Starting a farm business may seem easy or daunting, but the important part is to take it step by step to build a strong foundation for your business. Below are some key first steps.
Define your mission, values, and goals:
A farm is a business, and the starting place for all businesses is a clear mission, core values that will guide your process, and acheivable goals.
This is a workbook that helps you to to set your mission, value, goals, and assess what kind of farm business makes sense for you. It also helps with setting an initial budget and thinking through marketing options.
Assess your skills, time, and financial capacity:
Once you have that established, you’ll need to think about your actual capacity to carry out that mission, this includes your experience with farming, your business skills, the amount of time you have to dedicate to the business, and the financial and other resources you can access.
This is a great 17-minute youtube video that goes over a number of the key things to think about if you’re thinking about starting a farm business.
And this is another 12 minute video that covers some of the key mistakes beginning farmers make:
If you don’t have enough experience/skills yet to start your farm business, check out our section on training and mentorship for both NM-based, online and national training and internship opportunities.
Choose legal business structure:
You’ll need to pick a legal structure for your business, like a sole proprietorship, LLC, co-op, etc.
This is an easy to understand fact sheet about the different business types and their pros and cons:
Registering your business:
Pretty much all farm businesses will need to register at least with the State, some with the Federal government, and some with your local county or city.
Here’s a guide to registering your business from the Small Business Administration:
If you are a sole proprietor, and you don’t plan on hiring any employees, you only need a social security number to register your business with the New Mexico Tax and Revenue Department. If you are an LLC that’s a partnership or plan to hire employees, you will also need to get a Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN).
Once you have a Tax ID number, you’ll need to register your business in the city or county your farm is in.
To find the registration for your county, search the internet for “your county name, i.e. Valencia County, NM” and “business registration”
Insurance:
You’ll need to get insurance for your business. See Section 6 on Insurance for more information.
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