As the season winds down, now is the best time to reflect on the good, the bad, and the ugly. You don’t need to create a plan for next year now, but you do want to start your analysis while the season is still fresh in your mind, to set yourself up for better planning for next year.
In this workshop, we’ll talk about how to organize your numbers (that is, your sales, expenses, and other cash flows) so you can better understand what went right and what you’d like to do differently next year. We’ll walk through how to analyze your numbers, so you know what changes you want to make for the coming year. We’ll also talk about some of the common roadblocks that get in the way of farming profitability, and discuss how you can overcome them. Feel free to bring your numbers and your questions.
In celebration of your successes, making it through another growing season, and the release of The Farmer’s Office, 2nd edition, we’ll be assessing the season and celebrating with wine, bourbon, and cheese. Other (non-alcoholic) beverages and food that feel festive to you are welcome, bring some to share!
Speaker bio:
Julia Shanks, author of The Farmer’s Office, works with agricultural entrepreneurs as a business strategist, analysist and educator. She brings a broad range of professional experiences to her clients, from pilot to chef to serial entrepreneur. She combines the practicality of an accountant with the creativity of a chef.
Through her consulting practice, Julia helps food and farm businesses maximize profits and streamline operations through business planning, feasibility studies and operational audits. She provides financial management trainings to farmers and business advisors who work with farmers. Julia shares her tools and knowledge more broadly in her second book, The Farmer’s Office. This book is a practical hands-on guide to help farmers think like entrepreneurs so they can build financially sustainable businesses.
Julia’s career started at the FAA as an aviation analyst and quickly swerved to the culinary arts. After more than 10 years of professional cooking, Julia got her MBA, became a college professor of accounting and continued her ventures in entrepreneurship.
Julia received her professional training as a chef at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, her BA from Hampshire College and an MBA Magna Cum Laude from Babson College. She is QuickBooks certified pro-advisor.
About The Farmer’s Office
You launched your farm-business because you love working the land and producing food. Yet to succeed you also need to think like an entrepreneur. The Farmer's Office, Second Edition is your must-have toolkit for starting and growing a sustainable agricultural business. Topics include:
• How to write a business plan for a new or growing venture
• Detailed descriptions of accounting and business concepts
• Setting up and using QuickBooks for day-to-day sales and expense tracking, as well as for more complex tasks such as budgeting, cash flow analysis, cost accounting; reading financial statements
• Leveraging financial information to refine operations, improve profits, and develop strategies for growth
• Accessing financing and managing debt Adapting to external shocks and learning to pivot
• Planning for business growth and expansion
• Understanding mental blocks that can limit an entrepreneur's success.
Enhanced with detailed case studies of real farm businesses, The Farmer's Office, Second Edition is your personal business coach, providing guidance for all the business skills needed to succeed as a businessperson in a competitive and rapidly changing world.