On Being Afraid

Courtesy of Wally Satzewich, Wally’s Market Garden, Pleasantdale SK

Dealing with fear comes up a lot in my coaching, in various ways. Scared of not having enough of some crops or too much of another. Or having crappy looking veggies. Or looking like you don’t know what you’re doing. It can be disheartening when you go home with meager earnings for a market you’ve done so much work for.

It happens with both beginners and those who have some experience. I tell them I’m scared most of the time too. Production, marketing, equipment breakdowns. Absolutely dead days at market. Most of the farmers I know are also scared, most of the time. It’s part of having a small business. But you get through it, and part of it is bonding with fellow vendors. Overall it’s the positive experiences you have that make it worthwhile, and there are plenty of those.

Starting out can be scary, until you prove to yourself you can make money. This farmer is a good example:

“My biggest fear with SPIN farming is that I DO invest money, time and energy and killing myself for a growing season and go to the farmer’s market for 25 weeks and only make $100 a week. I would hate to do all that for only $2500 for the year :-(“

He’s not in the middle of a big city. He’s about 30 minutes outside of one. He’s only 3 miles away from a bedroom-type community with a population of around 80,000. He’s surrounded by big farms. He has about an acre that includes a house a couple of pasture areas for a dairy cow, horse, 9 dairy goats, 5 pigs, 32 chickens, a backyard for the kids to play. He’s using 7,000 sq. ft. for his vegetable operation, starting part-time.

Low income and a negative bottom line for a startup business is probably the norm. You have to factor in your capital costs, and your lack of experience. The fact that you don’t “make money” your first few years doesn’t mean you failed, it just means you need to build on what you have experienced.

Year 1 can be difficult, there is no question about that. Success is having not too bad of a year that you get totally discouraged about going into Year 2. That’s where SPIN’s benchmarks and standardized system of production come into play. They also help get past another doubt I hear:

“I really feel lost. I don’t know if I am fairly successful relative to other farms or how much money is reasonable to expect to make.”

To measure your progress and figure out how to do better, you need performance goals that are quantifiable. That’s what SPIN’s benchmarks are for, whether you are starting at the backyard level or looking to scale up to several acres. How well are you doing? How is it possible to do better? How much better? SPIN’s benchmarks aren’t achievable in every situation. Some have been far surpassed. The specific numbers don’t really matter. What does is having a measurable revenue target and a context in which to apply it. After 30+ years in business, I put myself through a soul searching exercise every winter, in terms of what do I need to do differently to make more money next year.

The great thing about produce is that people want to buy from you every week. Like I say, the fear factor doesn’t go away, but there’s a reward factor too. Fear, self-doubt is just something you get used to. One farmer I coached copes by doing homework. She says it well:

”Feeling PREPARED by choosing the right markets, veggie choices, harvest schedules, etc. The fear becomes less of scream that keeps me up at night and more of a whisper.”

GET THE BENCHMARKS THAT HELP YOU FIGURE OUT HOW WELL YOU’RE DOING HERE.