About more that a year since I decided to start an entrepreneurial journey through farming. I am close to zero knowledge about farming methods and techniques but because of the help from my family and a bunch of research, we’re able to produce our very first product a year after.
Lowkey Flexing Our Garlic Chili Oil
My dream to start farming came to life with 30 heads of Dominant CZ chicks. I bought it from a registered breeder in my province. But my great enthusiasm was immediately tested when I encountered one of the biggest challenge in this journey just 3 days after purchasing the chicks. My province in Bohol was hit by one of the strongest category 5 typhoon, Odette. Chicks in brooding pen need consistent heat and light supply but due to the devastating typhoon, we had no electricity for almost 5 months.
The dilemma started less than a week since I decided to finally start my farming dream but somehow we managed to persevere. The process was so funny, stressful and tiring but looking back, I’m amazed how we manage to push through with all those obstacles. Right now we have different vegetables, fresh and organic eggs, meat, and fish for our daily consumption as well as to our local community.
Although the experience is still too little, I can say that I am able to learn so much with this journey. Here are some valuable lessons that I learned as an entrepreneur in agriculture:
You can’t do it alone. Specially when you are just starting in which you need to do it on top of your 9-5 job, you definitely need someone to help you with the day to day farm duties. Luckily for me, I have my family who have been very supportive since the beginning.
Remote farming is close to impossible. Believe me, I tried and it’s really hard to push when you’re away. I think the best explanation for that is the difference on your drive and enthusiasm compared to the caretakers of your farm business. To you it’s a dream come true but to then it can be just another 9–5 job. Your presence will help them understand how big is your vision and as a ripple effect, it motivates them to dream big as well.
You need to be financially able. Although the idea is to start farming to earn money but nowadays, the reality is that you need to have certain capital or a stable source of income to be able to start your agri-preneurial journey. Of coarse you can move towards sustainability and natural farming where expenses are lower but the journey towards that goal is long. To help fuel your drive, you need to start earning little by little and to do that, you need to start with synthetic based techniques.
Not monitoring is the first step to failure. “You can’t improve what you can’t measure”. It’s a famous quote in business where you can never improve and make better changes on things that you are not monitoring. Many small time business owners who failed early in their careers are due to lack of basic accounting. Rigid and deep accounting knowledge is a plus but the basics can definitely propel the business far enough just like monitoring of your cash flow and simple inventory checks.
The idea is so good but be prepared for the hard work. Yes, owning a farm business is a great idea! The chill province vibe and relaxing sensation being away from the city is so appealing that many corporate workers would love to change career to. But behind that beauty is the day to day struggle, hard labor, failures and frustrations, heavy research, and countless trial and error. Every agri-prenuer can relate that there will be countless times when you have to wake up in the middle of the night to check on the condition of your livestocks.
Things I’ve mentioned above can look negative but I hope you see it as challenges not reasons to postpone your dream. Those are my experiences and learnings that may or may not apply to your journey but they can be a great starter for you to be aware and prepare for what’s coming. It’s tiring, yes, but even more fulfilling!
But all I can say to you who are thinking of starting your farming career, you can either start small or big, but what’s more important is you start NOW. The longer you prolong your ideas and goals, the lesser they become reality. Remember that the inspiration today might be so high but tomorrow it can be close to zero. So while you’re at your peak, hit it!