The Edgy Entrepreneur

New client: Yoga Cowgirls

I have a really amazing new client...Maryellen Cooke of Yoga Cowgirls. Maryellen is an amazing person who has several interests and talents that could be developed into products or services for a business. She is eager to start her venture and we are crafting a business plan even as we speak.

Usually, I work with larger groups to create/update business plans and strategic plans. When I have worked with individuals in the past, it has been around a specific product or venture. With Yoga Cowgirls and Maryellen, it is a very different experience. While she does have a couple of specific products, she also has tremendous potential to create a "product" from her lifestyle...

One of my favorite, and probably the most successful, lifestyle mavens is Martha Stewart. Say what you will, her brand is solid. The Martha Stewart brand is resilient and a consistent money maker, with a huge following. Go Martha!

Creating a lifestyle brand is a deliberate, strategic effort, or at least it should be. Thinking about the difference between who YOU are and what your lifestyle BRAND is, then deliberately crafting that brand is critical. This is not the time to simply put your home life on display. In fact, I am not sure WHEN that time would be...

This lifestyle or personal brand is created by identifying your passions and interests, then using your "life" as a vehicle for distribution. And again, "life" is an intentionally created public brand...not sharing the color of your underwear.

We will talk more about Maryellen and Yoga Cowgirls as we build her plan and business. But, I would encourage you all to think about your personal brand. What are you sharing with the public?  Is it intentional and restrained or are you sharing your arguments with your spouse on Twitter? Your personal brand is your unique contribution to the world...it is up to you to determine the effect it will have on your life and the life of others.

A New Business Model

Gardener to Farmer is one of my two businesses…the other is Escalation Business Consulting. This week, I finally figured out what the heck I was doing. Starting a business is a stutter step, trial and error, wrestling with ideas, crying and laughing adventure…probably made worse due to the fact that I am…wait for it…an idea person…chaos errupts, papers fly in the air, people run screaming from the room. Yes, that’s right, I am not ashamed to admit it, I love generating creative solutions, big picture thinking, strategy and business development.

And Gardener to Farmer started as a dream for the future. Last summer, my mom and I started talking about what we would do if we could do anything we wanted to…and a picture emerged…we would have a wonderful ranch in Northern California where we would have a small boutique farm…one that produced unusual produce on a small scale. In our dream, we added that we wanted chickens, mini goats and mini donkeys. I think we felt that small scale would be more manageable…somehow, I am not sure that applies to donkeys.

In any case, we have kept that dream alive. I have a painting of Northern California right above my coffee maker. It is the first thing I see when I wake up. And although I still live in Oregon, many things have changed that have brought my dream closer to reality.

One major thing that has changed is that we moved to a bigger place so that we could add children to our lives. My partner and I did a lot of research, read postings, looked on line, drove by houses…and when we finally had an appointment to go into a house and see it, we knew it was the right place for us. It just so happens (and we didn’t know this until we arrived), that the only house we looked at had an organic garden and a miniature orchard (another mini!). Are you kidding me? Did I mention there is a greenhouse? We’ll take it!!

This was in October, just before the darkest and rainiest days here in Oregon. I did a bit of rototilling, but that was it…too wet to do anything. In February, I started my blog, Gardener to Farmer. Exploring what I could and would do with this land…and in March, long before I had any produce available, I found Ali and Evan at the Little Red Bike Cafe.They became my first Produce Partners…for the whole story go here.

But, I have struggled with what my actual business model would be…I now have two partners, and another meeting set up next week…and I have realized two things. One, there is a market for the type of produce I provide and for the marketing methods I offer and two, I do not have enough space to grow for multiple restaurants.

This is a good problem to have…much better than not having anyone buy produce. And after much stress and general thrashing about, I think I have developed a new business model. I will find “growing partners”. These partners will be people who already know how to garden, who already have gardens, and who would like to make extra income. I particularly want to work with stay at home moms, helping them become mompreneurs, like me.

So, I will be looking to recruit my partners in the next couple of weeks. I am excited about the prospects and feel like I finally have a clear enough vision to start my business plan…If you would like to follow the gardening side of my business, you can go to the business website at www.gardenertofarmer.com or the blog at www.gardenertofarmer.blogspot.com.