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Exclusive Content: Stop Wasting Time
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This audiobook shares how successful Farms automate tasks to save time in their day-to-day operations, without sacrificing profits. From using software and solutions to scheduling marketing efforts in advance, Farms can more easily scale without added stress.
For more Farm resources, visit: https://www.barn2door.com/resources
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Transcript
Introduction to the Independent Farmer Podcast
00:00:10
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Hello and welcome to the Independent Farmer podcast, the go-to podcast for do-it-yourself farmers who are taking control of their own business, skipping the middleman, and selling direct to local consumer and wholesale buyers.
00:00:20
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This podcast is hosted by Barn to Door, the number one business tool for independent farmers to manage their business, promote their brand, and sell online and in person. Let's dive in to today's Independent Farmer podcast.
Time-Saving Strategies on the Farm
00:00:42
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Stop Wasting Time Free Time Saving Guide for Your Farm Introduction If you run an independent farm operation, you know that time is precious. There are not many breaks between daily chores, ongoing projects, harvest schedules, order fulfillments, and ongoing and go-to-market efforts.
00:00:59
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Streamline your processes wherever possible and delegate tasks to a team member to avoid putting all the pressure and work on yourself. Successful farms can better scale their business when they automate operations and streamline their processes.
00:01:12
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It is possible to get hours back in your day and increase your farm profits by leveraging third-party software and service providers to offload your manual efforts. Follow these six tips to save time on your farm.
00:01:23
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Chapter 1. Go-to-Market Strategy Automate your orders. To save time on the farm, you must look to automate the processes of capturing orders, even if you're unavailable. Your farm should attract new sales without your constant engagement or monitoring.
00:01:37
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Buyers prefer to secure a purchase on their own time, at their own convenience. Using software, your farm can provide buyers an easy, consistent shopping experience to simplify your efforts. Use e-commerce for your farm to provide an online storefront that customers can access and shop 24-7, whether it be online, on their phone, social media, or through email.
00:01:57
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With software built for farmers, you can have features such as live inventory updates, automated order reminders, and separate shopping experiences and prices for both retail and wholesale buyers.
00:02:08
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Entice buyers with recurring orders to purchase subscriptions. Each week or month, their orders will be automatically renewed, providing your farm consistent revenue and your buyers with food security.
Automation in Farm Operations
00:02:19
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In-person sales may be streamlined using a point of sale or POS billed for farm food, accept card, cash, and mobile payments, never turning buyers way.
00:02:28
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Sell by weight or fixed price and connect online and in-person orders with an e-commerce platform. so your inventory updates in real time without any manual efforts. Buyers will be pleased when they can shop online and easily access their products at a pickup location or through delivery.
00:02:44
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One of our farmers says, I've already gotten more customers just by launching online store. They could pre-order and pay, and they said it made it so convenient for them because they are busy. Automate your pick and pack Leverage software to automate your pick and pack list to ensure all the order information for gathering and packing your products is in one place.
00:03:03
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Every order can be aggregated into a pick list so your harvest crew knows exactly the amount of products to assemble and aggregate. A pack list provides you with all the details to prepare orders for delivery and pickup.
00:03:14
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Instead of writing down every detail when taking orders manually, software can easily assemble all of the information for your fulfillments in seconds. Your farm can print detailed pack list labels, including the appropriate contents, order numbers, and addresses for fulfillments.
00:03:29
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Instead of manually entering and creating labels, Your store can automatically produce labels with the click of a button. Download and print on standard size Avery label stickers to attach to the outside of a bag or a box.
00:03:40
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Invoice buyers, especially for large orders, for accurate reporting on payments and order status. Simplify delivery and pickups. Do not waste time manually assembling and planning delivery routes, then entering addresses one at a time into your GPS.
00:03:56
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With the Barn-to-Door and Routeific integration, customer addresses will automatically be uploaded on delivery day, and the most optimal route will be offered to your drivers. This ensures you can get your buyers their products quickly and drivers will not waste time on the road.
00:04:10
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If you don't use Routeific, export your pack list for a one-click upload to any variety of routing apps.
Delegation and Employee Management
00:04:16
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Chapter 2, Delegate Farm Tasks. Use farm labor to cover monotonous chores.
00:04:22
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It is crucial to delegate farm tasks among employees and volunteers. The most successful farmers do not attempt to do everything on their own. Rather, most farmers seek assistance when tackling critical operations, such as harvesting and processing dates, and delivery days.
00:04:37
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This will also help you to eliminate the chances of burnout from managing too many tasks. Many farmers are often surprised by how many of their loyal buyers will actually volunteer to assist at no cost.
00:04:48
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Manage your inventory online. Use software built for farmers to manage your inventory in real time, whether sold online or in person. Manually tracking every movement of your products requires cost and monitoring, leaving more room for error.
