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When I designed my office, the first plans came back bid at about two times more than I had budgeted.
I called in a long-time friend who was a builder. I went over the plans and pointed to areas where I thought I could cut costs – more siding, less brick, for example.
When movies are described as ‘predictable,’ that’s typically a bad thing, right? But what about when people are described as predictable ... is that a bad thing too? I suppose that depends on who you ask.
If you ask me, predictable people are great. Why? Because when people are predictable, you always know where they (and you) stand. But when they’re not, life can be a real roller coaster.
We all know that our crops and our livestock are most productive when the conditions around them are optimal – needed nutrients, favorable weather, freedom from disease and injury.
Similarly, our workforce – ourselves, family members and employees – is most productive and has the greatest job satisfaction when the conditions are optimal.
The conditions, again, are the environment. For people, the environment is, most importantly, the farm or agribusiness culture and the relationships with the other people in the organization. The key to culture and relationships is trust.
The Cambridge Dictionary defines a “business plan” as a detailed plan describing the future aims of a business. Have you heard the phrase “the devil is in the details”?
A great number of talented advisers exist who might offer their opinions regarding important elements to be included in a comprehensive business plan.
If you surveyed 10 such people, you would probably see 10 lists with different combinations of suggested categories. I believe three categories are among the most overlooked.
Deb Reinhart and Dave Geiser, who made the decision to begin a consistent marketing program in November 2009 and agreed to share their experiences with Progressive Dairyman readers last year, recently provided an update on their journey to better control of their business through better marketing.
Suppose you were to say to everyone in your company, “From now on, just knock off sometime Wednesday afternoon each week, and don’t worry about coming back in until Monday. But we’ll keep paying you for a full week.” What would happen?
I suspect that the initial celebration would be followed by a period of genuine concern over your emotional stability.
After that, you’d have one heck of a time getting the animals fed, the equipment maintained, the feed mixed or anything else. Your operation would be like a rowing crew in which each rower was pulling an oar with only one arm or the other.
I wrote earlier this year about the drivers of U.S. milk production and, in particular, the link between the dollar margin over feed cost and production growth trends (See “U.S. milk production: Shouting down the supply chain,” May 2nd issue, pg. 23).
It seemed clear at the time that the sharp decline in seasonal production during the latter part of 2010 was due to a margin squeeze on dairy producers – feed prices were rising and milk prices falling.
In a recent survey performed by Progressive Dairyman, 75 percent of dairymen think they will be back to pre-2009 levels of equity within five years.
When the dust settled from 2009, our firm analyzed the impact that year had on most dairy operations, and at that time we determined it would take anywhere from three to five years to get back to where we were before that destructive year.
Looking back, U.S. agricultural industries have changed dramatically over the past decade. Given mounting political, social, technological and economic pressures, it is safe to assume that not only will change continue, but it could even increase in rapidity.
Looking forward then, how will future veterinary practices succeed?
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