Courtesy of Roxanne C., Philadelphia PA
Soil building. Sustainable growing practices. Eliminating waste. These are what new farmers obsess about. They’re overlooking something that has a far more important impact on their business. No matter how good a grower you are, your farm’s success is dictated by something you can’t always control, and don’t think too much about until your gas bills start coming in or you start nodding off at the wheel. It’s distance to market.
Even if your market commute isn’t taking a big toll on your expenses or health, it’s a key business factor that needs to be weighed when considering new or different markets, or figuring out how to reach your revenue goal. Here is your key decision:
Longer drives to bigger markets with greater revenue versus shorter drives with potentially less revenue
To help you decide you need to calculate gas expense, commute time, and hours spent at market for each type of commute. Here are some of the trade-offs:
— Longer drives require that you are able to reach your revenue benchmark and has to justify the gas expense
— Short distance drives means less gas expense, but also maybe less revenue
— You might have to go to several short distance markets to meet revenue, but that means more time at markets
There are no easy answers to this crucial question, but not addressing it means your farm business is less likely to go the distance.
LEARN THE BUSINESS OF GROWING FOOD FROM FARMERS WHO KNOW HOW TO GO THE DISTANCE IN BACKYARD FARMING TODAY BY JOINING BACKYARD RICHES HERE.
