The Business Checklist for Farmers and Growers

Business planning is frequently seen as something only done by large businesses, but business planning can be of benefit to businesses of all shapes and sizes. Business planning can help all members of the family to have a clear understanding of the long and short-term aims of the business and of each person's contributing role.

The planning process enables those involved in the business to identify any weaker aspects of their business. Very good skills in one area will not compensate for poor skills in another area, as the performance of the business is limited by the manager's weakest skill area.

Those who don't believe in planning because of our inability to accurately predict the future should be reminded that, having no plan is a plan to do nothing and accept whatever happens in the future.

"Planning is not trying to predict the future, it is being better prepared for it."

Written plans have a 90% better chance of being carried out than verbal plans.

Plans can only be made after considering all the relevant information and this usually includes adequate farm and orchard production and financial data. In order to help you make an assessment of your skills and highlight areas where you may be able to improve the success of your business, we suggest you fill in the following checklist, The checklist covers the maj or topics of:

Personal Planning
Business Planning
Financial Planning
Enterprise Planning
Landcare Planning
Marketing.

The word "you", used in the checklist refers to all partners in the business.

Personal Planning

Have you written down your personal and family goals?	YES	NO
Have you recently reviewed your business goals to see if they are helping you achieve your personal and family goals?	YES	NO

Business Planning

Goals:

Have you written down your business goals?

YES

Business Structure:

Have you recently reviewed your business structure to ensure It is still appropriate to your goals?

YES

Succession Planning:

Have you decided what you will do when you no longer want to work on the property full time?	YES	NO
Have you decided how you will transfer the management and ownership of the property to the next generation?	YES	NO

Family Communication:

Is each family member given the opportunity to have a say in the planning and management of the business?

YES

Time Management:

Do you plan to prioritise your activities in advance rather than reacting to do the most urgent task?

YES

Labour Management.

Are you paying enough attention to the selection, training and motivation of staff or family to ensure they perform their best?

YES

Do you communicate with your staff or family so that they clearly understand what is expected of them and how they are performing?

YES

Financial Planning

Budgets and Financial Records:

Do you have a cashflow budget which represents your plans for this year?	YES	NO
Do you regularly check and reconcile your budget and cashflow positions?	YES	NO

Business Performance:

Do you know what your cash surplus, business profit or change in asset or equity positions were for last year?

YES

Comparing Alternatives:

When making, investment decisions, including development and capital purchases, do you calculate the benefits and costs?	YES	NO
Are you confident that your Current financial arrangements are the most suitable for your business?	YES	NO

Enterprise Planning

Monitoring Performance:

Do you know how your enterprise is performing in terms of product yield and quality compared with others in the locality?

YES

Do you monitor key performance factors such as soil fertility and soil condition?

YES

Production Records:

Are your management and production records good enough to allow you to modify management to achieve management targets?

YES

Knowledge and Advice

Are you aware of the best technology available and are you making the best use of the enterprise management advice which is available?

YES

Are you continually investigating what new or alternative enterprises might be appropriate for your business?

YES

Have you a strategy in place to manage a production/income drop?

YES

Landcare

Have you identified the major land management units on your property?	YES	NO
Are your enterprises the most appropriate ones for the land types on which they are being practised?	YES	NO

Marketing

Customer Requirements:

Do you understand what the customers for your produce require?	YES	NO
Can you produce what they require?	YES	NO

Business check is not about judging if your skills are good, average or poor, it is to assist you identify skill areas which you may be able to improve on by taking the right action.

Information and advice and training can be obtained from various sources including, consultants, accountants, lawyers, training institutes, newspapers, journals, radio, and the sellers of your produce.

After filling in this questionnaire you may have identified a number of areas which you would like to attend to. List them in order of priority and draw up a plan of action including deadlines.

This questionnaire has been adapted by Jack Ripley, Agriculture New Zealand, Tauranga, from a Business Checklist produced by the Western Australian Department of Agriculture (1995).

Contact for Enquiries

Manager
North Island Regions
Sector Performance Policy
MAF Policy
Hamilton
NEW ZEALAND

Phone: +64 7 957 8313
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