Women in Agriculture (WAgN)

The economic crisis has dominated the news recently and despite all the expert testimony it is clear that no one really knows how long this downturn will last or how bad things will get before the situation turns around. Many small farms and micro-businesses are wondering if they can survive the wild ride. While there is no guaranteed recipe for survival, there are strategies that have proven useful during previous periods of economic uncertainty. One of them is ensuring that your employees know what is going on.

Keep your employees in the loop. Turbulent times can sometimes cause us to withhold bad news in order to protect others. That instinct is absolutely wrong. During periods of uncertainty it is critical that you be even more transparent in your communications. Start with your employees. Tell them the truth about how the business is doing and what your benchmarks are going to be for decision-making. You do not want to be in the position of having your key employees panic and start looking for new positions just when you need their creativity and skills the most.

Informed employees can be a tremendous source of help during turbulent times. They may well have innovative ideas for attracting new customers or marketing in new ways. They can help with cost-cutting and money-saving. Perhaps most importantly, informed employees can project confidence and optimism to customers because they know the situation. At all costs you want to avoid the downward spiral of poor morale and uncertainty being projected to customers who then lose confidence in the business and look for other places to make their purchases.

Having a regular opportunity to share ideas and provide updates can help short-circuit the rumor mill that can be the worst enemy of the small business.

It is the time of year for gift-giving and to each of you here are the five gifts I most wish that I could give you for the coming year...

Gift #1 is the gift of resilience. Resiliency is the ability to quickly recover from change or misfortune. No matter what the future holds for you and your business, we know that it is likely to be a challenging year. Don't fight the changes, instead look for ways to emerge better and stronger.

Gift #2 is the gift of love and support. As you are faced with challenges and opportunities this coming year let those that care for you be a part of your decision-making. Look beyond your immediate family to friends, other business owners and your customers. They can all be a great source of wisdom and support.

Gift #3 is the gift of professional development. Never stop investing in yourself. Take a class, attend a workshop, join an association, read a book, go to a conference, start a discussion group or attend a networking event at your local chamber of commerce. Continue to learn and push yourself (and your business) to try something new. It is historically true that adversity and hard times often lead to the periods of greatest innovation.

Gift #4 is the gift of humor. Laugh well and often in the coming year. Look for the silly side of things and don't take yourself too seriously. Laughter will make you feel better and help you put things into perspective. It will also bring relief to those around you.

Gift #5 is the gift of truth and courage. There will be many opportunities for you in the coming months to speak up and advocate for your business and yourself as a farmer and business owner. Speaking the truth to those that need to hear can be a frightening thing but fear should not stop you from stating what you need and why you need it. Your experience is relevant and your needs are valid -- so be present in the dialog.

There is something about this final week of the year that just begs for planning and organizing. Maybe it is because we still have some long, cold winter ahead of us or maybe it is the start of a new year -- that fresh-start, clean-slate mindset-- that sets the stage for a frenzy of tidying. Or it could be that, for many of us, the end of the calendar year is also the end of the tax year and we know that it's time to catch up on the recordkeeping and pull together the receipts, check stubs and other detritus that will tell the story of our business performance for the past year.

Closing the books on one year also means it's time to open the books on the coming year. And the first place to start is with some serious planning. How do you plan in a period of economic chaos? How will your farm business be effected by the ongoing financial downturn?

Unfortunately there is no formula that you can apply. There are no expert answers out there but that does not mean that you should stick your head in the sand and give up trying to navigate these challenging times.

If you have been in business for any length of time then you have some valuable information that can help you build a survival plan. Here are a couple pieces of information that you should take into account as you plan for the coming year.

Who are your customers? Pull together as much information as you can about who your customers are and how they are likely to be effected by the financial downturn. For example, if your customers are mostly local and your community has had some business closures then you can reasonably expect that some of your customers will have lost, or will be losing, jobs. This will impact their buying habits.

How expendable is your product? Is your product something that people will continue to need as they trim their spending? Is it a luxury product? Do you have a mix of products at different price points? All of these answers will provide clues to how you should set your sales projections for the coming year.

What is likely to happen to the cost of your inputs? Talk to your suppliers and ask them what they are anticipating for prices in the coming year. This information is critical in your planning. You should also be talking to your suppliers about how they are planning to weather the coming year. If it sounds like they are on shaky ground it is better for you to know that ahead of time. If they are planning to discontinue some of their product lines that is also important information.

Can you downsize if necessary? If any of the information above indicates that your business is likely to be impacted negatively then is it possible that you can downsize in any area? Can you reduce your product line -- giving up those items that are more costly to produce or reducing those items that don't turn over as quickly?

Are there areas that you should expand? Should you look for new customers or save the marketing money and focus on what you currently have?

All of these questions are areas that you should consider in your planning for the coming year. The one thing that you can be sure of is that this year will likely not be business as usual.