Do you have a business plan for what you do?

[DianeS]

I've been thinking recently that my approach to living more self-sufficiently is rather slapdash. I hear about something, and if I think it sounds useful and good, I research it. If it looks plausible, I try it. And hopefully it works out well and brings me closer to being self sufficient.

In my former cubicle-bound life, I was a business analyst. Yet I haven't applied anything I did there to my self sufficiency! What an oversight! I think maybe I had to detox from all the cubicle-ness first. I may now be ready to go back and start from the beginning with a business plan. Identifying my goals, breaking them down into short-term and long-term, with dates. Then figure out what method of measurement I want to use, and figure out where I am today according to that. Then do my steps to figure out how to get from where I am to where I want to be. And apply the same measurement again to see if I got there.

So - do any of you use a business plan in your farms or gardens or homesteading? Did you ever write down your goals? What measurement do you use to see if you've gotten there - is it money saved, cans of produce in the pantry, hours you don't have to work at an outside job?

I'd love to hear your plans! I could use the inspiration as I figure out how to do mine.

 

[Wannabefree]

I spend as much time writing down goals and plans as I do doing I tend to analyze and redo my plan a dozen times before I'm happy with it. It's an old habit for me, I always have to have a notebook handy

 

[DianeS]

So do you have a single "master plan", or a bunch of smaller plans that you implement at different times?

 

[Marianne]

No real plan here. But I'm also married to a guy that isn't in to all this like I am, so sometimes it's finding the middle ground. :/

I used to be a real note taker, list maker, planner, etc. It does no good when the other half plants his feet - some people dont' do 'change' very well.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

sheesh... i'm such a slacker....

 

[Wannabefree]

So do you have a single "master plan", or a bunch of smaller plans that you implement at different times?

Basically I have an overall plan or "master plan" with short term goals listed that get implemented at different times. Sometimes the short term goals don't work, such as rabbits, and they get uh...UNimplemented so to speak. It's like a living plan, things are born, and things die, and things change, and some things become standard practice and even taken for granted that "X" is what we're doing, but there is ALWAYS some sort of plan ever moving in a forward direction. Even right now when I have a TON going on in my personal life that's conflicting...yet the plan lives on, just in a different way, sort of like a contingency plan for the master plan. Always gotta have contingencies

 

[Marianne]

That's the truth!

Once in a while I have to make a list of all the things I DID accomplish instead of feeling low or overwhelmed by what still needs to be done - Which was my main reason in not doing the list thing anymore.

 

[Wannabefree]

Marianne if you do a forward moving list...it is easier. By forward moving I mean a list that shows accomplishments and a simple rough draft of where you want to be eventually, without the pressure of time constraints applied, so you can have a VISUAL of actually moving forward, rather than feeling like you're just treading water.

 

[Blaundee]

I do not have a business plan for living self sufficiently, but it has been on my to-do list for a few months now... I have a business plan for our different businesses and business ideas, and intend to fully write one for sufficient living but haven't had the time. Maybe I'll have time this weekend...

I do, however, have lists and charts of what to grow, how much we need for how many people we have, where to plant everything, when to plant it, yada yada yada.... I have lists and charts for everything in my life, I love to write lists and make plans and meet goals LOL

 

[Blaundee]

I would like to add- when working with nature, don't worry too much about dates. Use dates and look at them as guidelines, but don't get hung up or stressed out about them. We have a horse business, and you can use dates all you want, but when a horse gets hurt, or a mare carries her foal a month longer than she should, your dates all go out the window! LOL Using dates keeps you on track and motivated, and I use dates a LOT, I'm just saying don't let it discourage you that it is taking 3 months longer to get there than you had originally planned... you just have to realize that you are dealing with living creatures and have to be flexible.