00:05:01
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Instead, use software that will automatically update your inventory after every order. BarnesDoor enables you to step away from the computer while it automatically tracks and updates your store items, anywhere, anytime.
00:05:13
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Automate marketing engagement. Automate your marketing communications to send timely, personalized messages to your customers. Using Mailchimp, your farm can send automated emails based on your buyer's actions and purchasing habits.
00:05:26
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The barn-to-door and Mailchimp integration can automatically segment your customers into similar audiences and put them into a campaign, such as new customer or loyal buyer, using customer journeys.
00:05:37
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Meta Business Suite gives your operation the ability to schedule social media posts well ahead of time for both Facebook and Instagram. Take 15 minutes to schedule your posts every one to two weeks.
00:05:48
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Upload photos and draft captions in advance so you can focus on farming. This is especially helpful during the busy season or when you're aiming to relax during the off season. Meta Business Suite provides insights as to how buyers interact with your posts.
00:06:00
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Google My Business allows your farm to expand visibility to local buyers. Google will verify your business information to share with current and potential customers. When customers look for your farm name in Google Search or Google Maps, they will see your information locally.
00:06:14
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This gives buyers 24-7 access to your business, with your website linked, farm hours marked, photos of your products, and reviews from your loyal buyers, building trust for potential customers. Use a part-time employee for marketing.
00:06:27
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Not every farmer enjoys the marketing side of running a business, but there is no question that it is crucial for your growth. If farm marketing is not your favorite task, hire a part-time student or employee who understands your audience of buyers.
00:06:39
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Once they understand your mission and your core values, they can begin to help market your brand to local buyers through social media and email marketing. Using Barnador's marketing toolkit combined with scheduling tools available for meta business suite, the job of a young part-time marketer can be easily accomplished in a few hours per month.
00:06:57
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Use a part-time delivery driver for fulfillment. Many farms find that it is necessary to hire drivers for delivery day. Fulfilling orders can take several hours whether dropping your products at pickups or on the doorstep.
00:07:09
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That is precious time that you may not have to get away from the farm, or you may simply want a well-deserved break. Many of the most successful farms employ part-time delivery drivers, sometimes high school or college students, who only want to work one to two days a week.
00:07:22
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These drivers can be paid as a contractor in cash or farm products for their efforts.
Sales and Marketing Tactics
00:07:27
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Chapter 3, Sell Out Before Harvest. Sell pre-orders ahead of season. Offering pre-orders gives your farm the opportunity to pre-sell products ahead of harvest.
00:07:37
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This reduces stress in the busy season as you already have orders in hand and profits secured. To build FOMO around pre-orders, announce them well ahead of time, creating urgency with limited time offers or limited quantities.
00:07:49
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Provide your newsletter subscribers with early access, including a countdown reminder to get ahead of open market sales. This will help you secure orders and attract more email subscribers. If buyers fear they will not have access to your most popular items, they will sign up ahead of time to lock in their order.
00:08:05
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Align your harvest with same-day fulfillments. Once you secure pre-order commitments, you can align your harvest dates with same-day fulfillments. This will help you streamline your schedule in the busy season without feeling overwhelmed.
00:08:16
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For bastard proteins, schedule your pickup from the processor in the morning, then pack and run fulfillments that afternoon. Stay out of the freezer business and cut your labor costs in half. For produce farms, you can plan your harvest schedule in advance, then shift labor to packing and fulfilling orders that are already in the books.
00:08:32
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Pre-selling your products will help you reduce your cold storage costs and streamline your labor costs, which will boost your profit margins. Attempting to market and manage orders while trying to harvest your products is a tall order.
00:08:43
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Instead, get ahead of the busy season and attract pre-orders so when harvest arrives, your products are ready to move. Chapter 4. Capture Sales Anytime Anywhere Make sales accessible from a variety of avenues to ensure every buyer feels like they have an easy way to shop from your farm store.
00:09:00
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Your online farm store should be linked across your social media platforms, in your email newsletters, and on your website. Your store should be easy to shop across various devices, including laptops, tablets, or a mobile phone.
00:09:11
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Deploy an e-commerce solution that will be accessible for all of your buyers. Online sales will provide an opportunity for buyers to self-serve ordering products twenty four so 94% of buyers prefer to make a self-serve purchase without talking to anyone.
00:09:24
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One of our farmers says, One of my favorite things about the entire business is waking up in the morning, checking your email, and seeing that you sold $200 worth of stuff while you're sleeping. I mean, your whole day is just like sunshine and roses from that point.
00:09:37
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Build relationships through in-person sales. In-person sales are a great way to form personal relationships with your local buyers. When buyers are able to put a face to who they are buying from and hear about value straight from the farmer, it helps to build your brand.
