAVE Your Formula:

You must click the “…Save Changes” button provided (and complete the saving process) BEFORE you exit or close the software, if you want any formula(s) you named or erased to be updated permanently.

Note that by defult, the new form will load the names for any formulas already stored when you call it up. You can always REPLACE or typeover such preexisting names to store a new formula. But the new formula will also replace the preexisting formula.

EXPORT FEATURE: See the PDF guide for full details of this and the above, complete with annotated screenshot images. should get it right soon, and it’ll be sent after full testing to all existing users.

Order The Least Cost Ration Formulator

I’ve now finished the user guide for the Least Cost Ration Formulator which a number of past buyers enquired about.

Apart from enabling a user set criteria (e.g. target protein, energy etc) and generate a least cost ration, it also comes with ALL the new features in the free upgrade version of the Basic Ration Formulator.

But it does even more, as it stores, edits and exports formulas in thousands.

This makes it potentially useful for consultants formulating rations for others.

Price = N25,000.00

As stated on my website purchases of N8,000 and above entitle buyers to a lifetime discount of 40% and one year membership of my Farm Biz Ideas online club.

That means you pay only N15,000 as a past buyer.

Videos and a PDF guide will be put up soon for this latest product.

This is the first post in an enlightenment series I’ve decided to progressively publish on my Cost-Saving Farm Business Ideas. Other posts in the series will follow, for Broiler Finisher Ration, Chicks Starter Ration, Growers’ Ration and Layers’ Ration.

NB: The series will be based – in part – on excerpts from my Feed Formulation Handbook.

Efficiency of Feed Utilisation Is Critically Important

A key area to watch when looking to improve your broiler operation’s efficiency and profitability is the efficiency of feed utilisation. This is determined to some extent by the genetic strain of the birds used in your broiler production process. Once you get the birds on site however, you’ll have to make do with whatever performance they can deliver.

That’s why you will need to pay serious attention to supplying the birds with feed that facilitates optimal feed to flesh conversion by your birds.

With respect to the above, broiler chicks differ from layer chicks in that they have relatively higher protein (between 22 – 24%)* and energy (3,000 – 3,200 kcal/kg of ration)* requirements. To achieve proper amino acid profile balance, fish meal is required at 5 to 7%* of broiler feed. And an energy booster may sometimes be added in form of oil, to the feed, but this should not generally exceed 5%*.

The obvious reason for this is their need to achieve rapid growth to table size within a short period of 8 weeks or less.

The broiler’s need for high feed utilization necessarily implies that feed it consumes be fairly low in fibre content. The foregoing greatly enhance digestibility of the feed for broilers – as does a calcium level kept between 0.6 to a maximum of 0.8%*, and a phosphorous level of 0.4 to 0.6%*.

Avoid Costly Mistakes: Formulate Your Own Broiler Rations

As can be seen from the above, quite a number of parameters need to be tracked towards achieving productive feeding of commercial broilers.  And given the time sensitive nature of this venture, it goes without saying that you cannot afford to make avoidable mistakes especially where it relates to feeding.

Apart from feeding the birds with the right ration formula, you also want to avoid spending more than you should. Otherwise, when it’s time to go to market with your market ready birds, you may be looking at slimmer and less profitable margins – or indeed a loss.

You can take care of the above concerns by doing what more profit and performance conscious farmers now do: Start making your own feed for your animals. That way, you can be sure they’re getting the nutrients you want them to get, in the quantities they need to get them.

Aim For Least Cost Rations: Use Automation To Reduce Errors And Save Time/Effort

However, because feed formulation and compounding can be a tasking exercise, you may wish to employ some automation in doing them repetitively. For instance, to achieve the twin desirable goals of balanced feed for your broilers, and the least cost, a mathematical programming model would come in handy.

Some people use linear programming. Others use the diagrammatic Pearson Square Computation method. Both these methods have been successfully incorporated into spreadsheets that make their use less intellectually demanding.

The idea here is to use the computer to generate the cheapest possible broiler ration that has all the key features mentioned above. That kind of ration is called a Least Cost Ration. And it is quite different from a lowest priced ration. Read more about it in my article titled “A Key to Livestock Farming Success”.

