A42-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 11,2003
Entrepreneurs Leant To ‘Till The Soil Of Opportunity ’
DAVE LEFEVER
Lancaster Farming Staff
GETTYSBURG (Adams Co.)
A diverse group of people,
from seasoned farmers to those
with no background in agricul
ture, have begun gathering for
the second annual “Tilling the
Soil of Opportunity” course in
small business management.
The class that kicked off in
Gettysburg this week included
several fruit growers, an ag
chemical distributor, an organic
produce farmer, and an air traffic
controller who plans to become a
dairyman.
The 12-week course is being of
fered by Penn State Cooperative
Extension in Adams, Berks, and
Lancaster counties, with the goal
of teaching small business man
agers how to develop a plan for a
success.
Extension leaders Lynn Kime,
Adams County, and Winifred
McGee, Lebanon County, are
teaching the Gettysburg class.
The first session featured two
guests who were students in last
year’s course and have since been
applying what they’ve learned to
the world of fanning and market
ing.
Tonya White of Knouse Fruit
lands, Arendstville, said the rea
son she took the class was be
cause she needed to leant more
about running a business.
“Business is not my back
ground,” she said. “I didn’t know
how to look at a financial
statement, (although) I was
smart enough to know that our
assets were supposed to be great
er than our liabilities.”
Creditors need to know that
business owners have a sound
plan before they lend money to
an operation, according to White.
“Banks want to know that
you’re a good risk,” she said. “If
you fall through, they really don’t
want to be bothered selling a
farm.”
Beverly Benner of Donaldson
Fruit Farm, Gettysburg, said one
of the key points she learned, is
that successful managers do not
Kung To Discuss Dairy Feed Additives
WEST CHESTER (Chester
Co.) Penn State Cooperative
Extension in the southeast region
is offering educational programs
to discuss the benefits of various
feed additives in dairy cattle ra
tions.
The first segment of the pro
gram will review the fundamen
tals of overall ruminant nutrition
and the second segment will
focus on specific types of feed ad
ditives, how they are used in the
digestive system, and their rela
tive effectiveness.
Dr. Limin Kung, ruminant nu
trition and microbiology profes
sor from the University of Dela
ware, will be the featured
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shy away from looking at the
weaknesses in their business in
order to improve them.
‘While it’s not fun to look at
what you’re not doing well,” she
said, “that’s what you need to
look at.”
When she and her siblings
were younger, Benner said the
business was going well and the
family was “living to farm.” But
Fruitlands, Adams County,
tells new students some of
the things she learned In
last year’s Tilling the Soil of
Opportunity class.
as time went on and family mem
bers went different ways, this
turned into a situation in which
they were “farming to live,” she
said.
One reason for developing a
good business strategy is to make
it possible to have a lifestyle in
which the family can live to farm
instead of the other way around,
according to Benner.
Developing a budget for the
fruit market operation over the
past two years was a good step
one that requires a lot of atten
tion, Benner said. She recom
mended checking it once a
month, if possible, and four times
a year at minimum.
“We’ve learned that if you
look at (the budget) at least quar-
speaker.
The specifics of these meetings
are as follows:
• Jan. 14, Chester County,
Russellville Grange Hall, Oxford,
10:30 a.m.-3 p.ra. Register by
Jan. 13 by calling (610) 696-3500.
Program is free.
• Jan. 15, Berks County,
Berks County Ag Center, Read
ing, 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Register by
Jan. 13 by calling (610) 378-1327.
Cost for this program is $5.
• Jan. 16, Bucks/Mont
gomery County, Bucks County
extension office, Doylestown,
10:15 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Register by
Jan. 14 by calling (215) 345-3283.
Program is free.
terly, you can find out where
you’re going off track,” she said.
In addition to working on the
problem areas in the business,
Benner said family farmer/
marketers must be open to new
ideas and willing to implement
them.
“We have the tendency in our
business to bury our heads,” she
said. “You can’t do that.”
Kime and McGee outlined
some of the characteristic of en
trepreneurs in contrast to people
who are merely business owners.
“A business owner is someone
who calls me up and says T want
to be a business owner’ what
kind of business should I start?’”
McGee said.
Entrepreneurs, on the other
hand, usually start businesses
that involve something they love
to do. They tend to be motivated
by a passion for the work, seek
self-reliance, and want to create
something new. For entrepre
neurs, the lines between work
and play become blurry, McGee
said. Their business is more than
just a means of making money.
A drawback to running a busi
ness is that entrepreneurs tend to
work long hours, risking failure
and family strain. They often
need to risk substantial amounts
of their own money, too, with
banks typically looking for 30 to
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40 percent of the finances to
come from the owner, McGee
said.
McGee used the example of
Milton Hershey, the late choco
late magnate, to illustrate how
the most successful entrepreneurs
tend to persist when faced with
setbacks. Hershey experienced
bankruptcy several times before
launching his chocolate opera
tion.
“Milton Hershey had several
other businesses before the (choc
olate factory) got off the ground,”
she said. “And look where it is
today.”
Lynn Kime outlined some of
the myths that have traditionally
been associated with entrepre
neurship. These include:
• Entrepreneurs are born, not
made. Not so, Kime said. Entre
preneurial skills can be learned
by almost anyone.
• Entrepreneurs are their own
bosses. They actually work for
many people, including investors,
bankers, customers, employees,
and family members.
• Entrepreneurs set their own
hours. In fact, they work long
and hard for their success.
• Entrepreneurs love high-risk
ventures. Actually, successful
ones do everything they can to
minimize risk.
• Entrepreneurs
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“Small businesses are supply
ing over 50 percent of the jobs in
the U.S. today,” McGee told the
group. “Small business owners
run the capital system.”
Chris Waesche, left, or
ganic farmer from West Vir
ginia, and Sabrena DeKow
ski, veterinary technician,
Gettysburg, share their
backgrounds and future
plans during the Tilling the
Soil of Opportunity course
in Gettysburg.
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Barnett, MO 65011
573-378-2658
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