Building a Farm Business: Five Tips Every Farmer Should Know
In this week’s episode, we are thrilled to have Valerie Luhman of Grass Fed Cattle Co with us discussing five key tips to building a successful Farm Business for any Farmer, but especially those who are newer to the field!
Since starting their own Farm Business, Valerie and her husband Jared, have continued to grow Grass Fed Cattle Co, and have established an impressive customer base in their community.
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Sky Hilliard: Welcome to the Direct Farm Podcast. I'm Sky Hilliard, your host for today's episode. I've been here with Barn2Door for about a year, working as part of our Success Team. Today we've got the privilege of speaking with Valerie Luhman of Grass Fed Cattle Co, a pastured Proteins Farm based out of Minnesota.
Valerie and her husband began working with Barn2Door almost four years ago when she was just outta college, newly married and building her dream life as a farmer with Jared. Fast forward four years, Grass Fed Cattle [00:01:00] Co's become a thriving business. They're growing their family, and now Valerie actually teaches Farms the tactics she implemented that fueled their success.
We're gonna dive in now to our conversation with Valerie to discuss the five tips she would give New Farmers building a Farm business of their own. Welcome, Valerie.
Valerie Luhman: Thanks so much, Sky.
Sky Hilliard: So could you start by telling us a little of the personal story for you guys? You know, specifically how you and Jared met, your involvement with FFA. What prompted your dreams of being a Farmer?
Valerie Luhman: Yeah, I'd love to. Uh, so I grew up on a Farm and so did my husband Jared. We both really enjoyed, farming with our families. We met in FFA, which is an agricultural student led leadership organization that we were both involved in throughout high school.
I was in eighth grade, he was in 10th grade. We met at an FFA camp and became good friends and later started dating when I was in college and, um, I guess I always knew I [00:02:00] wanted to be part of agriculture. I knew I wanted to somehow tell the story of agriculture because I knew so many people that were disconnected from where their food came from. But I wasn't quite sure what that looked like. Um, I wasn't sure I wanted to be a full-time Farmer, because I really did wanna work with people. I was kind of a, a combination of my sisters, my older sister wanted to be a doctor, work with people but not Farm. My younger sister, we couldn't get her out of the tractor.
So, um, I wanted to do a little bit of both. And so Jordan and I got married and about a year later, we were just looking at small businesses for sale on this website with his brother, and we stumbled on Grass Fed Cattle Co and purchased the website, logo and then the current customer list from the previous owners who kind of just started it as a hobby. Um, so purchased that from them and really learned a lot along the way as we made it our own and kind of , not totally [00:03:00] changed the brand, but just shifted it to fit with our family and our Farm. Um, and Jared was already doing some direct marketing on the Farm, so it was a really nice fit. Um, but that kind of fulfilled my dream of wanting to Farm and work with people at the same time.
And, uh, it's been a lot of fun to do with our families and friends.
Sky Hilliard: Yeah, so that, that's a good segue into start starting to talk about our tips here for people who are just starting the Farm journey out or even looking to get started, right? There's no Farm is really the same when I get to 'em in onboarding.
What do you think the first step is when you guys first made that purchase, or even beforehand when you were talking about making the purchase of what became your operation today? What do you think the first step in building the Farm business is?
Valerie Luhman: I think tip number one is just starting with your why and identifying your motivation. It's easy to look at social media and see Farming as a, a glamorous, you know, fun job that you get to do outdoors. But the reality is that it is hard work [00:04:00] and when you mix in direct marketing and updating your inventory and doing all the customer relations things, it's a lot of hard work. And it's not just, uh, stomping through green pastures and, and saying hi to nice red cows, even though I know sometimes that's what it make, we make it look like. Um, but, uh, we've, I mean, alone in the spring, we've had some difficulties on our Farm and just accidents that have happened and drought and things like that, and it is tough work.
So I think identifying that why and being fully committed to that dream that you have together, writing it down, sharing it on your website, social media, and on your welcome email with your customers so that they can really be in tune with that why, and understand who you are and, uh, why you're doing what you're doing.
Sky Hilliard: Yeah, that, that actually makes a ton of sense. The the why part, figuring out why you're doing it and if it's worth it to you and, because it's gonna take commitment, right? Just like you said, there's a lot of different facets. [00:05:00] So, that seems like a super important tip, number one. Um, definitely the reason that's, that's the first tip. Um, if I've decided I'm committed and, I've got some access to some land to, to grow or, or, or graze animals, harvest my products, what, uh, what do you think is next?