Final Words: To Feed Them Right, Know Your Broilers’ Actual Nutrient Needs!

What you need to keep in mind is that successful use of the above methods and relevant automation will depend greatly on your sound knowledge of the “essential features of YOUR broiler starter ration”!

Like I have said elsewhere, no two farms will ever function exactly alike. There will always be differences in modes of operation, and standards of performance.

Your farm will be equally unique in that regard. So, you must do your homework and ensure the data you use for your planning and computations towards feeding and managing your broilers are accurate and reliable. Otherwise, your broiler farm’s output will be disappointing in the long run.

*PS: The nutrient values mentioned in this article are general estimates based on the author’s observations and experiences.  It goes without saying that they are not representative of what obtains for feed used on all broiler farms.

Get The NEW Excel-VB Ration Formulator!

This new version allows you to:

1. Include 7 EXTRA feed ingredients in your rations.
2. Store 3 FORMULAS you derive for future recall/refinement
3. Export your stored formulas into a separate workbook!

A new PRO VERSION goes even further to allow you specify target values for your ration’s protein, energy, calcium, fibre etc. After that, a single click automatically generates a Least Cost Ration Formula for you. I call it the "Least Cost Ration Formulator". (To understand why you should use a least cost ration and NOT a lowest-priced ration, read this article: www.tinyurl.com/leastcostration)

Send your enquiry, along with your name, and mobile phone number to tayo at tksola dot com. If you already own the basic Ration Formulator, you get the new upgrade version FREE. 

Get in touch: Call 234-803-302-1263.

Fig 1 Above: Extended data form with currency specification, and a button for initiating addition of 7 extra ingredients (ADD INGR)

Fig 2 – Above: New data entry form for adding 7 extra ingredients loaded by clicking "ADD INGR" button in Fig 1.

Fig 3 – Above: New data form for STORING, RECALLING and EXPORTING derived ration formulas.

“The majority of people are ready to throw their aims and purposes overboard, and give up at the first sign of opposition or misfortune.” – Napoleon Hill

The basic habits required for achieving LONG TERM success in business or personal life are generally the same (Note that the capitalised emphasis on “long term” is deliberate).

This article illustrates potential benefits of being habitually adaptable, using the true story of how I achieved my goal of improved fluency in spoken French, by spending 3 “challenging” weeks in Cameroon.

(NB: It ends with a link to a longer article that explains how I got stranded in Douala without money, and had to “adapt” by finding a way to return to Nigeria in a boat!)

Background

In 1999, I travelled while on annual leave from my job as a Shift Brewer in Guinness Nigeria, to spend 3 weeks in Cameroon improving my spoken French by conversing with native speakers.

Earlier that year, I’d attended an intensive 3 month French Language Training Course conducted by Chi Valentine Alake, a highly entreprising Cameroonian who (was based in Nigeria at the time, and) ran a language school in Benin City, Edo state where I was based.

After my 3 months intensive classroom training ended, it was obvious I had major difficulty making basic conversation, despite my reading and writing proficiency.

So Valentine arranged for me to spend time in his country. The idea was that I needed to be in an environment where few people spoke English. That way I’d be forced to use my spoken French more often, and consequently improve.

=====
(TIP: If you really want to be able to speak any language you learn in class, keep the foregoing tip in mind. It’s worked for me, and others I know. My experience based insights are documented in this ebook I published some years ago.)
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I travelled by road for over 24 hours through rough terrain, from Lagos to Calabar, then through Ikom (a border town in Nigeria) to Ekok (in Cameroon). From there, I took a car going to Kumba, and finally a bus that arrived in Douala.

Below: Picture of my passport showing stamped immigration border control passes with dates for my entry to and exit from Cameroon. Note the stamp to the extreme left with ORON control printed in it. As I stated in my article I came by by Sea via Idinao port in Cameroon, to Oron, in Nigeria.

Adapting To Local Food & Living Conditions During My Stay

Over the next 3 weeks I spent time living in accomodation provided by my hosts in Douala and Yaounde respectively.

In the former, I learnt to eat interesting local dishes like Achu (made from Cocoyam) and a kind of snack called “Bobolo” made of solidified starch moulded into a long pipe shape. This went down well with roasted or fried fish.

