What's the Big Idea? A Holistic Business Plan Riff

What's the Big Idea? A Holistic Business Plan Riff

Hi, True Blue Coaching fans! A young couple visited me last week. They're writing a holistic business plan. It's not the kind of business plan that I've seen before, and I like this version a lot. They're farmers in Vermont. They've had a dream of owning their own farming business for years, so they decided to learn the ropes by working for other farmers, first. Now they have a chance to make their dream come true, in a small way at first. The woman was raised in suburban Connecticut. She got started in farming when she left a job that wasn't satisfying, even though it seemed at first to fit exactly what she'd wanted while in college. She left that city job and city life and in a matter of weeks, took a job as a shepherd on a distant relative's farm in Vermont. The man was raised in Detroit. They met when she sat down in the only empty chair at a coffee shop, and next to her was a guy reading a book by Wendell Berry (a great writer, a big advocate for being good stewards of the land). Having Wendell Berry as a shared interest was a strong connection, and within weeks, this guy joined her in Vermont.

Now, 5 years later, they've lived and worked on farms. The first, of course, was the farm that turned sheep milk into high quality cheese. The farm had been in the farmer's family, so the farmer had long experience in taking good care of the sheep and the land - and used movable electric fences to make sure that the fields weren't over-eaten. (I'm sure there's a technical farming term for that, but you get the idea.) Then came a farm whose product was meat. The couple cared for goats, lambs, chickens, Jersey cows, and veal calves - veal calves who had plenty of room in the barn and frolicked in their paddock, too. (Can animals that big really "frolic"? Well, when I saw them, those calves seemed really happy hanging out together in their paddock, kind of like kids at recess - and boy, did they move fast when they knew it was time for yummy goat milk!) The animals were raised humanely, and eventually were slaughtered.

The meat was sold through a co-op to high-end restuarants in New York City and Boston.

The third farm that they worked on had a lot going on. The farmer plowed the soil for vegetable farming without a tractor! Saved fuel. Didn't pollute the air. They use a team of 2 Really Big Strong Horses to pull the plow. You can tell that I can't remember what kind of horses they were, right? I have never seen such big horses in my whole life. This was the biggest farm this couple has worked on - they cared for pigs, lambs, chickens, sheep, and Jersey cows. The farm rotated the animals on the land, so the fields didn't get worn out - the soil actually prospered from the animals who lived on it. The farm sold vegetables, but primarily meat, as a Community Supported Agriculture (CAS) business.

Let's see if I can explain what a CAS does - let's say, it's like subscribing ahead of time to buy the products from a farm.

Now this young couple are doing the groundwork to build their own farming business. The standard model business plans that they'd examined just didn't suit them.

Then they found a new kind of business plan, one that includes a whole-life outlook. Their Holistic Business Plan includes a great big vision, and great big values, not only for income but for what the money can buy ...and for what the money can't buy - a community of people who love and support the couple, and well-cared for land that will support not just this couple and their hoped-for children, but also generations to come.

They're planning how to get what they really want out of life - for their life as a married couple, for the family they want to have, and for whoever lives off the land after they're gone. They told me that what they want is a great life that serves and enhances the lives of people...

But not only people! They're also planning to protect and enhance the quality of life of the animals they'll raise, the vegetables and fruits they'll raise, and the land itself. That means the life of the soil, and the microbes that live in the soil. That includes the water supply and waste water, what they put into the air, what they put into their own bodies...

This is BIG thinking, a big plan. It'll take a lot of attention. A values-based life does take attention.

True Blue Coaching is all about values, figuring them out and paying attention.