What Are My First steps?
Establishing a farm diversification business is not necessarily a step by step process, although it is perhaps best approached in a systematic manner. Your initial steps could include:
- Looking at your potential
- Generating business ideas
- Thinking about how much commitment you can give
- Talking to family and friends
- After this it is probably best to adopt a co-ordinated approach.
The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has published a booklet on farm diversification, complementary to this web site. It outlines nine key stages on the road to diversification and provides good guidelines for a systematic approach to getting started. The stages cover the following topics:
- Stage 1 Asking why
- Stage 2 Am I the right type of person?
- Stage 3 Can the farm cope?
- Stage 4 Matching your ideas to the market
- Stage 5 Producing and delivering
- Stage 6 Marketing your Enterprise
- Stage 7 Staying legal
- Stage 8 Organising finances
- Stage 9 Business planning
A copy can be obtained from your local Rural Enterprise Adviser or Request a booklet.