Everyday I went out to Marche Mokolo (French for “Mokolo Market”), where I spent time trying to converse with traders.

I also walked long distances around town to social spots like restaurants, bars and sports centres. Wherever I found myself, I readily embraced the ways things were done.

As a result people warmed up to me and taught me new words in addition to showing me places I would never have discovered on my own.

When I told my hosts of the places I’d been and what I’d learnt, they were often impressed that they did not have to take me around or assign me a guide. This especially since it was my first visit to their country.

I Move To Yaounde

A week into my stay, Valentine’s sister arranged for me to move to Cite Verte (pronounced “see tay vert”), where her older sister lived with her lawyer husband.

Compared to the Doula home I had lived in, this was an upscale neighbourhood.

In no time I settled in and began going out daily to interact with locals in the market places, recreational centers, bus parks etc.

Just like I’d done in Douala, I quickly made friends, and soon established a routine for my visits. The people were always so friendly. And whenever they learnt I was visiting to practise my spoken French, they were often pleased and keen to help.

Living In Mendong In Yaounde Countryside

When it was about 10 days to the end of my stay, my hosts arranged for me to spend a few days with a childhood friend of Valentine’s.

He lived in an area on the outskirts of Yaounde called “Mendong” (pronounced with the “g” silent).

Being a bachelor (like I was), Eduj naturally lived alone and cooked his own meals.

So we found an instant connection as we lived together in his small apartment.

Over the weekend, he taught me to make Groundnut Stew. And I also got a taste of life close to what obtained in rural areas.

For instance we had to walk a distance to fetch water for drinking and bathing from a large volcanic water spring used by dwellers.

Each day he went to work, I also left to explore the area’s social spots. And I again soon found willing helpers and friends.

At a point, three guys who ran a used books store began leaving me there to attend to buyers, who most times spoke no english.

I had to really struggle to understand and respond in coherent French to the various purchase enquiries.

The little kids who came looking to buy French versions of various popular comics and novels, enjoyed laughing at my awkward efforts!

That particular experience greatly boosted my spoken fluency. When I got back to Benin city, Valentine readily noticed the improvement.

Attending A Youth Conference In Oballa

I eventually moved back to Cite Verte. But before I left Yaounde to return to Douala in the last days of my stay, I followed directions on a flyer to attend a conference organised by members of a “President Biya’s Youth Movement” in a distant town called Oballa.

It took hours to get there and back. I returned to my hosts’ place at Cite Verte much later than usual that day (about 10p.m).

They were starting to get worried. When I told them where I’d been, they expressed surprise that I’d had the courage to go that far on my own.

Final Words: Being Adaptable Can Help You Overcome Business Challenges & Setbacks

My return trip to Nigeria at the end of my 3 week stay would however take longer, and was less straight forward.

That was because on the day I was to return home, I made the shocking discovery that I had to travel back without money I’d planned to use!

Thankfully, I made it back – by once again adapting to that unexpected development. (See details in my article titled “How I Travelled To Nigeria – 12 Hours Overnight By Sea, Under Heavy Rainfall, In A Leaky Boat – From Douala, Cameroon, Despite Having No Money!“.

After I’d returned to Nigeria for about two weeks, Valentine’s sister (in Yaounde) wrote him an email in which she mentioned me.

He called my attention to a paragraph in which she said
“Your friend is so adaptable. We were quite impressed with him.”

It’s this same habit of being adaptable that’s helped me routinely and repeatedly overcome every challenge or setback I’ve encountered since becoming an entrepreneur ten years ago.

Without it, I’m certain I would have been overwhelmed by the multiple bouts of adversity I have survived to get where I am today.

With it, one always feels s/he can find a way to make things work out okay. No matter how bad they look!

If you have not already formed this habit, I strongly encourage you to work at it as you begin your business activities in this new year.

The best part is that everything you need is already inside you: it’s just a mindset you need to develop.

You’ll start thinking up ways to make the most of any situation that confronts you in running your business – or indeed your life.

That would be much better than throwing your hands up in frustration – or surrender – like most people often do!

What if you could spend less money, time and effort to get the same or even more people to buy your products and/or services?

You’d like that wouldn’t you? Well, so would many others who are just like you and me.

