Women in agribusiness – tips and tricks

Claire Williamson is owner and founder of Velma and Beverley and has been involved in many startup companies and says the key is to start small.

Don’t dream, do

By Cheyenne Nicholson

There are a number of tips and tricks people can use when starting their own business to ensure it gets off the ground and is a success.

Starting a business, big or small, is a huge deal; from developing a plan to bringing your business idea to life, it’s an exciting venture. Over the past two years, we’ve been profiling women from the dairy industry, making a name for themselves with their off-farm businesses. We’ve gone back to many of those ladies and reached out to other businesswomen in the agricultural sector to pull together their top business tips.

Address excuses and get researching

How long have you been sitting on your business idea? How many times have you said, “I really need to take action on this idea”? Countless people dream of becoming entrepreneurs, but they never do. They’re overloaded with excuses and fears of failing. From money, time and other responsibilities, it can be easy to make a case for not starting.

Start out by writing down your idea, write out what problem you’re solving for people, what you want to achieve and brain dump everything onto paper.

Tip: It’s so important to plan. What is the vision? What do you want to achieve? How are you going to do this? This needs to include market analysis, financial, people, digital strategy and sustainability factors. – Julie Christie of C suite NZ.

Tip: Use a business model canvas to understand your ideas and channels further. Is your idea actually solving a problem? Are you proposing something that has been done before? If so, then you must have a unique value proposition. Do your research before you commit everything to it? – Chanelle O’Sullivan of Borage and Bee Meadery.

Get connected

Develop a close group of individuals who will give you true feedback around your ideas – these might be friends, business associates or people you find through mentor groups locally or online. Facebook groups like The Connected Collective are a great place to start to link up with mentors and experts.

Tip: Talk to an advisor before you

“Start out by writing down your idea, write out what problem you’re solving for people, what you want to achieve and brain dump everything onto paper.”

start. Someone who can work through whether your idea is viable and what you need to focus on. I’ve done this with several new business owners; some carry on, others realise that it wasn’t right and go in another direction. – Nickie Sheehan of Trio Accounting.

Tip: Business Mentors NZ can be a good option, but specific groups in your intended industry are amazing as well. Develop a close group of few individuals who will give you true feedback around your idea. – Chanelle.

Tip: Don’t take criticism to heart and be respectful of free advice, even if you don’t follow it. – Julia Jones, chairperson and board member on multiple boards, and head of insights at NZX.

Tip: Find groups online that are focused in your area of business. I found some really great Facebook groups that were about everything to do with publishing. It’s how I found my illustrator and editor, and I got some amazing advice from that group. – Kerryn Zander, farmer and author.

Absorb everything

Smart entrepreneurs learn from the mistakes other business owners have made. Listen to what others have to say. You never know when you might pick up a piece of advice that could be useful. Write things down and keep track of all the resources you keep coming back to.

Tip: I talked a lot with another rural mum who’s got into publishing. She was invaluable for pointing me in the right direction and she was very upfront with the challenges she came up against and the things that didn’t work. – Kerryn

Tip: Do case studies on other people like yourself who have been successful in their endeavours. Find out how they did it and why. The reality is that it’s always going to be much harder and more time-consuming than any paid job – but if you can stick it out, the long-term rewards will be much greater. – Chanelle

Keep it simple

Like many entrepreneurs, you have a business idea and you get over keen to run with it. Be careful not to let your concept or idea snowball and turn into a complicated mess. In other words, walk before you run. Start small, create a simple, good quality or service as a foundation and then work up.

Tip: The biggest learning from my product-based business (wool coats) – start small (for me, it was with one style) and grow from there. I tried to start with heaps of different styles and it got a bit overwhelming. As soon as I cut back and focused on one, I had a lot more success. – Claire Williamson of Velma and Beverley.

Tip: Don’t worry about fancy logos or websites initially. Focus on your customer and serve them well. – Claire

Count the costs

Once you start developing your business idea, add up the costs – factor in every business expense needed to launch, operate and create budgets.

