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Making Your Small Farm Profitable: Apply 25 Guiding Principles/Develop New Crops & New Markets/Maximize Net Profits Per Acre
Ron Macher Manufacturer: Storey Publishing, LLC ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 1580171613 |
Book Description
This practical, step-by-step guide to operating a small farm in the new millennium examines 20 alternative farming enterprises. Readers will learn how to target niche markets and sustain a farm's biological and economic health.Customer Reviews:
Good advice for serious beginners.......2007-06-15
It's about business, the business of farming. .......2007-03-01
A Wise Investment for the Inquisitive, Curious Beginner.......2004-03-21
Now, let me elaborate on what this book really is. This book is a very polite warning by two very seasoned, jaded individuals who are aware of the escapist notions and romantic fantasies many people have about farming. They have been around long enough to have become intimately familiar with the Back to the Land Movement, a Return to Simplicity, and Environmental Sustainability/Sustainable Agriculture- aka The New Improved Agriculture. It took me a while to realize this (three readings in fact!) and understand the dangers associated with one pernicious stereotype about farming.
Many of us on the sidelines believe that anyone can farm, and all it takes is a willingness to work hard (the trite saying about hard-working ditch diggers getting rich comes readily to mind). When we think of the farmer, we often have one (malicious) stereotype in mind- that of the dumb country boy with a 'gee aw shucks' outlook on farming and life. Basically, we really do not think it takes brains in order to farm successfully. I mean, after all, you take some seeds, toss in a little fertilizer of your choice, water them and come back in a few months to collect your crop and get your pesos (almost literally)- just how hard could that be?
Well, speaking as someone who is thoroughly new to farming, never once has farmed, and is inquisitive about the practice of agriculture, after considerable investigation I can tell you the prospective reader that no matter how hard they work, dumb people will not be able to stay on the farm for long. We on the sidelines do not think farming is difficult because we do not think about the Practice of Farming and the Business of Farming. If your experience of farming up to this point is shopping at your local natural foods co-op, perusing the stalls at the local weekly farmer's market, or wandering the aisles at some trendy, eco-hip retailer like Whole Foods or Wilds Oats (who have skillfully co-opted environmentalism as a path to insane riches), and you are considering going into farming as a vocation, then I do not think you will hear the polite warning contained in this book. If you are someone stuck in a dead-end or high-paying but otherwise unfulfilling career (like this reviewer), and you are seeking an out, a means of escape (what we politely but laughingly call a 'transition'), then you just might catch the polite warning consistently stated throughout this book.
Farming attracts many people not because of its business or financial aspects but because of the lifestyle many people associate with farming. If you are an MD, then you are in the business of healthcare. Your business and your lifestyle are completely different. In fact, whether your business is highly successful or modestly successful, your lifestyle could be lavish, it could be modest, or it could be parsimonious- it's up to you and your personal preferences. If you don't like your current situation, from where you work, to who you work for (read HMOs) to your clientele base, you can make a change without changing your lifestyle- too much that is.
Now here is the polite warning: if you are drawn to farming because of the lifestyle, and you turn this lifestyle into a business, then it behooves you to make damn certain that your business can pay for itself, because after all, your business is your lifestyle and your lifestyle is your business. The lifestyle will not work out if the business end does not pay. In fact, the business end may place quite severe limitations on the lifestyle you can reasonably expect to achieve, which in many cases will be well below what you are currently accustomed to. Unlike a 9 to 5 gig with some godless multinational, you can not simply just pack up and leave (this assumes implicitly that the heartless .......... have not fired you in the latest round of restructurings), and if the business end does not work out, you lose not only your lifestyle, but also your home.
For me, the true heart of the book and the real message of the text were contained in the Foreword by Budd Kerr Jr and Part I- Getting Started. In terms of content, the book contains little on the techniques of farming, and has eleven chapters divided into four parts- Getting Started, Farming, Planning and Marketing, and Management, with a handy appendix chock full of useful resources on the Business and Practice of Farming. The text is specifically pitched at a level that almost anyone can understand, and there is a noticeable bias towards the environmentally minded reader.
That said, the true purpose of this book is to get you, the prospective reader who may be thinking of getting into farming, to start thinking about the Practice of Farming and the Business of Farming, all romanticism and eco-hip verbiage aside. This book is of no use to someone who is already farming, and in need of help. The best time to read this book is before you get into farming whole hog as they say down on the farm.