The question is how can one make that happen – especially on a continuing basis? This article offers lessons from a 4 week sales prospecting experiment I recently concluded, for you to consider.

To Stay In Business, You Must Keep The Sales Coming In

As a profits focussed business owner, probably the most important activity that should dominate your thinking is generating sales leads, and converting them.

Even a poorly managed business is likely to remain profitable if it makes regular sales.

It is however crucially important to always look beyond your revenue, to quantify profit margins accruing from sales you make.

Without substantial and sustained profits, any business will struggle to withstand unexpected market changes e.g drops in demand, hikes in costs etc.

Making Regular Sales Requires A Reliable Sales & Marketing Strategy

How do you currently go about finding buyers? Your adopted approach will most likely depend on what you sell…and where you sell it.

For instance, my main income generating products are my feed formulation handbook and software.

But unlike my counterparts in other parts of the world, the relatively lower Internet awareness amongst my target population here in Nigeria/Africa, makes it necessary, for me, to go the extra mile to win each prospective buyer’s trust.

This requirement makes the process of selling potentially tiring!

And that’s why my use of an intelligent Web Marketing System (WMS) to generate prequalified sales leads, has been massively time, effort and cost-saving.

Basically, what this means is that I’ve setup a self-sustaining network of web based resources that almost literally “herd” people most likely to be interested in buying my products to me.

And I’ve found over the past five years or so that closing sales with prospects that come through this channel is at least 4 times easier and faster. That is compared to when I have to deal with a prospect I initiated contact with.

The results from my recent little experiment (described below) are the proof I need to justify sticking with using my WMS to make buyers come to me, over going out to “chase” potential buyers who’ve never heard of me or my offering.

It’s MUCH Easier To Sell, When You Make Buyers Come To You

And if you can setup a system to make the above happen, your sales conversion rate will dramatically improve, even as you do less work to make it happen e.g fewer phonecall or email follow ups, shorter explanations to convince prospects etc

Like I’ve said above, I use a WMS that I periodically tweak, based on the results I get, to make the above happen as frequently as possible.

Of course, when a good opportunity presents itself, I still seize it to close sales through other channels.

The truth is however that up to 90% of the sales of my above mentioned handbook and software happen via leads generated by my WMS.

Little wonder that I am so generous in investing my time, efforts and resources in diligently nurturing this low cost but high impact marketing system on a DAILY basis!

Proof That You’ll Close More Sales If You Make Prospects Come To You (My 4 Week Sales & Prospecting Experiment)

Sales results show clearly that people buy more readily from a person they approached by themselves (after studying her/her offering). And they are significantly less willing to be sold, when the seller (you) is the one who makes first contact.

You can put the above knowledge to use, in a way that boosts your selling productivity.

Recently, over a 4 week period, I conducted a little field experiment that lends credence to the argument I’ve made above.

What I did was to “work through” two different lists of potential buyers for my feed formulation handbook and software.

Group 1: Comprised over 200 past visitors to my Farm Business Ideas website, who had taken the step of submitting a request via the web contact form provided.

I should add that some of those on this list had already purchased at least one product from me in the past.

It is also worth noting, that in using the contact form, they’d agreed to have their email addresses added to my mailing list. Which meant they had be receiving my regular article and newsletter email broadcasts.

Group 2: Comprised a mixture of over 300 fish farm business owners, aquaculture consultants, as well as equipment and feed suppliers.

Their professional and contact details were published in a PDF Directory compiled under the auspices of the USAID and made available for free download online.

Neither group had any idea of what I was doing. Indeed I must confess that I did not start out to conduct this comparison.

Here’s how it happened:

You see every December/January, I normally run a special promo in which I offer my opt-in newsletter subscribers discounted prices and bundled product packages. In the last 2 years before this it’d been quite successful, with over 30% of subscribers taking up my offers.

When I stumbled upon the USAID directory, I felt those listed there would also be interested in my products.

So I decided to contact a selected number of them directly with a variant of the offer I’d prepared for my subscribers for this year end.

It was only after the second week of weirdly long and mostly unproductive cold calls and follow up sales conversations that I realised members of this group were not as ready as those on my website database.