00:09:50
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Form these relationships by setting up an on-farm store, participating in local farmers markets, or a pop-up event, where you can also form partnerships with other businesses Invite community members to on-farm events to educate them on your practices or to show them how your food is produced.
00:10:05
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Once these relationships are established, your buyers will become another avenue of marketing for your farm. Chapter 5. Simplify Your Product Mix Use easy-to-shop inventory. An overwhelming inventory deters buyers and lowers purchase conversions.
00:10:20
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Additionally, it creates additional work for you or any employees you may have to maintain your order management system. Focus on the products that are in high demand buyers and bundle any items that simply don't move on their own, such as liver or cow's tongue.
00:10:33
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It's recommended to have no more than 55 items in your inventory, so buyers don't have to search dozens of pages to find what they want. If buyers are given too many options, they may experience decision fatigue, or they are too overwhelmed to make a purchase and abandon your store altogether.
00:10:47
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Successful farms pin their 5 to 7 most popular items to the top of their shop. This makes it easy for buyers to quickly find what they're looking for and to tice the customers with your best selection first. 60% of buyers will purchase one of the first three items on your page and 80% of buyers will never get past page one of your store.
00:11:04
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As a result, put your subscriptions, pre-orders, and other high demand options first. Offer bundle boxes to move more products. Bundle boxes allow you to move all your inventory, including less popular items that may sit your deep freezer.
00:11:17
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Bundle boxes allow you to be in control as the farmer. Assemble a bundle box of complimentary products. You know your products best, so a Farmer's Choice model will allow you to pack a fresh variety of products in a box for your buyers to enjoy. it Nine out of 10 buyers are willing to opt in to a Farmer's Choice model subscription.
00:11:35
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Assemble 3 to 5 bundle box sizes. Offer 3 to 5 different sizes of bundle boxes so buyers have the option to choose what best suits their needs and household size. One third of Americans live alone, one third live with two people, and the other third live with four or more people.
00:11:50
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Offer a small, medium, and large box size to accommodate the majority of buyers. Only giving buyers one option may scare them off or turn them away from your farm store if the box size does not cater to their household needs.
Long-term Planning and Revenue Stability
00:12:02
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Chapter 6 Build a Base of Ongoing Subscriptions Build Recurring Revenue Ongoing subscriptions can help your farm secure recurring revenue year-round, so you're not constantly worrying about gathering new order commitments.
00:12:14
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All of your buyers are going to keep consuming products, so make it easy to secure ongoing access from your farm. Market ongoing subscriptions across every online channel, and in-person markets, pop-ups, events, and your on-farm store.
00:12:27
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Ongoing subscriptions can provide you with a steady stream of revenue without any added effort year-round. Best of all, your loyal buyers will appreciate the convenience and peace of mind of regular, ongoing access to your products.
00:12:39
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One of our farmers says, Because we use Barn-to-Door, a third of our sales are subscriptions, and we save several hours a week by not having to be on the phone taking orders. We're able to create full-time income and scale our farm business.
00:12:52
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Reduce uncertainty in your farm business All seven-figure farmers with barn-to-door earn the majority of their revenue from ongoing subscriptions. To provide peace of mind and to scale your operations, you need to reduce uncertainties in your farm business.
00:13:05
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Subscriptions enable you to know product demand months in advance, making your job easier. Buyers will be charged for each subscription fulfillment, and your product mix can be determined well ahead of harvest.
00:13:16
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Subscriptions also enable you to maintain a routine for packing and fulfilling orders, since you have a set schedule for harvest, delivery, and make-ups. Conclusion. Save time on your farm by automating your tasks and planning ahead of your farm sales.
00:13:30
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Use software built for farmers and hire employees to help delegate chores where your presence is not necessary. Your farm can get back time and increase profit margins with the right processes in place. Successful farmers save time by automating their operations from fulfilling orders to marketing to buyers.
00:13:45
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Barn to Door offers software for independent farmers to create and promote their brand, sell online and in-person, and save time managing their business. To learn more, visit BarnToDoor.com. This has been Stop Wasting Your Time, a free time-saving guide for your farm narrated by Bill B. Thorms.
00:14:12
Speaker
Thank you for joining us on the Independent Farmer Podcast. At Barn to Door, we are passionate about empowering independent farmers to build a thriving business. To all the farmers out there, thank you for all you do to grow amazing food, care for the soil, and serve your local communities.
00:14:27
Speaker
You are the backbone of our country. For free farm resources or to listen to prior podcasts, go to barntodore.com backslash resources. We hope you join us again and subscribe to the Independent Farmer Podcast wherever you stream your podcasts. Until next time.