[TIP: This piece articulates my views – using real life examples from my experiences – on how today’s farm business support experts need to play their roles if they are to TRULY help their clients truly achieve growth and profitability]

A well written business plan or feasibility study CANNOT guarantee you success in farm business. Running your farm business profitably and sustaining it successfully for the long term is a whole different kettle of fish, when compared to ANYTHING it takes you and/or your consultant to string together a plan and setup the farm.

Too many Farm CEOs discover this truth rather late – months after they’ve done all the major spending and are now faced with the day to day complex farm operations management issues that they discover they cannot throw money at, to resolve.

Some things simply NEED you to painstakingly learn how they work – if you want to make profitable use of them. Farm businesses are like that!

Sadly, what one sees happening a lot is that people simply launch their farm businesses armed with the above mentioned basics, and then try to “wing it” to succeed. Some so called experts they work with frequently say little or nothing to dissuade them (focusing instead on getting paid).

It is my considered opinion, based on the above, that MANY Nigerian Farm CEOs are NOT getting as much support as they should (and NEED) from experts they engage, to maximize their potentials, 

Over 10 years of supporting farm businesses with my unique range of Best Practice Farm Business Improvement solutions (custom software, information products etc) equip me to make this assertion – with confidence.

I explain what I mean in detail in the rest of this piece, noting that if we want out farm business owners to GROW and EXPAND their businesses to better meet the needs of the country, the QUALITY and DEPTH of expert support delivered to them will NEED to drastically improve.

Profiling the Ideal Farm Business Support Expert/Consultant

In Nigeria, I’ve noticed a trend in which farm business “consulting” typically tends to be done by focusing, almost exclusively, on activities like preparation of feasibility reports, business plans, installation and setup of farm infrastructure, as well as other conventional activities relating mainly to getting a farm operation PHYSICALLY up and running.

The interesting thing is that it’s NOT just the consultants/experts that seem to accept that things should happen that way. Quite often I’ve observed that Farm CEOs themselves act in ways that invite experts to shortchange them in this manner.

Indeed many intending or aspiring farm business owners (and those planning to expand their operations) often go shopping for such solutions. So experts out here tend to regard it as the primary area in which they are to specialize and offer support, if they are to get paid profitably.

To be fair to those who do the above, there is nothing wrong with it generally…

However I believe it will become a problem – and indeed an obstacle to better provision of support to farm business – when experts, on who farm CEOs depend for insights, guidance and direction, fail to look beyond the immediate in providing support to them.

Now THAT happens a lot out here, and it is why most times you do not see such experts (whether independent of government employed) sticking around to provide long term support to the farm businesses.

The point could be made that even if an expert wishes to stay longer, the farm business owner may him/herself actually NOT be willing to incur whatever expenses would be required to make that happen e.g. by way of fees etc.

The truth is however that most so called experts actually lack the insights to make a convincing justification to the owners, to work with them for the long term.

I argue that too many stakeholders in Nigeria’s farming industry, especially those who function as Support Specialists/Experts, need to go beyond the routine, repetitive and conventional roles they play.

It is my considered opinion that farm businesses in today’s world need consultants who will COLLABORATE with farm business owners to EVOLVE strategies to grow the business using new ideas, techniques and initiatives.

Indeed, my vision of the “ideal” or possibly the “ultimate” Farm Business Support Expert/Specialist/Solutions Provider is that in addition to playing the conventional roles mentioned above, s/he will act as a catalyst/influencer and ideas generator, to challenge, even inspire(!) the Farm Business Owner to do more and be more.

A lot of this is not something that many experts currently do, and yet, I know – from experience of working in that way myself, over the years – that it adds more value to the farmer.

Let me use the example of livestock farmers who I serve with my range of best practice solutions.

In many cases, once the expert they hired has delivered the business plan, and helped to procure and install all the needed farm startup items (and probably recruited/trained personnel) s/he is most likely not going to come around for any length of time afterwards.

So, 6 months to 1 year down the line you’re likely to find the farm business going on with the owner and his/her hired hands working most times all alone to move the business towards the goals defined in the plan drawn up by the expert.

So when they run into problems, quite often, they lack enough guidance to deal with them properly and the business suffers.

This, to me, should not happen…

IF our farm businesses are to enjoy healthy growth and development, our experts will need to adopt a more progressive mindset.

