The Farmers Club Newsletter

The “Club Notes” for Monday, the 25th of September 2023

By Dwain Duxson

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A mind for numbers

I was in an email conversation with a Farming lady over the weekend whose son just loves Farming. He's been away at Boarding School after spending time at home during Covid. He worked out that home was much better than Boarding School in Sydney. So much so that he said, "Mum if you think I want to be an accountant, forget it….I just want to be a Farmer". He's firm on his view. His mum said he's mathematically minded and curious. It's got me thinking. Some of the best Farmers I know are mathematically minded, and another couple of mates who are in business outside Farming are the same, and they run hugely successful businesses. Are you mathematically minded yourself, or do you know a Farmer that is? Could it be one of the secret ingredients to Farming success?

We all have different problems

No two Farms are the same, and no two Farmers do things the same. There's no cookie-cutter approach to Farming. It's interesting, some time ago we asked a large group of Farmers what their main problems were. And we were very surprised that the problems were wide and varied. Not many Farmers had the same problems. And some of the problems were completely left field. I mean, you would ask yourself, is that really a problem? But I guess it is for someone. I am happy for you to send me through some of the Farming problems you have.

The financials are in….

We wrote in our Farm Tender "Daily" at the start of the financial year in July for people to be on the front foot with their accountant to get their financials done as soon as possible. We suggested you be a bit cheeky and ask your accounting if you could move ahead of others. We tried that with our personal stuff, and we are still waiting, so it didn't work with that accountant. But the business financials were completed last week, which was a few weeks later than we expected but the earliest we have ever had them done. If yours aren't done, keep calling, and if they don't ring back, then try and try again. It's never been so important to have up-to-date financials.

Get your service offering spot-on

In the Farm Tender business, about 6 years ago, we did a big cold call ring around the 3rd party service providers that provide products and services to Farmers. We would have rang hundreds of them to offer them an opportunity to increase their sales. It worked with a few, but what came of the ring around shocked us a bit. I reckon about 60 percent of these businesses either didn't answer the phone, never got back, or when they said such and such would call, they never did. So the ones that do answer the phone are halfway there before they start. As times get a little tougher, ensure your service offering is spot on. If it's not, then you will have to get better. Because those who do it consistently will win.

End of message.

Dwain Duxson

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