Hey Reader,
Two weeks ago I told you about the 5 things I did to make more money WITHOUT scaling bigger.
Then last week I got distracted and wrote about something completely different. (Sorry about that – farm life, you know?)
So this week we’re getting back on track with #1: I stopped selling products that didn’t pay for my time.
Here’s what I discovered: profit was leaking out of our farm in ways I didn’t even see (not only products).
Some of it was obvious once I did the math – like products with terrible margins.
But some of it was hiding in plain sight – tasks I was doing every single day that were costing me thousands in lost time.
Let me show you both.
First, the product mistake:
We were selling chicken sausage for $11.95/lb. Customers loved it. I loved it. It was one of our most popular products.
Here’s what I didn’t realize until AFTER we’d processed a huge batch:
The processor was charging us $2/lb to grind it. And they were using mostly breast meat to make it (with some thigh, but no legs because “it’s too much trouble getting off the bone”).
So we were taking our most valuable cut – breast that could sell for $14.95/lb – grinding it up, PAYING to have it ground, and selling it for $11.95.
We were literally losing money on every pound we sold.
And I didn’t even realize it until I sat down and actually did the math.
Here’s the thing: If you’re just getting started (or even if you’ve been doing this awhile), you’ve probably got things like this on your farm right now.
Maybe it’s growing potatoes that take 10 hours to harvest and only bring in $50.
Maybe it’s those fancy cuts nobody orders but you feel like you “should” offer. I’m lookin at you mock tender.
Maybe it’s doing farmers markets 3 hours away that cost more in gas and time than you make in sales.
But here’s where it gets tricky:
Sometimes the thing costing you money isn’t a product at all – it’s YOUR TIME doing tasks that someone else could do cheaper.
Last year I actually paid someone to cut grass.
Now, I LOVE cutting grass. It’s relaxing. I’m outside. I throw on a podcast and just zone out.
But when you add up the normal lawn, plus the pastures, plus the hay fields, plus the fence lines… I was spending days every week on a mower.
Paying someone else freed up literal WEEKS of my time. Time I could spend on things that actually make money.
Same thing with hay equipment. We sold it all this year.
Now I pay someone to cut the hay and I just pick the bales up off the field.
Again – weeks of my life back. No equipment maintenance. No breakdowns at the worst possible time.
And this principle scales with you as you grow.
When you’re just starting out, it might be realizing that growing tomatoes makes more sense than potatoes because you can charge way more per pound with less labor.
When you’re making your first sales, it might be cutting products that look good on paper but lose money when you factor in processing costs.
But when you’re established and actually moving product consistently?
The biggest time-suck usually isn’t in the field anymore – it’s in the ADMIN.
I see farms doing $50K, $100K, even $200K in sales… still taking orders through Facebook DMs and text messages.
Think about the hours every week:
- Answering “do you have any beef left?”
- Manually tracking who paid, who didn’t
- Copying and pasting your price list over and over
- Losing orders because someone’s message got buried
- Explaining your pickup process for the 100th time
That’s $50-100/hour of your time (because that’s what your time is worth when you’re running a real farm business) doing $10/hour admin work.
Here’s the thing: Whether you’re just starting out or you’re established, the principle is the same.
YOUR TIME HAS VALUE! Spend it on things that make you money, not things that just make you busy.
When you’re new, that might mean cutting products that don’t pencil out.
When you’re growing, that might mean hiring out tasks like mowing or haying.
When you’re established, that might mean finally getting systems in place so you’re not manually processing orders while you’re trying to feed animals.
Your homework this week (seriously, do this):
Pick ONE thing you’re doing on your farm and ask yourself:
“Could I pay someone else to do this and use that time to make MORE money elsewhere?”
Or if you’re not at the hiring stage yet:
“Is this product/task actually making me money when I factor in my TIME? What could a swap this product/task with to make MORE?”
Maybe it’s mowing. Maybe it’s processing. Maybe it’s a product that just doesn’t pencil out. Maybe it’s your entire ordering system.
Calculate what your time is actually worth. Then decide if you should keep doing it the way you’re doing it.
I’ll bet you find at least one thing that’s costing you money – even if you didn’t realize it.
Then you’ll find another, and another … Before you know it, you’ve accumulated a big chunk of your time back.
Next Sunday: Why I raised my prices and stopped apologizing (and why your customers will pay more than you think).
Talk soon,
Jason
P.S. If you’re at the point where manual order-taking is eating up your time, I build WordPress websites for farmers that handle ordering automatically. Your customers can browse, order, and pay 24/7 while you’re doing literally anything else. Fill out this 5-minute questionnaire and I’ll send you a custom plan in 24 hours. Free, no obligation.
with my appreciation,
Jason
Aka: The Part-Time Farmer
Your Farm Website Shouldn’t Feel Like a Second Job
I build it. I write your copy. I enter your products.
You send photos and details. I do the rest.
Simple pricing. Simple process. Completely managed by someone who actually farms.
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