Sometimes I get people asking me if I “consult for farms”.

When I reply YES the next question is – predictably – along the lines of “Do you have a business plan or feasibility study for this or that venture…?”

And they rarely go beyond that.

Yet there is much more to farm business than those resources needed to startup – much more important stuff…!!!

At the risk of being immodest, I’ll now proceed to use what I do to explain how the ideal Farm Business Support Expert needs to function in order to truly add value to the farm business…

I function as a Best Practice Farm Business Support Specialist in serving farm CEOs clients from within and outside Africa.

Majority of them initially join my network as a result of purchasing one or more of my flagship products – like the Feed Formulation Handbook, the Excel-VB Ration Formulator software, the Excel-VB Poultry Farm Manager etc.

In playing the above mentioned role, I highlight to my Farm CEO clients what the “other important stuff” for farm business success are.

Then I go further to explain their potential impact on the business using my mind map based explanation of what I call a Best Operating Process Management System (BOPMS) for Profitable Farm Management. [TIP: Click here to watch Part 1 of the 3 part explanatory video of the BOPMS I just republished in my YouTube channel.]

What this means is that I actively research, investigate, and explore as many avenues as possible to collaborate with farm businesses to enable them achieve long term performance improvement and profitability.

I do that by continually reaching out via phone, email, and other channels to Farm CEOS in my client network, asking to know how I can help them to make use of solutions they purchased from me, AND/OR if they have any problems they would like me to help out with.

Many times I also think up new ideas to share with them, in addition to creating new solutions to offer them (sometimes FREE) towards addressing a need I noticed they have e.g. my FREE talk offer on how to avoid the egg glut problem.

To give a specific example, I’m currently in discussions with a Farm CEO client who has taken the initiative to adopt spreadsheet tracking for management of her farm operations. 

She has gone further to define and measure performance evaluation criteria which she monitors.

She has a rich background as a best practice trained operative from a previous career in a multinational manufacturer (like me (see details in my resume here).

This has made it easy for her to appreciate the points I’ve been making in my newsletter broadcasts (and in audio/written information products I publish) about the need for Farm CEOs to adopt intelligent tracking of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for timely decision making and planning.

I’ve now used spreadsheets she sent me, to create a demo application designed to be branded in her company name, which I’ve recommended she aim to SELL to others in a similar line of business to hers, towards enabling her MONETIZE her expertise.

This will enable her generate an additional streams of (passive) income to complement what she already makes from her farm business.

Indeed this second income stream would be one that equips her to make money even when the farm is NOT in operation or when farm products are not market ready.

I’m hopeful we’ll be able to take the project to its logical conclusion, and announce the products availability in the near future.

I’ve also told her that she can even go further and let me ghostwrite a best practice publication, in her name, explaining the process she followed to develop the impressive spreadsheet tracking tools she uses to manage her farm, form the basis for the software product being proposed for her.

If she agrees, she would end up with an information product for sale to buyers of the software to be developed. Since these products are based on what she does, that makes it easier for her to convince prospects that it works.

So, not only will what we’re doing boost her name/brand recognition as an expert authority in her Farm Business, but it will, over time, help her make MORE money to complement what her farm makes.

All of the above is NOT new for me. I’ve done stuff like this for clients in the past,

Today, they have their own branded products on sale (Click here to see a publication I helped another Farm CEO client get published for sale to a global audience).

Today, the above mentioned publication makes it possible for the CEO to offer persons who wish to consult her towards starting their own Catfish Farm Business, an information product they can invest in, to get a feel for what she has to offer.

And that could make them choose to signup with her for training and consultation!

In summary therefore, my role – as a Best Practice Farm Business Support Specialist – is to guide my clients towards achieving improved capacity for their farm businesses. 

This will happen through exploring ideas/concepts/techniques/strategies for farm operations performance improvement , IN ADDITION to developing multiple (AND unconventional!) income generating alternatives to boost earnings.

When Farm CEOs are helped to see the bigger picture of what they do in this manner, they will be inspired to do more in order to harvest the obvious additional benefits to be had.

The result of their increased income earning capacities would be inevitable growth and expansion of their farm businesses – to the benefit of larger society.

I argue that every 21st century expert needs to function in this manner – providing more wholistic and future-relevant support to their clients.