Happy Easter Monday! I love the symbolism of all of the different elements of the Easter season. As a religious person, I appreciate the impact that the celebration of the events associated with this season has on my life. As a horticulturist, I love the celebration of newness that comes at this time of year. There is new life, new growth, and so much potential. The traditional colours are fresh, light, and clean. Awesome!

On that theme, I’d like to address the process of planning and embracing new ideas. Since I recognize that the motivation for the outcome of the new idea matters to most people (even if some of the principles are similar), I will break up the topic into two parts. This first part will look at this process from a commercial business perspective. The second will bring it back home, looking at the process of bringing new ideas to fruition and reality in a private setting.

Commercial Operations

Over the course of my career, I have spent a lot of time working with people that want to jump into growing horticulture crops as a commercial operation, at a range of scales. I love horticulture crops. I think that they are vastly cooler and superior to things with legs, eggs, or dry seeds. As such, I am hugely in favour of people taking a good, close look at horticultural crops. In addition to their epic niftiness, they are high value crops that make up a big part of our economy and our diet.

Who are these people and what motivates them?

People that want to act on an idea or embrace something new vary widely in where they are at in the journey. The common denominator for all of them is that they want to make a change. This might be a complete change or reimagining their career. For some, it is an augmentation or addition to things that they will continue to do (e.g., a side career/venture). Others are already farming, and they want to diversify or expand or add to their operation. They all vary in the scale of what they want to do. Wherever they are at, what I love about working with people with a new idea is the potential.

Outside perspective

Despite my love of working with passionate horticultural newbies, I often find that my role in their progression has several layers. Both layers involve providing information and perspective, but the direction that I am working differs. For one layer, I come at things from the side. For the other, it is more downward or opposing.

Bridging the knowledge gaps

Most people that embark in a new venture have a glimmer of the end outcome. They can see a fuzzy outline of the destination. They see it as something/somewhere desirable, but all of the detailed bits in between that destination and where they currently stand are almost completely undefined.

This stage of planning is all about filling in the blanks. People need information, resources, and insights. They need to know what they are up against. They need to have a walking tour of their idea and the associated areas, looking at it from different angles. They need to talk to people that are familiar with the industry so that they get a picture of what is going on (and perhaps get a sense of how things have changed over the years). Ideally, people will get a picture of what is involved in growing and marketing different crops. They can build on that base knowledge bit by bit.

Tempering the enthusiasm

When you have a new idea, you are often blinded by the shine and sparkle and might tend of overlook some of the issues. Why not, what could possibly go wrong? You can see the potential. All obstacles (if any) can certainly be overcome. Right?

Tempering can be defined in a couple of different ways. One is defined as “serving to act as a neutralizing or counterbalancing force”. The other is “a strengthening process of metal, where the hardness and elasticity of a metal is improved by reheating and then cooling it.”

This is somewhere where I spent a lot of my time. A friend and colleague once referred to our (at that time) shared role as the “wet blanket”. You might also call it being the “dark cloud that rains on the parade”. It isn’t a particularly pleasant role, but it is vitally necessary, in my opinion. It is important to have someone with an outside view to bring perspective to the party. In order to strengthen the overall probably of success of a project, sometimes you need to cool things off and then reheat them.

The role of advisors such as myself is to pick holes in the idea. Not to scuttle the good ship “IDEA”, but rather to point out knowledge gaps, showing you where you might need to gather a bit more information. In some cases, I might strongly suggest a complete course change or an extended pause.

At this stage, I will also try and identify potential risks and encourage people to figure out mitigation measures. If you were to skip this entire stage of the process, and launch ahead with your idea, there isn’t anything that says that you won’t succeed. However, there is a heightened risk that you’ll run into unforeseen issues. Potential issues and challenges that are identified in advance are things that can be planned for.

New Operation Planning Process

When you are starting a new venture, whether entirely new, or just an added direction or element, it is important to take things step by step and not rush.

Where When do you start?

Despite all of the enthusiasm and excitement of starting something new, it is really important to start planning well in advance of actually starting the project. Take a year or two, if you need it. Make sure that you don’t create barriers that are going to stop you before you get any sort of momentum and traction.

Lots of folks want to get things in the ground, and figure that they’ll sort out the kinks as they show up. While this is certainly possible, and people do manage to successfully implement ideas, taking a bit of time can help to avoid lots of hiccups and headaches and a boat load of extra work. Depending on what you are wanting to do and how much information you can pull together, you might be able to adjust the time to start up somewhat, but the point is, take some time and make sure you’ve covered all of the bases.

Where do you start?

The answer to this question is … “It depends…”. It depends on what your situation is. I like to start by reviewing the different elements of the venture and gathering information. Do you have the market side fleshed out a bit (like, a lot)? Do you understand what the overall general process is? What is a typical growing season going to look like? Have you got a good grasp of the operation? Have you worked through a season and asked and answered the questions?

All of this effort should be built upon the foundation of a solid business plan, which is built from solid information and data. It is also linked to a detailed conversation about finances.

What other things should you keep in mind?

Assuming that you have the plan in place (or it is nicely percolating) and you are at the point of selecting a site (or you already have one, but you need to assess it), what should be next in line for consideration? I suggest that you gather more information on site suitability (soil, topography, access, shelter, etc.). You should also be thinking about water, input requirements, and any potential pest issues. Operationally, think about labour.

Are there resources out there?

The short answer to the question is “Yes”. Of course, there are resources out there to support people in their journey. Talk to people in the industry you are interested in. You can hire consultants to save you precious time and gain valuable insights and connections. You can get your hands on information to inform your decision-making. Do your homework.

Conclusion

New ventures are justifiably exciting and important. They are worth exploring properly. Give it a whack. Even better, get some help and we’ll have a look at it together.

I’ve got some resources that might help…

As I mentioned, I’ve spent a lot of time over the years working through the (complex) basics of the production of a number of horticulture crops. I’ve worked with lots of folks as they explore the options and potential for their new ventures. I don’t have all the answers, but I have many of them. I’ve got my blanket all soaked and ready, and the fuel and resources to support the reheating part of the tempering process.

I enjoy providing people with information and resources to support them in the process of building a plan. Over the years, one of the tools that I used was delivering a whole bunch of workshop presentations covering the whole conversation about starting various types of operations.

In my new private consultant role, over the past several months, I’ve spent a fair bit of time building up a series of recorded modules much like the ones that I used to deliver live and in-person. Someday, I might get back to live events, but for now, the world isn’t there yet. So, I’ve recorded the different pieces involved in exploring the production of a range of different horticulture crops (vegetables, Saskatoon berries, strawberries, and raspberries). Instead of being constrained by time to fit everything into an hour or so, I took my time in discussing the different production elements. I have put these course modules up for “purchase” on my website. Instead of trying to ingest every bit of information in a live presentation instantaneously, people can watch the smaller, bite-sized video modules at their leisure, watching and reviewing them as many times as they need to. All from the comfort of their own home.

If this is something that you or someone you know might be interested in, take a look at them. You’ll find them in my Store.