Where can you find free examples of a farm business plan?

Farm Business Plans

I spent some time scouring the Web this morning for sample business plans related to farming. I’m including some links to specific, and in most instances, very detailed business plans. I’ve also included links to sites which can help guide you during the business planning process and two resources for one-on-one personal assistance. Please, please, please keep in mind that a business plan is not a document that is simply “written”. It is a plan that takes time to develop. It’s like a recipe or blueprint. If someone asked you to give them a recipe for cooking steak tartare, you wouldn’t simply cut and paste from another recipe, say one for chocolate chip cookies, now would you? I didn’t think so. You’d have to be very specific and include details that pertain to that particular recipe. Well, when it comes to business planning, things aren’t that different. Every business is unique and no two business plans are alike. So use these sample business plans as a reference point only. Good luck!

Here are a few links to sample business plans and outlines related to farming, agriculture and food:

Business Plan for a Cattle Producer’s Marketing Coop: http://www.ciras.iastate.edu/beefmanual/Section2.pdf

Business Plan for a Small Premium Winery: http://aem.cornell.edu/outreach/extensionpdf/eb0207.pdf

Business Plan for a Beekeeper: http://farmcentre.com/english/downloads/pdf/beekeeperplan.pdf

Horticultural Business Plan: http://farmcentre.com/english/downloads/pdf/hort.pdf

Business Plan for an Herb Enterprise: http://www.smallbusinessbc.ca/pdf/sample_primary.pdf

Section-by-section Business Plan Examples for an Agricultural Business: http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/freepubs/pdfs/ua371.pdf

Farm Business Plan Outline: http://zzyx.ucsc.edu/casfs/instruction/tdm/download/2.0_Biz_Plan.pdf

For information on how to write an agricultural business plan visit one of these sites:

The University of Connecticut’s also has a site devoted to farm business planning. Visit their Cooperative Extension System Web site at: http://www.canr.uconn.edu/ces/frm/business_planning.html for links to an array of sites and information.

The following publication, Building a Sustainable Business: A Guide to Developing a Business Plan for Farms and Rural Businesses, was developed by a planning team for the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture (MISA). The guide addresses the evolving business planning needs of rural entrepreneurs. They offer a free PDF version of this document at: http://www.misa.umn.edu/publications/bizplan.html.

Another online guide: Building a Business Plan for Your Farm: Important First Steps, will help further arm you with the knowledge you need to develop a successful business plan. You can find it online at: http://www.agmanager.info/farmmgt/planning/Building_a_Plan_for_Your_Farm.pdf

Personal Assistance:

For personal help, contact your local chapter of SCORE or Service Corps of Retired Executives. This is a national organization sponsored by the Small Business Administration (SBA). It is made up of volunteer business executives who provide free counseling, workshops and seminars to prospective and existing small business people. They should be listed in your yellow pages or find them online.

You can also try one of the hundreds of Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs), which are also sponsored by the SBA, in partnership with state and local governments, the educational community and the private sector. They provide various resources and on-site counseling for start-up and expanding businesses. To locate your nearest SBDC, contact the SBA Small Business Answer Desk at 800-827-5722 or find them online.

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