The biggest factor in the success or failure of your farm business is you – the owner! “How can that be with all of the global financial issues, the exchange rate, the market volatility,” I hear you say. Absolutely those things affect your business and why wouldn’t they? However the point is not what happens but what you do about it.
All farm businesses depend on their owners, just like any other business. In farming however it is usually the owner who runs it and does most of the work. There may be other personnel involved but the decisions carried out come from your thought processes, experience and understanding. In other words the buck stops with you. This is why it is so important for farmers to upskill as business owner thinkers and become “business owners with a farm.”
Let’s back up a little. Your business isn’t you and you are not your business. Your business is your business and you are you. There are 2 completely separate entities here. Your life consists of you, your thoughts, your likes and dislikes, your relationships, how you interact with others, your passion and how you react to various stimuli, to name a few. Your business is an entity with systems, sales, purchases, the conversion of pasture to profit, business professionals, working dogs, reporting systems and so on. It needs you to breathe life into it and direct it well. Everything that happens in your business is usually down to choices you make. Yes, there are compliance issues, regulations and variable markets but you still choose how well you comply or organise your business to minimise issues and optimise results.
You see, the mind and thoughts dictate the decisions and actions that occur in your business. If you find that you are flat out, have a lot of issues and take hits all the time through lack of organisation, chances are that you organise your mind and/or your personal life like that too. Equally, if things are going well, chances are that you organise your mind and/or your personal life like that too. This is simple cause and effect stuff. So to make positive change, attack the cause, not the symptom. Review how you think, how you react and what your thought habits are. This is the start of getting your business into a position of strength.
According to Stephen Covey, great paradigms explain and then guide. This success thinking does exactly that. Taking personal responsibility for who you are, what you are about and how you interact with others soon brings the answers about why your results are as they are. Please don’t blame the weather, the markets or the banker first. They do what they do. You may need to make changes in these areas but check out your decision making, knowledge and relational skills first. The clues and reasons will usually be found, as will the way forward.
Remember, your business isn’t you but it is a reflection of what goes on in your mind and your personal life. It is quite difficult to have the two continuing to run inconsistently. In nature, like attracts like. You can battle the external factors only or you can start with the internal environment to straighten out the pathway forward. This is a choice we all get to make and no-one is exempt from it – just ensure you make it well.