3 Winter Tasks to Better Manage your Farm Business for 2022
Managing a Farm business requires wearing a lot of different hats. However, finding the balance between Farm tasks and operating a business can be simple. The most successful Farms use the winter months to prepare for next season. Make the time to do the same for your Farm.
Here are 3 essential tasks to perform this winter to better manage your business and save time.
1. Update your Email List
It’s essential to keep your email list up-to-date as you move into the New Year. You’ll want to scrub any inactive emails in your list, like old accounts or emails that haven’t engaged with your Farm in a while. Create buyer categories that include their ‘status’ like loyal, new, or absent to send campaigns with specific messaging for each buyer type.
For example, for Loyal Customers, send emails offering early access to new or specialty products, a ‘thank you’ for being loyal, or holiday promos. For New Customers, send an automated welcome email including a first-order promo and how to purchase from your Farm. For Absent Customers or people who haven’t purchased from your Farm in a while, try sending a re-engagement campaign including limited-time offers or ‘see what’s new’ to spark interest.
If you’re a Barn2Door customer, use the Barn2Door + Mailchimp integration to easily manage your contact list and engage buyers with customized information. Leverage Customer Journeys (hyper-targeted email campaigns) and send buyer-type specific emails to get customers to think about your Farm’s products before the season begins.
2. Get Your Books in Order
It’s crucial to stay on top of your books as you progress through the year. As your Farm begins to prepare for next season, now is the perfect time to assess the financial health of your business.
To begin, start with these three statements:
Cash Flow Statement: Know how much money is coming in versus going out. Keep an eye on your revenue versus expenses, loans and repayments, and assets purchases versus assets sold. This is essential to know your cash flow balance.
Income Statement: Also known as the profit and loss statement, you should have visibility into your Farm’s revenue and expenses during any given time. Subtract your total expenses from your total revenue to find your net income.
Balance Sheet: Do you know how much equity your Farm has? Your total assets minus your total liabilities calculates your Farm’s equity (or the value of your Farm). Knowing this number will help you understand how much cash your Farm has available.
With Barn2Door + Quickbooks, Farmers can easily generate reports, including the ones outlined above, to assess the financial health of your business and plan for the future. Take these months to organize your books and gain visibility into the numbers behind your business. When you understand the workings of your operations, it’s easier to identify opportunities for growth in 2022.
3. Calculate Your Taxes
For Farmers, filing taxes (even though extremely important) does not generate revenue. However, with the ever-changing tax rules and regulations, it’s essential that your Farm is tax compliant.
Take the slower months to get your taxes in order before the busy season begins. By having your process in place now, it will be easier to manage operations in the future. To reduce error, consider outsourcing and automating this part of your business to ensure accuracy.
Do you live in a complicated tax state? No worries. The Barn2Door + Avalara integration makes filing taxes easy. With Avalara’s on-demand reporting, you can import your Barn2Door data and quickly generate reports on transactions, liabilities, and tax exemptions. Gain peace of mind knowing you can save time and money as you prepare for tax returns or unexpected audits.
As you navigate the ‘slower months,’ keep in mind the tasks that you can perform now to make it easier to manage your business in the future. Having an updated contact list, understanding the financial health of your business, and staying on top of your taxes are three tasks that can easily be accomplished this winter.
Barn2Door provides an all-in-one solution to grow and manage your Farm business. If you’re curious to learn why successful Farms run on Barn2Door, watch this 5-minute video.