The Farmstand:
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(Continued from Page 3)
seasons. And yet that is ex
actly what several hundred
direct marketers did last Oc
tober and this past July.
The Pennsylvania Direct
Farm Marketing Association
sponsored two tours to differ
ent parts of Pennsylvania to
look at successful markets
and give participants the op
portunity to see what makes
them thrive. The theory is to
really understand what
makes them work, you have
to visit when it’s busiest.
Seeing it on slides during the
winter is helpful but import
ant details and frustrations
are often overlooked. With
this approach, the tours of
fered great insights of how
these marketers were able to
create customer appeal and
succeed.
Evaluations of individual
locations were made after
each stop and offered a posi
tive critique of the strengths
and weaknesses of each
market. The following is a
summary of the most com
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monly mentioned ideas and
concerns from those who
were featured on the tours.
An often-repeated concern
was that they never allowed
for an orderly expansion.
Many never envisioned the
need for additional room in
the future and failed to plan
for it. When starting a build
ing project due to increased
demand for your services,
assume interest in your busi
ness will expand and you will
probably be back in the same
great predicament in the
future. Think about property
line setbacks, utility connec
tions, parking, and road visi
bility. For instance, if you
anticipate a separate bakery
in the next five years, will you
have enough room to add it
or will the new commercial
kitchen you’re now building
need to be moved. Consider
many of the most probable
expansion possibilities and
allow for them in your plans.
The bottom line is to always
think bigger than you are
now.
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Grower and Marketer, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 11, 2000—Page
What is the overall look of
the market facility? If it’s a
farm market, does it have
that “feel”? Is it an odd as
sortment of buildings or a
small coordinated village of
related structures? Multis
tructured establishments can
have rooms with different
purposes and themes such as
flowers and plants, produce,
canned goods, gardening
supplies, deli, gift shop and
others. Even if you have a
single building, do you have a
pleasing color scheme inside
and out and do display items
add or distract from the look?
The most successful busi
nesses visited looked at the
big picture and coordinated
all aspects of the market.
Parking was a concern
often expressed. Parking
should be convenient and
allow easy access to your
business. Again, this is an im
portant time to think ahead.
If you plan to offer school
tours in the future and you
will have several buses in the
lot turning out, will they and
your regular customers both
have adequate room along
with safe entrance and exit
from your location? Even
though regulations are
always changing, are there
already some in your town
ship that could require a relo-
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cation of the driveway you’re
now planning if the traffic
load was to change signifi
cantly. A little additional re
search now could potentially
save big dollars later. Prob
lems with township regula
tions are very commonly
cited by marketers as road
blocks to growth. And if you
plan to get into any type of
agri-entertainment, how will
the local supervisors view it,
as an agricultural enterprise
or an unrelated business?
Marketers visited often
discussed how they started
something in the business on
a whim, and customer recep
tion was so good it grew into
a main segment of their busi
ness. The point is, don’t over
look opportunities because
they weren’t in the business
plan. Quirky ideas can be
very profitable if you are re
ceptive and open minded to
the unexpected. Learn from
others in related businesses
and compare the similarities
in your clientele. Owners
often mentioned how import
ant it was to know what your
customer base is, what their
income levels are, what
buying patterns they’ve dis
covered, and how they use
various advertising mediums
to exploit opportunity. Many
stated how they advertised
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the wrong way only to dis
cover sometime later that few
of their customers ever saw
their ads. And evaluate your
ads, even if it’s simply asking
every fifth person if they have
seen one and whether or not
it influenced their decision to
visit the store.
Don’t try to produce every
thing you sell in the store.
You can’t do it all. Concen
trate on marketing what you
do best and buying compli
mentary products and ser
vices from other vendors.
And check the quality of
items you bring in to make
sure they are up to your
standards. Your customers
will assume you do and
expect you to make good on
them if they aren’t. Network
ing with other local produc
ers can be a profitable
opportunity for both of you.
And be as active as possible
in your community and with
related business organiza
tions. This can often lead to
pathways through regulatory
dilemmas along with being a
responsible neighbor to
others nearby.
One such organization is
the Pennsylvania Direct
Farm Marketing Association.
Currently membership in the
association is free. They are
presently arranging their
next marketing tour in an
other region of the state. The
association also has an ongo
ing project of determining the
extent of township regulatory
requirements affecting direct
marketers and how to make
the rules more uniform. The
group has been reorganized
and made strides in advanc
ing the cause of direct mar
keting. To join the group, you
can contact John Berry, the
executive secretary at (610)
391-9840 or visit them at the
organization’s new website,
http://www.pafarm.com.
Thomas B, Murphy
Penn State Extension Agent
175