When a farmer plans on introducing a new enterprise into his farming system, there are specific development stages that this enterprise has to undergo, including establishment, survival, growth, and maturity.
But most importantly, the farmers must also learn how to adapt to the ever-changing market environment and improve their management and innovative skills. So, why does one farmer succeed and the other doesn’t? Is there a difference between a farmer and an entrepreneur?
An entrepreneur is not simply someone who can organize and operate a business. He or she has to possess a set of qualities and skills that will turn them into a successful business person. A true entrepreneur aims at two points, producing for the market to make a profit and find ways to improve the product quality as well as increase the efficiency of production itself. Doing the latter is like stepping out of a comfort zone since it requires taking calculated risks to go beyond the day-to-day management activities, into the realm of competition.
Most farmers, however, choose to produce based on their own consumption needs while selling the surplus to the market for additional profit only at best. Few ventures on to apply new agro technologies as ag monitoring, experiment with planting new crops, and try out new farm management practices to increase their profits. This lack of drive can be explained by fear of taking risks, but there actually exist solid strategies that farmers can put into practice to grow into real successful entrepreneurs.
Strategies to Turn Farmers into Entrepreneurs
The key difference between an ordinary small-scale farmer and a farmer-entrepreneur is how they approach making a profit. While most farmers in the world are mainly concerned with feeding their own families, entrepreneurs are focused on profit first. This is true regardless if they’re involved in rural or urban farming. But to successfully maintain such a profit-oriented focus, farmers need to be educated in agribusiness management, marketing, and entrepreneurship. Besides, they need to understand clearly basic common strategies to ensure their risks will ultimately pay off.
Marketing Strategy
Every farmer-entrepreneur has to know about the 4 Ps and 4 A’s. These are the foundation “pillars” of marketing, the 8 points to keep in mind while doing business. A farmer has to consider the quality and the appearance of the product, the distribution methods (place), the price, and how to effectively promote the product. And then the farmer will need to anticipate the customer’s reaction to the 4 P’s, whether or not they’ll find the product acceptable, available, and affordable. Not to mention, the customer has to be aware that the product is on the market.
Customer Satisfaction Strategy
The main goal for any business is a satisfied customer, and entrepreneurs should aim at creating a loyal customer base. To achieve that, farmers need to understand and fulfill the ever-changing needs of the customers by creating effective marketing strategies.
Stakeholders Engagement Strategy
Building effective and sustainable partnerships are of critical importance when it comes to business development. That is why reaching out to different existing and potential stakeholders is not something farmers should ignore. The stakeholders include private sector companies and distributors, the local government, IT solution providers, and legal or financial experts.
Financial Management Strategy
Entrepreneurs have to aim at becoming financially viable as soon as possible. It will ensure the farming business not only stands on its feet but also does not require continuous support from multiple stakeholders.
Risk-taking Strategy
A risk-taking attitude in farm business management implies that farmers need to be open to taking risks and applying modern farming practices and technologies they have never used before. It can be planting new crops, using remote sensors (drones, satellites) or trying out new approaches to farming activities (tilling, irrigation, etc).
Beginners can really benefit from modern tools that automatically collect field data remotely from satellites, ground weather stations, and other sensors. These apps are capable of processing and analyzing impressive amounts of data practically instantaneously with their built-in algorithms. It can greatly help farmers with decision-making. One of such apps is Crop Monitoring by EOS. It uses satellite imagery to collect, process, and analyze data from the fields, and bring it on the screen as actionable insights. It provides data on vegetation, weather (current, historical, 14-days forecast), problem areas, field productivity, and more. Users can easily plan and monitor both future and past field activities and manage scouting procedures remotely. Using Crop Monitoring, farmers can help farmers reduce the risks related to crop failure, improve decision-making, and greatly assist with farm management.
Along with strategies, farmers who want to become entrepreneurs must develop the right policy to support them, including effective laws and regulations, access to timely and adequate finance, and to business development services.
There is one more important component in the recipe of successful entrepreneurship for farmers. The government must create a favorable ecosystem by adhering to 3 main principles:
- Encouragement of private agencies and institutions to certify farmers, extending onsite handholding services to them
- Creation and facilitation of a modern IT-enabled marketing infrastructure
- Development of innovative laws, especially on just taxes for businesses
All of the above proves that the transition to full-fledged entrepreneurship is possible for any farmer, provided they understand marketing and customer loyalty, are not afraid of taking risks and innovating and are supported by the government.
