The key to successful diversification is to prevent new
enterprises becoming a dangerous distraction to the core farming
business, a group of young entrepreneurs heard on Tuesday (4
March).
Speaking at a
packed event for young entrepreneurial people in farming, held
at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, rural consultant
James Miles-Hobbs said successful business people were highly
skilled at managing their time.
"Successful diversification means diversification, not
distraction. This can, at worst, seriously undermine the existing
business."
Skill set
And before embarking on a separate diversified enterprise,
farmers should consider whether they possessed the right attributes
themselves or whether they needed to employ others with different
skills.
"You must like people more than cows. Perhaps the older
generation in farming sometimes prefer cows - at least they offer
routine, don't change the rules and don't argue about the bill.
"You have to understand and know your customers, and it's about
managing these people to get the most out of them."
Design
For example, a well-designed farm visitor attraction would
include opportunities to increase visitors' "dwell time" - places
where they will increase the amount of time spent overall and their
total spend.
"Successful entrepreneurs need to be completely market-focussed.
It's very difficult to group people together and understand how
they work. But there are some simple things you can do.
"For example, the top elements of successful farm visitor
attractions are opportunities for people to view animals, interact
with them, and learn through play or entertainment."
And farmers, who had long been price takers, should avoid the
trap of selling too cheap, he added. "Traditionally, the dairy
farmer has had limited negotiating power in signing a new milk
contract, and certainly had no involvement with the consumer that
buys the milk, but successful diversified businesses can change
that."
View the
Future's in Your Hands picture gallery on FWiSpace.