From Homesteader to Six-Figure Farmer: 3 Tactics to Go Full-Time
From homesteader to a full-time six-figure operation, one Missouri Farm successfully built a direct-to-consumer business with the right go-to-market tactics and software investments to scale. Farmer Erica shares three (3) pivotal tactics that enable her and husband Jared to transition from a “bare-bones” lifestyle to full-time Farmers with a viable income.
In 2015, Erica and Jared bought their Farm with the goal of growing their own food and saving money. With no plans and pigs running everywhere, they began brainstorming avenues to evolve their passion into steady cash flow for their family. Now this Missouri Farm has expanded to dexter beef, dirt-raised hogs, pastured chickens, and an on-farm butcher shop and retail store.
"I have such a passion for helping other Farmers get going and learning because I didn't have anybody to talk to during those very first years. Listening to the Independent Farmer Podcast has helped me grow, and now I'm excited to help other Farmers enjoy the same success, too."
–Erica (MO Farmer)
Building Demand with an Email List
Investing in a customer acquisition strategy that leveraged automated email campaigns, allowed this Missouri farmer to ditch the office work, save time, and get back to the daily operations they love. With the Barn2Door, the Farm automatically captures emails at check-out, whether it’s in-person (point-of-sale (POS)), online e-commerce or through their website. Erica always felt like social media outlets created extra work, now she drives most of her demand and sales through a consistent email marketing strategy to an ever-growing customer list.
“I always assumed nobody read them. But now people come into my store to talk about stories I have told in my emails. Because I mentioned something that related to them, they are in our butcher and retail shop the very next day”
–Erica (MO Farmer)
Erica focuses on telling a story, sharing farm updates and including photos in each email campaign. With conversational emails, Erica breaks down concepts that are digestible for the Buyer to make their Farm products feel approachable and a better alternative to the grocery store. Try to focus on not being too “businessy” and write as if you're talking to the Buyer in-person. By educating Buyers and building an emotional connection, you can foster a Buyers desire to purchase your Farms products.
Streamlining Orders and Inventory For Steady Income
Recurring cashflow provides a sense of security to pay the bills every month. With Barn2Door’s Subscription capabilities this Missouri Farm has a recurring base of cash flow to ensure their feed costs are covered every single month. Erica can easily set their Subscription items up based on each harvest season to provide Buyers staple products year-round that align with their available inventory.
Collecting payments upfront with deposits and pre-orders can also reduce risk for your Farm business. Making the order experience hassle-free and removing ecommerce friction has strengthened demand for these Farms’ products. Building relationships with Buyers to increase their average order value (sell more inventory) versus relying on the sale barn to offload excess products. Erica shared that Subscription and Pre-Orders have simplified their operations, and created consistent recurring Buyers.
Making Your Farm Pay For Itself
Knowing their numbers was key for Erica and Jared to become full-time Farmers. Analyzing their top-line revenue and underlying costs affirmed that some of their “most successful” products were actually the least profitable. Essentially, they were paying people to purchase some of their products. By creating a model to organize their revenues, costs and track their inventory, this Missouri Farm was able to plan ahead for the quantities they needed to sell, implement a new pricing and packaging strategy, and prioritize future Farm investments.
Erica uses spreadsheets to analyze their data, and plan ahead for upcoming bills or seasonal costs to be covered ahead of time, instead of solely relying on sporadic cash flow. As a result, she has focused on maximizing profitability, enabling the Farm to sustain itself and provide a viable full-time income (rather than continually drawing down on personal finances).
Conclusion: Becoming a Full-Time Farmer
To grow a six-figure Farm takes financial discipline, while fostering Buyer relationships to ensure strong, consistent demand within your local community. This Missouri Farm understands that to entice Buyers to buy direct, they must also educate them on their sustainable Farming practices (helping to command a premium price). Erica encourages Farmers to simplify their business model, know their numbers and invest in software that supports Subscription revenue, to underwrite a full-time Farming operation.
Barn2Door offers software for Independent Farmers to make more money, ditch the office work and look like a pro. If you’re curious to learn more, watch this 5-minute video.