Tip: Cash flow can be tricky in the early stages of business. When I started Vizlink, the money was put aside or into development once a job came in. It forces you to think of leaner ways of operating. – Gemma Adams of Vizlink.

Tip: Being able to run budgets and make sure you’re going to make things work and stick to them is key. It’s important in farming to know your financials, so those of us on farms often have some transferable skills in this space. – Laura Mitchell.

Tip: Never contract out your finances i.e. get an accountant to control it all – great to get help to administrate, but always be aware of what’s going on financially. – Julia

Tip: If you can create a MVP (Minimum Viable Product) or the illusion of it (a prototype or something similar) to sell as a pre-sale or as a ‘first in, first served’ type thing, you may find early ways you can improve it, plus it’s a great way to test your market and ensure there is one. Don’t spend money (or not too much) until you know you have a market. – Claire

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Kerryn Zander is a farmer come author who learnt the value of connecting with the right people to get an idea off the ground.

Digital strategy

Figuring out websites, social media and other forms of digital marketing is key to brand awareness and sales. It provides you with the opportunity to tell your story, to tell your customers who you are, what you’re about and why they should buy from you. But remember, you don’t have to spend a lot to start with; your digital strategy can grow and change with you.

Tip: One of my top tips is don’t spend squillions on marketing/advertising/ website build before you get started, as your ideal customer is probably not who you think it is. – Nickie

Tip: Don’t worry about fancy logos or websites initially. Sell on Facebook Marketplace or Instagram or another free or cheap platform initially, so you can keep good cashflow for growing and then spend the money to improve your branding down the track and expand. – Claire

Tip: I did a free course through Ara Connect (Christchurch Polytechnic) called Google Sites. You learn to build your own website through Google drive. It’s aimed at one wanting to create a Landing Page or Club Page. – Erin Douglas-Clifford of Stonyhurst.

Tip: Do lots of research on other websites, why you think they do or don’t work before you specify what you want. Upskilling yourself to make basic text changes on your website will help keep maintenance costs down. If you have the

Investments and partnerships

Acknowledging the areas of your business you are not so savvy in and getting help can be crucial. This could be from your business networks or paid professionals; sometimes it’s just what you need to help get an idea off the ground.

Tip: Be realistic about how much money you have and will need. Bring on a partner with complementary skills if needed. Bring in investment if needed – better to own 50% of something than 100% of nothing. – Chanelle

Tip: I worked out quickly that we needed to get alongside GPS services for the farm maps to make sure we had accurate data. I teamed up with a local company that I subcontract to. They didn’t want to do the end product of the farm map, just collect the data, so it’s

Balance passion with wisdom

Passion needs to be at the core of every business venture. Passion will consistently drive you to improve your process, so your business grows. That said, don’t let passion drive all your decisions.

Tip: For me, as a mum, I find having formal paid childcare locked in if possible, especially with toddlers, really valuable. That way, you don’t have to feel guilty for always asking your mother-inlaw and if you’re paying, you will really value the time more. – Abbie Hoare of Photos for Jean.

Tip: Understand your customer and the potential size of your market; how often are they likely to buy what you’re selling and what margin do you need off each item? – Julia

Tip: Create differentiation. What can you do that no one else can, and what is your spin and story and why? In what can be a crowded marketplace, you need to be brave to stand out. – Claire

Tip: Just ask. For help, advice, tools, resources – just ask. – Chelsea Millar of Grass Roots Media.

Tip: Be ambitious but be realistic. Be prepared to spend eight hours on it a day; many of them early morning or late night if you have kids. – Chanelle

Tip: There are honestly so many

“Smart entrepreneurs learn from the mistakes other business owners have made. Listen to what others have to say.”

Owner of Vizlink Gemma Adams learnt some hard but important lessons around business and money in the early stages of the business.

Farmer, photographer and artist Michelle Clarke has taught herself a lot of the ins and outs of business.

resources out there to utilise. A quick Google search and you’re away. And remember, you learn much as you go. You’ll make mistakes but just make sure you learn from them. – Michelle Clarke, farmer, photographer and artist. n

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