What's tip two?
Valerie Luhman: Knowing your customer, um, defining who and where those customers are located. Um, most importantly, what pain points, um, that you're trying to solve for those customers. Um, and it has to be more than just feeding someone because we can get food a lot of different places. Um, so trying to identify why your ideal customer might pay more for your products, and what keeps them coming back for more.
Um, so our ideal customer, um, we like to say would be a 35 year old parent, who live in the Edina Richfield area, which is near our pickup location. Um, little over an hour from our Farm, but we really don't have many [00:06:00] people come pick up on the Farm. Um, and that those people who care deeply about feeding their family regenerative, healthy, and local food from a family that they know.
Sky Hilliard: That's super good advice and something a lot of people don't think about a lot I feel in onboarding and haven't spent the time and sat down and figured out, just at a general level, let alone demographic level like you have who they're trying to reach and, uh, and if they're, you know, trying to match up their why or their brand with what other people are looking for, right? Because you don't provide the same exact product as a big box, a superstore, like a Walmart or, or something like that.
So, in my role at Barn2Door, Onboarding, we often talk with Farms about why a buyer would choose their Farm's products and I kind of started in on this a moment ago, but given the number of available options today, you know, why would they choose you? So what would you have to say about that for tip number three here?
Valerie Luhman: Uh, that's a big question. Uh, [00:07:00] I would say building a brand that customers want to be loyal to. Yes, having quality products, but how do your buyers connect with your brand emotionally?
Um, do they understand your story? Do they want to support you, your family, and your purpose. I just had a customer last week named Lisa, who was picking up, who said we just love supporting you and Jared and all that you're doing. And, it was so fun to chat with her and she's asking all about, um, I'm pregnant with our second right now and I'm looking very pregnant so everybody has tips or questions or whatever, and.
She, um, she was giving me just some tips and just asking how I'm doing and all of that. And it's so fun to have customers that truly engage with our brand and know who we are, and what our story is all about. So wanting your customers or your buyers to feel good about your brand, um, having it be trustworthy to them so that when they see.
An email or a post from you or anything else. Mm-hmm. [00:08:00] Uh, they automatically want to support you and to recommend your brand to other people, I think that's super important too. Um, and then using your brand everywhere. We tried to use our key messages in our same, photos and colors on our website, our email signature, the, stamp on our boxes or the sticker.
Um, and just reinforce it, um, everywhere we go, whether that's in person, online, with our packaging or in phone conversations too. So I think, building your brand is one of the most important steps that we can take as Farmers to have loyal customers.
Sky Hilliard: Yeah. And I feel like the word you said there that I really honed in on was, it was story, right? You've laid the groundwork of why am I getting involved in this? Why do I want to do it? It's something a lot of people aren't thinking about. You know, they are thinking about raising their animals and, and growing their produce and being able to take a step back and defining the story and the why of your brand are huge [00:09:00] elements of this.
What are some of the ways you built the brand?
Valerie Luhman: Yeah, I would say email marketing was a huge part. Um, the welcome series has helped just so much. If you're a new Farmer, I would definitely recommend taking some time to do that.
Um, but I would say just showing up in their email frequently to continue to sell, tell our story in different ways, um, and show our customers how we can help, and show them how we can help be part of the solution. So giving them updates when products are available, making sure they know we have convenient options for delivery and pickup, giving them recipe ideas, especially that we are focusing on parents, um, who have really busy schedules, um, giving them, quick recipe ideas that they can use our product for.
So, Um, Farm updates, videos, resources, guest blogs, I think all of those have tied into our brand and just us continually showing up for them, making sure they know we are a trustworthy resource and, um, that our quality products are gonna be there when their [00:10:00] family needs them.
Um, and then I think two other ways are just our in-person events we've done where we actually get to meet people. We usually do a giveaway of some sort and have them sign up for our email list as part of that giveaway. Um, that's just been super valuable. A lot of times people reach out, hi, I met you, you know, last year at this show. And, um, so those have been really valuable for us just to even get those emails on our list.
And then lastly, just social media, um, sharing our everyday life, and it might be, um, Every day or boring to us, but to them, um, if they're a new follower, it's totally new and it's super exciting to see us move cows to a new pasture, even though we do it every day. So, I think those are some of the quick ways that we have, built our brand and try to just build that genuine connection with our customers.