I recalled that closing sales with persons who’d contacted me (via phone or email) after exposure to my WMS often took no more than 2 conversations.

Yet, after two weeks, NOT one of the 20 USAID prospects I’d chosen to “cold call” two weeks earlier had placed an order.

That was when the idea came to me to push my offer to both groups and compare their responses in terms of orders placed.

Below I Discuss Some Of My Findings

1. Number of Phonecalls Before Order:

For every single call I placed to a prospect chosen from Group 1, I had to place at least four to each prospect from Group 2.

2. Duration of Sales Conversations:

Group 1 candidates typically required a maximum of 3 minutes to listen to, and ask questions about my offer.

Prospects from group 2 often “hemmed and hawed” a lot as they asked questions about the offer. They typically took 3 to 5 minutes to speak to.

3. Follow Up:

Both groups readily consented to having me email full details of the offer to them.

However only amongst group 1 prospects did I get positive responses to my attempts to follow up with them.

In over 90% of group 2 cases, after getting the email, they stopped taking my call.

That was a huge contrast to group 1 respondents who even called back (or sent SMS via phone) for payment details. And they went on to pay too.

The 10% in group 2 who did take my calls and/or called back never went on to make payment, even though they said they would.

Understanding The Contrasting Prospective Buyers’ Attitudes

The obvious reason was that the former (Group 1 prospects) were already familiar with my work.

For one thing, they had read up about my products and services when they’d first discovered me online.

Indeed, some had made hefty purchases at first contact with me (to show how powerful a WMS can be!), after which they became subscribers.

Others started out for a few years as subscribers before later making purchases from me.

In contrast, the Group 2 prospects had to evaluate my offer for the first time over a few weeks, towards taking a buying decision.

In other climes, that would probably not have posed a problem.

But in my peculiar socioeconomic environment (where gaining the trust of others to make them part with money can take years),it can be quite a tall order!

Little wonder that nobody in group 2 was convinced enough to buy in 2 weeks of follow up, while about 5% of those I’ve spoken with from group 1 have already taken it up!

Spend Less Money, Time & Effort To Make Sales: Use A WMS To Make Buyers Come To You

The above details clearly illustrate how effectively a WMS can help you achieve marketplace credibility, even as it boosts the reach and long term impact of your business promotion efforts.

You need a consistent web marketing platform to build relationships with potential buyers, and to command attention, interest and credibility.

If you want help setting a WMS up for your business, submit the contact form on this blog or email me via tayo at tksola dot com.

You do not want to miss this. Join My Farm Biz Ideas Club & Get Answers To Your Questions, free farm business ideas reports, PLUS 40% Discount To My Farm Biz Support Products & Services!

If you are a past buyer of at least N8,000 worth of my products, you are already entitled to ONE full year of membership – FREE.

Just call 234-803-302-1263 or email tayo at tksola dot com for details of what you need to do to complete your registration. Then start claiming your free gifts and discounted services and products – which will be personalised for you!

Interested? Just buy at least N8,000 worth of my products (e.g. my Feed Formulation Handbook) and you get ONE full year of membership, with multiple benefits – FREE.

Examples of benefits: You get most of my new PDF reports FREE (E.g. "How To Calculate Cost of Egg Production" and "Annotated Pictorial Introduction To Livestock Feed Ingredients" ) .

I will also be available to prepare feasibility studies and market research for you; help you develop custom spreadsheet software for running your farm or setup a Best Operating Process Management System (BOPMS) for managing your farm, or a web marketing system to promote your farm business etc.

Click here to read the offer article in full …(You DO NOT Want To Miss This!)

This week, the question I’m treating from my Farm business website contact form database was sent in by “Sola Enitan” from Ikeja Central Business District in Lagos, Nigeria.

In the course of answering that question below, I share insights gained from my interesting phone conversation with a university professor who is a world bank fish farming consultant.

Here’s the question:

“Fish and Shrimp Farming: I need business plan and feasibility studies. Do you own a fish farm yourself, or are you a textbook counsellor?”

Sola’s question is a valid one, and certainly deserves an answer.

I actually called and conversed with him right after reading his email back then.

In the rest of this post, I provide information to answer that question comprehensively.

