[Pundyburn Lynn]

John and Helen,


What good advice!  We are chipping away at the business plan while we wait for suitable land to come up.  We've done most of the number crunching and KNOW that even with a poor outcome we can make enough of an income out of our venture to support our modest and well-honed way of life.


It's just a horribly frustrating waiting game now... Where is all the land???


Lynn

[david c]

John and Helen,

what is the guy doing on his land to make a living from 1 acre?

cheers

David

[Zebedee]

Beekeeping?

I regularly pass a small plot where someone has his shepherd's hut surrounded by bee hives. I'm not sure how many as the whole plot isn't visible but there must be at least twenty or so. Whether that's commercial or not, I wouldn't know but it certainly looks as though he's not just doing it for fun. Well, of course he's doing it for fun but it seems to be on a level that's not quite for fun alone, if you get my drift.

[Zebedee]

John and Helen,

What good advice!  We are chipping away at the business plan while we wait for suitable land to come up.  We've done most of the number crunching and KNOW that even with a poor outcome we can make enough of an income out of our venture to support our modest and well-honed way of life.

It's just a horribly frustrating waiting game now... Where is all the land???

Lynn

Do you have any specific intention in mind as to what you want to do? There's plenty of land for sale at all times but clearly the land you buy shapes the activity. There's any number of business plans available to look at through a Google search but really it comes down to what you plan to do. Funnily enough, I started my business with no plan. Just a couple of cardboard boxes I threw the papers into. I didn't even bother to register for VAT. I treated the whole thing as an exercise in serendipity and for the most part it worked. Most of my calculations were done on scraps of paper or in an exercise book I always carried around. I'm certainly not advising that approach but what I would say is that a strong vision founded on a good idea will carry you a long, long way.

[john and helen]

John and Helen,

what is the guy doing on his land to make a living from 1 acre?

cheers

David

i will try to find the link… its either veg boxes or cut flowers , but i remember he did it all in polytunnels
also he was selling direct, cutting out the middleman …which makes a massive difference

[hughesy]

We've done most of the number crunching and KNOW that even with a poor outcome we can make enough of an income out of our venture to support our modest and well-honed way of life

Good luck but I think reality might be somewhat different from some numbers on a piece of paper.

[Womble]

Of course, so call it what it really is: a "Business Guess". You can then have an optimistic Business Guess, and a pessimistic one. If the world doesn't end should your pessimistic guess come to pass, maybe it's worth giving it a bash!
 
I went to a business startup seminar recently, and some folks seemed convinced that writing something in their business plan would miraculously make it happen. One couple had written in their plan that they would both be working in their new shop 10 hours a day, seven days a week "because this is our dream, and we're committed". Good luck guys! 
 
I guess what I'm trying to say is don't let your fears get in the way of your dreams, but do be realistic!!

[Pundyburn Lynn]

This post repeatedly veers towards the negative.  We are very clear about what we want to do and the land that we want to buy and could probably move forward with only a couple of 'back of the envelope' sums.  However, we want to live on our land.  This is permitted in a small number of local authorities within Scotland, as long as you can provide a projected business plan.  This has to include optimistic, pessimistic and average outcomes and has to be deemed viable by an agricultural consultant.

I suppose that those of you who have had to justify their existence in this way will know exactly what I was looking for and might have been able to help.  I've certainly had several very helpful pm's in response (and for those I am very grateful).  I'm glad to say that we've now managed to complete the necessary business plan and are focused on finding suitable land.  Onwards!

[doganjo]

This post repeatedly veers towards the negative.  We are very clear about what we want to do and the land that we want to buy and could probably move forward with only a couple of 'back of the envelope' sums.  However, we want to live on our land.  This is permitted in a small number of local authorities within Scotland, as long as you can provide a projected business plan.  This has to include optimistic, pessimistic and average outcomes and has to be deemed viable by an agricultural consultant.
I suppose that those of you who have had to justify their existence in this way will know exactly what I was looking for and might have been able to help.  I've certainly had several very helpful pm's in response (and for those I am very grateful).  I'm glad to say that we've now managed to complete the necessary business plan and are focused on finding suitable land.  Onwards![/size][/font]

Well done you!  My friend with the 20 acres has just been told that after 7 years struggling to get permission she may be at the point of getting there, but a planner has suggested she goes down the route of dog breeder rather than smallholding!  Apparently because so many people are trying that angle!  So it's back to the drawing board for us with her business plan.  She IS a  dog breeder but it never occurred to us she'd get permission that way.  So the only additional advice i have is to think outside the box - and look inwards as the answer may be there! 

[Womble]

That's absoultely mad! Are there too many smallholdings perhaps? Are we taking over the countryside like some kind of rural Starbucks? 

[john and helen]

The way i see it down here in east Devon, is, many of the traditional farms are being sold off,
many will be split into lots, the farmhouse and maybe an acre or two will be purchased by some wealthy person, who has no interest in farming, but just wants that slice of countryside and space and maybe the odd chicken

the other lots, providing they are flat, normally fill up with horses…

I would love to see more smallholdings, especially if they where selling their produce,
the sad truth is, you can buy meat cheaper in a supermarket…ok, you don't get the quality or taste, but the price is low….just look at the price of a leg of lamb from new zealand….. thats all down to all the rules, regs a and costings  of this country…yet when people buy local produce, they say it tastes wonderful 

our councils will try to stop you building on your land, even if you are small scale farming, yet grant permission to supermarkets for out of town shopping zones, at the same time, killing the high street, resulting in a town full of charity shops

the village life is changing, houses have become so expensive , only those with well paid jobs can afford to buy, often leaving the locals to move to towns..

I don't think there are enough smallholdings that run as a business, and with the mentality of the councils, i can understand why…no doubt, most of them do their shopping in the out of town supermarkets ..

i would say, go for your dream Lynn…you, as any of us, deserve to have our little bit of British countryside, especially if you are intending to restore or upkeep british farming, its a shame the people who govern this nation and counties, don't have the same amount of backbone, that this nation once had……

[Marches Farmer]

Our small farm is one of those you describe and when the surrounding farmers heard we were actually intending to farm it and not park ponies on it they couldn't have been more welcoming and helpful.  The single storey stone barn had already been converted to a shop and tea room by the previous owners, who had an open pig farm, so we further converted it into a holiday cottage to give a bit of income while we built up the livestock side of things.  Now we specialise in rare breeds - sheep, pigs, poultry, turkeys - and sell eggs from the farmgate and are soon to start selling pork and lamb.  As soon as they get bTB sorted in this area we'll go back to calf-rearing too.  If you work hard, keep a close eye on profitability, don't continue doing something that's not working for you and freely admit you have a lot to learn .... it can work.  You'll never be rich but you could well be happy!

[shotblastuk]

'You'll never be rich but you could well be happy'
Well said marches farmer!!!
Life's not a dress rehersal

[Zebedee]

There is of course, David Acreman's 'Field to Farm' concept which I think has been reviewed on here in the past. I'm not familiar with it myself but I believe it is aimed squarely at those with small acreage but no planning and who wish to end up living on their own land.

[MAK]

Good luck Lyn and hope that you find a plot and achieve all you want to achieve.
reading this post it strikes me that it would be fascinating to do a straw pole and establish just how many members run their small holdings for profit , to move towards self sufficiencey or as a hobby that they self fund.
My guess is that some would tick all 3 boxes so one would have to qualify each category better than I have outlined.