Sky Hilliard: Yeah, and you do events right? But, that could be a market day as well. That's a great way to make that [00:11:00] connection with people and start to tell your story and, meet new folks and bring 'em on into social media or the email list. So, super good tip. Love tip number three.
So, um, moving on to the next one here. Assuming I'm a new Farm and I've got my why figured out, I've defined my ideal customer, right? Uh, and then I've spent a lot of time figuring out how to brand ourself and tell our story.
Now, what do you think tip number four is?
And it seems like we, we've gotta be close to making money at this point, right? So, um, I think,
Valerie Luhman: let's hope so. Uh, yeah, pricing and packaging our product is tip number four. You can nail tips one, two, and three, but if you don't understand how buyers want to purchase your products, that's the most important part at the end of the day.
So for instance, if we're selling grass fed beef like we are only by the quarter half or whole, you're really limiting the market opportunity to [00:12:00] about 3% of potential buyers who own a chest freezer, which always shocks me. Um, yeah, I do believe that number is potentially growing, we continue to have more customers reach out who say, I just bought a chest freezer, even if it is a small one just because they want to feel confident about their food supply and especially for families, I think they're realizing that's one of the most convenient, affordable ways to purchase high quality products locally.
Sky Hilliard: Then there's urban environments as well, right? And they don't even have the option of getting a chest freezer. So if you're just outside of a city and that's really what you're kind of targeting for a market, quarters halves and wholes are gonna be tough cuz people don't even have the option of that kind of storage. And they've just got the either the top or bottom, freezer of their fridge so, good point.
Valerie Luhman: Right. Yeah. We see a lot of customers in apartment buildings and obviously they aren't usually the ones that are ordering a half beef share. They're usually the ones offering or ordering a bundle or a [00:13:00] subscription box that comes once a month. So I think it's important to think back to your ideal customer, um, and who are those people? Where do they live and what kind of storage do they have? And what's most convenient for them, um, as far as how your product is packaged. Uh, so we have a lot of people that are just shopping for two people or even for Two adults and two children. Mm-hmm. Um, and those people want to have regular, weekly or monthly deliveries.
So I think just having those pricing and packaging options that are easy and simple to understand, a long list of instructions or, just a lot of words we find will just confuse people. So I'd definitely recommend having bullet points versus like, Paragraphs about things. Yes. Um, and again, just simplicity I think is key when it comes to offering different options for packaging.
So, [00:14:00] um, we have, some of our bestsellers are just our bundle boxes of chicken and our meat clubs and beef clubs, that kind of thing. People love to. Feel confident about it. They love to have just a simple list of what's gonna be included and order that every year or every month, or however often that they are ordering those specific packages.
Sky Hilliard: Yeah, absolutely. And household size is something that a lot of people forget, and that does relate back to our ideal customer too, right? You've gotta put a little bit of time and thought into, uh, who it is you're selling to and who you want to be selling to, right? So, um, yeah it's a, about a third of America that lives alone or just with one other person. And then another third is about three or four, and then another third is larger families. Really important to kind of keep that in mind when you're putting packages together. You're selling to their needs, not necessarily yours.
And simplifying makes a ton of sense as well, because people get confused. I do this eight hours a day and when people send me, [00:15:00] Cut sheets for quarters, halves, and wholes, my eyes start to glaze over because it's a lot. And, it's not always clear that if you're choosing this cut, then another cut kind of goes out the window and it's really hard to keep all that straight and so easy bullet points, simplicity in your messaging, simplicity in your packaging, makes a ton of sense. So, Yeah, great too.
Valerie Luhman: And simplicity for you as a Farmer too. Oh gosh, yeah. Um, because that, that is a huge part. Yes. But yeah. And um, I was just gonna add that.
When you said, you're catering to their needs, um, I would highly recommend surveying your customers because we found that some of our people who were opting out of our subscription boxes were saying It's just too much per month. And I was like, how is 20 pounds per month too much? Um, but you know, as Farmers, we just eat a lot of meat, we have it available and we love it. Um, but some people don't eat that much. So asking them, um, before you're building out those [00:16:00] boxes, or even after, after you've had them out for a while, surveying them, asking them for some feedback. Um, we found that to be, uh, just so valuable for us in our business.
Sky Hilliard: Yeah, a hundred percent. That's a simplicity for you is a big part of this, right? We are trying to save time after all with signing up for Barn2Door. That's an important element of this for sure. So, tip number five, let's move on to this one here. Um, as a new Farm, how can I succeed in a crowded market?