A Quick Overview Of The Unconventional But Valuable Service I Offer Farmers

As an extension professional, I support farmers to adopt and/or develop best practice systems to make their farms succeed.

In simple english I help them find better ways to get the results they want.

Most of what an extension person does involves moving around/making contacts to discover what’s new (e.g research finding, new hybrids etc), what’s working (from successful farms) and what’s not.

Then such learnings are channelled to relevant farmers who may find them useful.

Sometimes, especially in today’s world, the extension professional may take it upon herself to develop and implement solutions she identifies to be badly needed by farmers.

That’s the approach I have adopted in playing my role as a non-conventional extension service provider, by developing custom software, publishing a feed formulation handbook, helping to setup a Best Operating Farm Process Management System (BOPMS) and also offering capacity building coaching and training.

To play her role effectively, an extension service provider must have a good grasp of both theoretical and practical farming concepts and operations.

The foregoing, combined with a firm understanding of the dynamics of the environment in which the farm operates, will equip her to deliver useful solutions that will be valued by the farm business owner.

Get further details about my unconventional approach to extension service provision on my Farm Business support service website.

(NB: By way of interest, the above link will take you to the old, html version of the site which I’ve used since 2006.

I’m currently in the process of moving ALL the content from the above mentioned old site, into a new database driven WordPress version (featuring my latest articles and updates) here..

Going by the visits and responses I’ve been getting, there must be something I’m doing right.

I have gotten enquiries and had purchases from farm owners and enthusiasts from across Nigeria, many parts of Africa, and as far as Asia, North America and even Australia.

Most of these visitors and buyers found me through online search results facilitated by my elaborate web marketing system, which incorporates web content, in addition to video and audio.

Examples Of How I Operate – From Two Phone Conversations

What I just did above, was to provide a little insight into how I serve farm businesses.

I will now provide real life examples of how I operate, by sharing details of two phone conversations I recently had, through which many farm business owners (and those aspiring) can gain valuable knowledge and insight for use in their farm businesses.

Whenever that happens (as it so often does), I would have succeeded in providing extension education that such persons can put to profitable use.

Conversation 1: Root Cause Analysis Reveals “Poor Management” As Major Cause of Farm Failure

Ironically it was Sola Enitan, the “textbook counsellor question asker” that I had this conversation with!

This happened earlier today. We were speaking for only the second time since we first made contact years ago.

But no one would have been able to tell, from the way we carried on exchanging friendly jokes all through.

That’s one of the things I love about the work I do, and the way I do it

My purpose for calling Sola, was to find out if he was still involved in fish farming (so I could tell him about my year end sales promo for the Ration Formulator – see bottom of this post).

He replied that he was no longer pursuing that line of interest.

But it was the reason he gave for not going ahead to start his own fish farming business as he’d planned, that provides what I consider a perfect platform on which to further answer HIS “textbook counsellor” query.

Sola explained that he contacted a sample of fish farm business owners at the time, numbering over 100.

According to him, over 70% of them were either no longer in the business, or were in the process of shutting down their operations, or at least contemplating it.

To him, that was a sign that the fish farming business was not a viable one to venture into.

In line with my “Best Practice” Root Cause Analysis instincts, I asked Sola what he thought were the main causes of the farm failures experienced by the farmers he visited.

He replied that the major problem he saw they had, was lack of good quality feed preparation processes, to ensure balanced and non-toxic feed was given to the fish.

In addition, he noted that many of the farmers seemed to have divided interests due to other businesses they were engaged in.

This limited their ability to make timely input and intervention in the daily running of their farm operations. I refer to the foregoing as the “absentee ownership” phenomenon.

At this point, I asked him if he noticed that the reasons he had identified as being responsible for the farm failures were ALL related to farm management practices employed by the owners.

He readily agreed.

I then pointed out that it would be wrong to conclude that commercial fish farming was not viable based on the failures of poorly managed farms.

To this he again agreed.

And that was when he owned up that being a real estate professional, he had actually been looking to invest in fish farming to generate a decent additional stream of income.

So he reviewed the projected set up cost for a typical high capacity commercial intensive catfish production unit, against the projected medium and long term profit margins to be made.

But the numbers were way below his expectations.

