This work helps you to turn your hobby farm into a successful business. No experience in farming? No problem! "The Profitable Hobby Farm" gives you all the tools you need to launch a thriving hobby farm business. Based on the author's expert guidance and the motivating experiences of other small farmers, it shows you how to blend strategy, marketing, and money management in order to prosper. "The Profitable Hobby Farm" provides sound, friendly start-up advice on a variety of topics essential to making an initial foray into a local foods venture. It is a must-read book for raising and selling local, sustainable foods. It includes sample business plan, grant application, marketing and advertising plan, and other forms. Lengthy resources section directs you to additional reading. Also by Aubrey: "Starting & Running Your Own Small Farm Business". Whether it's growing heirloom tomatoes, raising free-range chickens for their eggs, or making organic wine or cheese, this book shows you how to turn your hobby into a profit.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments. Introduction. Part One: Creation and Veraison. 1 The Case for Small-Scale Farming and Local Foods Ventures. 2 From Idea to Inventory: Planning and Assessing the Market. 3 Funding Assistance. 4 Rules, Regulations, and Legalese. Part Two: Fresh Business Ideas. 5 Creating a Cooperative. 6 Agritourism: Recreation as a Business. Part Three: Selling, Marketing, and Prospecting. 7 Wholesale and Retail Pricing Strategies. 8 Where and How to Sell. 9 Marketing Ideas. 10 Keeping (and Keeping Track of) Customers. Part Four: The First Year of Your Journey. 11 The Lifestyle Change and First-Year Transition Tips.