Many people consider starting their own business because they don’t like their job, they want to be their own boss, and/ or want to put their time doing something meaningful for them. There are a lot of reasons that people want to get out of the job that they’re in, it might be because you don’t find it that interesting or fulfilling, maybe it doesn’t pay enough or maybe you just have a great business idea and you want to bring it to life. But if your reason for wanting to get out of your current job is that you hate working in an office, you’ve got to consider the kind of business that you want to start. Most businesses run out of an office and if you’re the boss, you’ll spend a lot more time in there than you ever have before. But there are some great businesses that don’t require spending a lot of time in the office, like agriculture. It’s the perfect business idea for somebody that wants to be their own boss and also wants to get out of the office and be a bit more hands on.
Agriculture is a fairly stable business in one sense because there will always be a market for your product, however, it can be very difficult to make a good living from it. The other major hurdle that you’re going to face is the startup costs because they’re quite high compared to a lot of other businesses. You can’t just start the business from home and wait until you’re bringing more money in before expanding. If you’re thinking about starting an agriculture business, these are the cost that you’ll have to cover.
Land
The first thing you’ll need is some land, and that’s going to cost you. You’ve got a few options here; you can buy a piece of land separate from your home and run the farm from there. Alternatively, you could consider selling your house and buying a farm where you can live and work. When you’re choosing the land, you’ve got to make sure that you do plenty of research before you buy. Have the soil tested so you can work out exactly what you’re going to be able to grow there. You might be able to get a cheap deal on some land but it’s worthless if the soil quality is bad and you can’t grow anything there. The average cost of land is around £2000 an acre, so if you buy a decent sized farm, you’ll be spending a lot of money. In some areas, the price is shooting up and you could be paying nearer £10,000 an acre.
Equipment
Once you’ve got some land, you need all of the equipment that you’ll use to farm your crops. You’ll have to find tractors for sale, irrigation systems, a combine harvester, an irrigation system, and trucks for transporting the grain. The overall cost depends on the size of farm that you’re buying but if you’re going to make a decent living, you’ll need a fairly sizeable piece of land and that means you’ll need a lot of equipment to farm it. Getting all of the equipment together for a large farm could cost you up to £100,000.
Crops
Now that you’ve got the land and the equipment, you need something to grow on the farm. It depends on the quality of soil and what is likely to grow there. You also need to consider the market and see what you will be likely to sell. If there are already a lot of wheat farms in the area, for example, it might not be the best choice of crop for you. Ideally, you want to grow a few different things but when you’re first starting out and you’re still learning the ropes, it’s easier to manage one single crop. The cost of seeding a farm can be as high as £150,000 for a 3000 acre farm, so you need to consider this when you’re choosing the plot of land that you’re going to buy.
Employees
If you’re going to make a decent living from a farm, you’ll need a fairly big one. Managing the whole thing on your own is going to be impossible, so you’ll need to hire some employees as well. It’s hard to strike a balance here because you need people to run the farm but you also need to keep your costs as low as possible. That’s why it’s important that you choose well and hire experienced workers that can cover a range of different jobs.
Running your own farm can be very lucrative but the startup costs are incredibly high, so think carefully about whether it’s the right business for you before you make any decisions.
