Saturday, January 31, 2015

Criteria On Formulating Farm Business Planning Finger Lakes

By Ines Flores


Proper planning in agricultural production allows one to analyze the financial feasibility of the proposed farming business. It helps in making more informed and strategic decisions that may increase the chances of success and reduce the risk of financial loss. A good plan should be simple, realistic complete and specific. You need to put the plan into practice for it to be used. The information that follows is essential in farm business planning Finger Lakes.

A plan is essential in setting goals, processing of credit; evaluate the effectiveness of business strategies for long term planning. The goals should be specific, measurable, attainable rewarding and time bound of what the business expects to achieve in future years. You can set short-term goals that are achievable in less than one year or long-term goals that are accomplished in a period of more than one year.

Go for goals that are realistic. Consequently, the dates and objectives should be in tandem with the operation of the farming business. Formulate simplified goals, which are easy to read and understand even by other not so learned people. However, the goals keep on changing as the business grows thus review and analyze the plan regularly.

Get a mission for the farm. The mission statement should incorporate the objectives of the public, customer's, employees, owner's and financial institutions. Let the mission statement give a highlight on the reasons for the existence of the business its use and the direction it will take. Plan for aspects like production, financial, human resource and marketing. Let the plan cover details from planting to harvesting.

Financial statements will help make important production, financing and investment decisions. This will assist with borrowing loans. You need to develop budgets for farming enterprises. The balance sheet will reflect the owner's equity or net worth by assessing the assets and liabilities of the enterprise. It is important to go by the current market rates when evaluating the value of your assets as well as liabilities. Remember to calculate depreciation of machinery.

The profit and loss account document will show whether the farm is making a profit or a loss. It lists the income, expenses and profit in a fiscal year. Most farmers use the profit and loss statement to calculate income for tax purposes. You may use the cash or the accrual method to prepare the income statement.

Consider your implementation plan as a list of must do. Implementation will be done within a specific period. You will notice that some areas are not practical to implement. Going through the plan will help identify bottlenecks and avoid these pitfalls.

You need to include an exit plan. The exit plan should include criteria to indicate it is time to exit and probably try something new. This is because farming, unlike other businesses has several risks beyond human control. Some reasons for exiting are farmer's illness, death of a partner, financial crisis, age and generation gap.




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