Driving our own business - Nick and Antonia McGuinn

“The GrowFARM System has really helped us to focus our efforts in order to be profitable so that we can move towards achieving our goals," say Nick and Antonia McGuinn, farm business owners from Taihape. “We spend a lot more time "on" the business, not just "in" it,” continues Antonia. “We get to drive our business ourselves and we just love that!”

But it wasn’t always that way. Nick worked on the family farm but wanted his own business. Fortunately he was able to lease 240ha of family land. Antonia being an Auckland city girl admits she had no sense of how to monitor progress of a farm.

Once underway they soon realised they were treading water and felt lost in terms of how to get ‘solid runs’ on the board. Their goals were defined but the pathway to achieving them was not. They both wanted ownership to provide capital, opportunity and security of income. Other goals included ‘spare cash and spare time’, to be happy in their work and to help set Nick’s parents up in their retirement.

The McGuinns joined GrowFARM because they liked the concept of a profit focussed coaching system. They felt traditional farming systems didn't do this and relied on a year of good prices to do OK. They felt regular business coaching could keep them on-track and accountable.  The regular telephone calls would help to solve issues and bounce ideas around. Antonia also needed a concrete way of understanding the farm business. Using the GrowFARM ProfitLIVE system, both could login at any time and update stock numbers and run scenarios to see where profit could be made.  It also allowed them to track the progress of their business, rather than waiting for ‘the end of year accounts’.  

Meeting with other GROWFARM clients has given Nick and Antonia new ideas.  Nick soon discovered that he was good at asking questions as well as creating opportunities with other people. “We had to work hard to build those relationships but it was all worth it, says Nick. “I never used to be like that. My belief in my own abilities has really grown.”

Nick and Antonia have also taken their share of hits. One winter they carried too many animals for too long. Nick says he felt he had to have stock on to cover the monthly lease payment so he panicked and overcompensated by stocking up at the wrong time to get the grass eaten. Pasture covers dropped dramatically and feeding the animals properly was difficult. “In a way it was good that it happened. Challenges are good because I always learn from them. I know I don’t ever want to be in that situation again,” Nick recounts. The GROWFARM system helped us to move through the situation and come out the other side.  “Sucking it up” and making the hard calls was a “no brainer” and consequently they bounced back quickly – the business is continuing to generate great profits.

“We are now far more proactive and we act early to set up for when profit is available,” says Antonia. “We use feed budgets and make sure that we always have good manageable pasture covers, even in a drought,” adds Nick. We regularly monitor climate, market values and trends, liveweights, finances and cash flows, allowing us to identify opportunities and issues early so we can do something about them. We communicate a lot more with our business team. This has seen us free up spare time for other things like spending time together with our 4 month old daughter, and golf!”

“Being more relaxed, we feel a lot more on top of things. We feel as though we have the mental space to attack the big issues such as farm succession and business relationships. Nick has gone from feeling guilty when he was not working "in" the business, to not feeling guilty at all! Working "on" the business more often gives us a far better chance to make the profit actually flow.”

“The biggest highlight of the GrowFARM System for us is being able to drive our own business. The GrowFARM client culture is very positive, and that is a huge bonus, especially in challenging times” emphasises Nick.

"We still have a way to go to achieve our vision, but the plan is clear and we are the ones driving it. There is no other way we would rather do it!"