en·tre·pre·neur
noun
A person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on greater than normal financial risks to do so.
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As we often see and hear, the days of simply growing crops and raising livestock are gone. Of course, those two activities are anything but simple, but the point is we need to run our operations like a business, not a lifestyle.
Tracy Brunet, Impact Farming podcast host, had Evan Shout on as a recent guest to explore the agripreneur mindset. Shout is a certified public accountant and involved in several ag businesses, including Maverick Ag and Farmer Coach. He stressed vision, planning and strategic planning. He also suggests considering business structures and systems, growth, how to work and goal setting.
The next generation of farmers and ranchers can build a place for themselves through the business structure and by setting up roles and responsibilities. Explore and identify each member’s unique strengths, passions and interests.
“Know what you are good at and stay in your lane,” he says.
Excuse me if it seems like I am being repetitive, but I think this is so important as we work on transitioning to the next generation. Operations are going to look different in the future because they have different people leading them. We cannot expect things to be status quo. Your daughter or son is not going to do things exactly like you, no matter how similar you are.
In the transition process, I have used the analogy of a relay race and passing the baton. But trapeze acrobats might be even more apt. There is space and time between letting go of the first trapeze and grabbing the second. In that space, there is fear and uncertainty but terrific courage and hope.
Geena Luckett from Nova Scotia was a featured agripreneur at the recent FCC Women in Ag Summit. She has taken over the family winery from her dad, Pete, of Pete’s Frootique grocery store fame. It had not been intended that she come back and take over the family business but after getting a business management degree, the winery was an enterprise that sparked her interest. She acknowledges they had a challenging start and says some of that was around roles and responsibilities and lack of clarity around the new dynamic. They had not communicated that to the team. They also had to develop communication and decision-making processes.
As Evan Shout notes, many plans are in the senior member’s head and it is vital to share them, and more importantly, get them written down. Luckett was intentional about learning all aspects of the family business. Some learning was done inside the business and some outside. She created a plan to identify her strengths but also develop her own leadership style. The learning around management also included conversations with other team members and implementing strategies. She also referenced the importance of identifying relationships as they changed from father-daughter to employer-employee and then partners. Along with that comes establishing clear boundaries with work relationships, and aiming to be on the same page. The younger Luckett paid close attention to their communication and ensured it was effective.
She came up with the 3 C’s (for dealing with Dad), but it could apply to anyone:
- Communication – striving to be open-minded and hear what the other is saying.
- Collaboration – determining if both people are required for the task or only one.
- Compromise – knowing when to push and when to back down.
The aim is to come to a solution that both stand behind, while knowing it is not always possible.
She incorporates significant self-assessment as she pursues continuous learning. She also identifies “non-negotiables” in the transition planning process and is keenly aware of moving along the process and discussions.
“Do it while you still have the time and everyone is in a good space.”
Sheena Russell is another Maritime agripreneur featured at the Women in Ag Summit. She and her business partner developed the “Made with Local” snack food which is found in 3,000 retail outlets. A key feature of their success has been staying true to the vision of sourcing local ingredients for their product and championing local producers. They also incorporated working with a social enterprise for production.
Russell’s side hustle with a friend turned into a major enterprise that was significantly scaled up. It required courage to pursue B Corp Certification, which means meeting high social and environmental standards, among other criteria. Growth involved risks and opportunities for more family members to be involved. It also included expanding to own their own manufacturing facility and becoming a world-class food manufacturer.
Russell likens that move to standing at a cliff’s edge and leaping. Pulling that off required having great people around them and letting people expand on their strengths to become an incredible team. Along the journey, she stressed the importance of alignment with their vision and values and building a life that is best for them.
There is much evidence of necessary agripreneur characteristics in both Luckett and Russell. There is much to look forward to as the next generation takes the reins.
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