Coming from the high margin real estate market, he felt the ROI was too “lean” to justify the money, effort and resources required to run a fish farm profitably.

I could not resist teasing him about his “big money” mentality at this point.

To his credit he replied frankly saying “Look Tayo, that fish business is better for retirement. Right now I need better returns on my money. Maybe later I’ll venture into it!”

TIP: I’ve shared the above to serve as a warning, to those who may be tempted to launch fish farm businesses without doing necessary due diligence.

It’s been called a gold mine, but mining the gold takes work and time. And you must be prepared to put in the work!

Also, don’t let anyone mislead you with exaggerated claims about profits to be made.

At the risk of stating the obvious, commercial fish farming cannot yield anything close to the same profits margins as you’d reasonably expect from investing in the oil and gas or real estate businesses!

Conversation 2: World Bank Consultant Draws Attention To A Potentially Profitable, But Little Explored Feed Formulation Support Service For Farm Businesses

A day before I spoke with Seun, I had a long and interesting phone conversation, with a university professor specialising in fish nuitrition and feed formulation.

Prof. F (let’s keep his real name quiet for now) told me that while consulting for the world bank, he had developed a high performing feed formula for fish, using the Linear Programming(LP) technique.

LP is an alternative to the simpler diagramatic Pearson Square computation technique described in my feed formulation handbook, and which my Ration Formulator software is based on.

The professor explained that he now devotes his time to using his formula to produce high performing feed that farmers come to buy from him.

According to him, it’s been quite rewarding working that way. His “magic” formula is therefore kept close to his chest, despite appeals from farmers that he let them have it.

That was quite a useful bit of information for me, as it implies opportunities exist for interested persons to provide a valuable service to busy but serious farmers:

TIP: You can offer feed formulation support services, possibly combined with actual feed compounding.

Some people run feed mills and help buyers produce bagged feeds based on the customer’s supplied formula (like Yakubu Ibrahim, a recent buyer of my feed formulation software, who owns runs a feed mill in Kano).

They also produce and sell their own brands of feed for different classes of livestock, using formulas they derive by themselves.

To do the above, some use manual calculation methods based on their understanding of feed formulation techniques like that described in my popular 70 page handbook.

At some point, a few (like Yakubu) decide they want the convenience of an automated method for deriving the formulas for use by themselves and their clients.

That’s when they come online and discover solutions like my customizable Excel-VB driven Ration Formulator.

See the sales promo details at the end of this post, to discover how my handbook and software can help you carry out feed formulation for different animal types using any combination of ingredients you prefer, within seconds, at the click of a button.

Final Words: Get Competent Help To Manage Your Farm Successfully

If you run a farm business, or plan to, you likely need support with setting up your farm management operations to ensure your long term success.

Get someone with the training, expertise and exposure to help you.

You may find my Farm BOPMS development service potentially useful.

BOPMS is an acronym for a practical farm management solution I developed years ago, called “Best Operating Process Management System”.

I offer to put it in place for farm businesses, or to provide information and education on it, via learning events e.g talks, seminars and workshops.

Having a BOPMS in place for your farm can drastically minimise occurrences of unexpected crises, while ensuring more profitable and stress free running of your farm opertions on a day to day basis.

You can read more about how setting up a custom BOPMS™ for your farm can make your life as a farm business owner more productive at the page below, on my Farm Business Support Service website:

http://iff.spontaneousdevelopment.com/farm_perf_5Tools.html.

End Of Year Promo Offer

This offer will remain open until MDT of 15th January 2013.

I offer you (or others you know) my Automated MS Excel Feed Formulation software, bundled with my popular feed formulation handbook at a promotional discount. See details below:

1. Watch my video demostration for the software on my Youtube channel (click)

2. DETAILED PDF USER GUIDE FOR THE Software can be downloaded from here

3. The sofware price is N10k.

But in the Xmas spirit, if you buy on or before the deadline, I’ll send you my fully printable 70 page Feed formulation handbook PDF for N4k instead of N8k (see it on sale for $82 approx. at the online store.)

So, instead of paying N18k, you get to pay N14k to buy both the software and handbook – saving N4,000.

4. Get more details about my feed formulation handbook and software here.

You can call me on 234-803-302-1263.