Starting A Small Business: What It’s Like To Start A Pumpkin Farm, Pt. 2

Halloween is just about here! It’s an incredibly exciting time of year that marks the official start of the holiday season (okay, maybe the holidays are a little further away than the end of October, but we get really excited about all of the upcoming festivities), and lately, we’ve been writing a lot about small businesses in relation to the holiday season. The majority of businesses experience peak sales volumes during this jolly time of year. Before the winter begins to set in, Halloween and Thanksgiving offer some great opportunities for small business owners around the country to capitalize on.

Whatever Your Idea Is, We Can Help Fund It

To continue where we left off, we’ll go on writing about what starting your own pumpkin farm is like. While it’s no casual endeavor, the right kind of person can live a very rewarding and satisfying life by owning their own pumpkin farm. The Commercial Finance Group is happy to finance small business prospects like these by providing our capital lending solutions like a small business line of credit and invoice factoring services. We understand that there are many factoring companies to choose from, but we’re confident that our decades of experience and expertise will help your fledgling business come to fruition.

Discover more about our financial services here, or feel free to get in touch with us if you have any questions.

Growth Potential

Now, most pumpkin farms tend to be relatively small in size – in fact, some are only seasonal. That being said, if your pumpkin farm has a great local reputation and a longstanding history with your community, you can actually get assistance from supporting groups like neighboring farms. If you have a good amount resources available near you, your pumpkin farm could easily become a sustainable, local attraction.

Farm Associations

You’ll want to become a preferred pumpkin farm and to do this, you’ll need to connect with your area’s farm association (provided that your area has one). Organizations like farmer’s market associations, market cooperatives and food associations are your friend because they can help your business succeed and expand. Ideally, a very successful pumpkin farm can actually sell their pumpkins to local growers, and, while rare, some pumpkin patches may even expand to provide pumpkins to more large-scale produce providers.

Relevant Skills And Experience

Above just about all else, you’ll want to make sure that your crops are properly maintained as any farm owner would. Learn how to grow, maintain and harvest pumpkins before starting a farm business. As we mentioned in our first post about starting your own pumpkin farm, make sure that bugs and pests are kept at bay from your pumpkin crops, as these menaces can ruin your investment. A thorough understanding of seasonal growing cycles, harvesting techniques and mildew prevention definitely help keep your crops growing optimally.

From a business side of things, an understanding of production, marketing and management are a huge help to grow a successful farm business. A lot of business for pumpkin farms comes from local buyers, so having a good handle on the local economy is a huge plus. A good pumpkin farm owner should be able to manage some workers, talk with customers, and create a welcoming environment for customers.

Costs

Costs for your pumpkin farm will depend on the price of open land in your area. Naturally, it helps if you already have a farm or land that you own, as we can’t really speak to what it costs to buy land. But for harvesting costs, you can anticipate something in the ballpark of about $300 per acre. As for initial starting capital, expect something closer to as much as $3,000 per acre for maintenance, harvesting, and growth-associated costs. If you’re starting a small patch, of course, the costs will be considerably lower.

Some Tips For Jumpstarting Your Farm

One thing you can do to hit the ground running is to integrate your pumpkin farm with local schools and institutes. Try to enter this type of market from a fun perspective, connecting with younger audiences in the process. Also, keep track of your number of customers and scale them up based on profit. At the same time, learn how to gauge your farm’s annual average pumpkin yield. By comparing your farm’s yield to your area’s other providers and tracking these metrics, you’ll then be able to price your pumpkins better. Finally, record all of your sales and use any useful data that you have to plan for future harvests.

Legal Considerations

We won’t go into extreme detail here, but be aware that starting your own pumpkin farm has a series of legal considerations just like starting any other business does. You’ll need to navigate things like state and local business licensing requirements, sales tax, and certificate of occupancy. Health regulations are also an important consideration, as pumpkins are technically food. This is even more important if you plan to sell ready-to-eat food at your pumpkin farm business, in which you will need licensing from a local health department.

To reduce your personal liability, structuring your business as an LLC (limited liability company or corporation) will ensure that your personal assets are protected in the event that your business is sued.

Launch The Business Of Your Dreams With CFG

Your ideas don’t have to remain as simple ideas thanks to our invoice factoring and small business lending services. With asset-based loans and other finance factoring solutions, launching a business like a pumpkin farm is more than possible. Learn more by contacting The Commercial Finance Group today!