Valerie Luhman: Tip number five is simple, just convenience. Um, all of our buyers are busy and, a lot of them are parents or they're people with full-time jobs, so the ability for them to just purchase and get our product easily is so important.
Um, so we offer a pickup location in Edina, in a really well known area. We're there about once a week and people can see those options right away when they are adding something to their cart. Or they can choose a delivery option, it [00:17:00] gives them a window of time and we're gonna deliver that product.
But making sure that those are convenient times, you know, offering some morning ones, some evening ones, making sure that a lot of our customers are within that same area. Um, so I know Barn2Door recommends that pickups are within five miles of our buyers, or even less. And that if not maybe you offer options in their local loop at a business or a church, or a school that they go to often.
Um, and then considering delivery, I know it was, I tough for us right away to figure out. But, um, delivery was one of the pieces of feedback we got from our customers from a survey that we sent out. They really wanted a delivery option and we're so glad we had it set up before Covid, but being smart about it, narrow your focus, charged the delivery fee you need to charge to make it worth your time and mileage.
Um, but our customers do [00:18:00] really love the convenience of their meat arriving right on their doorstep, whether that's a small box of ground beef or their meat club or their half beef share.
I think lastly, considering subscriptions, if your Farm products are available weekly, Or every other week or monthly, then offer subscriptions. They're going to keep people coming back and make it easy and convenient for those customers to have ongoing access to our products. So we found that, again focusing on that simplicity with the subscription boxes, but they're definitely worth the time, to get customers coming back and just have everything be automated, makes it so simple.
Sky Hilliard: Yeah, for sure. If it's not convenient, ultimately people are gonna go somewhere else, right? And you've found that and tons of other Farmers have found that, and we've seen that in the data. It's something like 85% of people aren't willing to drive more than 20 minutes to pick up [00:19:00] food. People aren't going to be going to on-Farm pickup if your Farm's not right in the middle of, like you said, the Local Loop, which is where people are going to and from regularly throughout the week. And just think about your own habits and, and the habits of your friends and family. How are you gonna plug into their days, and make it easy enough for them to buy your products .
Um, and again, that gets back to commitment, right? If you're committed to this, it's gonna take a little bit of time and you're gonna have to figure out a way to get to that market. We've got plenty of people that are rural Farms and need to make trips to a local market for people to be able to tap into population and money, right?
Subscriptions are great as well. Um, we see a lot of people really loving having the ability to set up subscriptions inside of Barn2Door just so people come back regularly, and they don't have to worry about them actually jumping back into the platform and making another purchase. Because it's already set up. So, [00:20:00] all really fantastic advice.
That gets us to the end of our, our five tips for New Farms. So, if you are setting up your Farm right now, I would implement these tips that Valerie's talking about today. Uh, and before we wrap up, Valerie, I just wanted to check and see if there's anything else you'd like to share with the listeners, any advice, encouragement, final stories, anything.
Valerie Luhman: Yeah, I, um, would love to just encourage people that are just starting out. I know it can be overwhelming hearing all of these tips and tidbits all at once, but at the end of the day, um, make sure you have a quality product and tell your story.
People want to genuinely connect with you and your family and your Farm, so make that top priority and um, be true to who you are. And then also, if you've been doing this a while or you're going through some big life changes like we are, um, about to welcome a new baby. Yeah. Uh, share that with your customers and do your best to continue to offer those convenient options for them, but also make it work for you and your family.
[00:21:00] So keep it simple if you can. Um, it's I think, good to be human and continue to foster those true relationships with our customers. Um, I have so many that I think of as not only customers, but also friends or people I could turn to for advice or, Resources or things like that. So, uh, just continue to foster those true relationships through social, email, in person, wherever you are talking to your customers. Um, I think that's what makes having a small business like this so fun and so rewarding.
Sky Hilliard: Cool. Well, very well said. I wanna extend my thanks to Valerie for joining us on this week's podcast episode and her ongoing contributions to help other farms here at Barn2Door successfully build their business and feed their local community. So, thank you very much, Valerie. Here at Barndoor we're humbled to support thousands of farms across the country. We're honored to get the opportunity to learn from our most successful farms here, like Valerie, who share the tactics, resources, [00:22:00] and tools they use to grow and manage their farm business. For more information about Barn2Door, check out our website at www.barn2door.com.
And there you can find a litany of free resources to help your farm, increase sales, access more customers, or save time. So thank you for tuning in and see you next time.