Even though it took me three passes to finally get the message, I am glad that I did read it before taking any action.
Read this book several times BEFORE you venture into farming, not during or after.
Where's the beef?.......2004-02-19
For extensive, detailed, practical information about making money by pasturing mixed species of livestock, look at books by Joel Salatin. But even he could still bring in more complementary planting for winter forage. Greg Judy has a detailed book about making money with livestock without owning the land or the livestock.
Being a Farmer does not mean living in Poverty.......2004-01-07
The appendicies are great with current information about where to get more information.
His true stories boxes let you know that he understands what beginging farms needed in the way of encouragement and information to help them make the decision to farm.
He is correct when he writes "to survive as a farmer you must have a market before you start to grow and you must provide a quality product with even better customer service."
Worth the money and a pleasant read for anyone thinking about starting a business or farming.
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Viable Vision: Transforming Total Sales into Net Profits
Gerald I. Kendall Manufacturer: J. Ross Publishing ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 193215938X |
Book Description
Developed by industry guru and mega best-selling author Eli Goldratt, Viable Vision is a proven strategic plan and approach that lays out the steps to transform an organization's current total sales into net profits within 4 years. This book explains the Viable Vision concept and provides readers the proven frame of reference and roadmap for achieving exponential growth in profits, without relying on minor miracles such as a new product breakthrough.Supported by significant testing and proven results in real companies, it is now conceivable that even large companies can grow profits at double digit rates. Concisely packed with the proven principles of 25 years of scientific research and real-life application, readers will learn about the holistic implementation of constraints management in strategic planning, operations, supply chain/logistics, sales and marketing, project management, technology, metrics and finance. Whether or not you are one of the millions of people who have read "The Goal" or other fine books on the Theory of Constraints, you will gain enormous benefits from reading this book. Viable Vision is a must read for anyone interested in rapidly increasing their company's net profits.
Customer Reviews:
Excelent view of all TOC tools.......2006-08-16
Good introduction to E. Goldratt's Viable Vision Proposition.......2005-03-09
First TOC book for smart but busy exsecutives.......2005-02-23
A must read for CEOs serious about explosive growth!.......2005-02-04
TOC summary with essence.......2004-12-08
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Virtual Trading: How Any Trader With a PC Can Use the Power of Neural Nets and Expert Systems to Boost Trading Profits
Jess Lederman Manufacturer: Irwin Professional Publishing ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items:
ASIN: 1557388121 |
Book Description
In plain language, Virtual Trading, shows you how to proceed from data collection to system development to actual trading. For traders who want to stay on the cutting edge of market technology, Virtual Trading is a must read. Featuring contributions from the leading experts in the field, Virtual Trading provides in-depth information on every important aspect of artificial intelligence in trading. Highlights include: Synergistic market analysis using neural networks by Lou Mendelsohn; Developing a market-timing system using genetic algorithms by Casimir Klimasauskas; Neural networkds and stock market valuation by John Keal; Applying chaos theory to a neural network by Joseph Shepard; Developing a trading system that uses Al by Mark Jurik; Neural network techniques for time series analysis by Peter Davies.
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Value Nets: Breaking the Supply Chain to Unlock Hidden Profits
David Bovet , and Joseph Martha Manufacturer: Wiley ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items:
ASIN: 0471360090 |
Book Description
"Value nets are digital powerhouses that fuel business results."-From the Foreword by Adrian SlywotzkyCustomer Reviews:
Innovative.......2006-01-26
Capturing value using a value net.......2002-02-25
Value Nets have the following five main characteristics:
Customer-alignment
Collaborative and systemic
Agile and scalable
Fast flow
Digital
Value Nets builds on the work of The Profit Zone, which define five elements of a value-creating business design. These five elements are defined as follows:
Value proposition - a company's value proposition consists of products and services that add value to customers.
Scope - what activities are required to deliver the company's value proposition and who delivers them (internal or partner).
Profit capture - mechanisms that capture profit from the value proposition
Strategic control - elements that protect profits over time
Execution - operational excellence
Value Nets take the five characteristics of the value net and show case studies of how companies implemented value nets within the context of the five elements of business design listed above.
The models that this book lays out are quite useful for considering how a product or service is delivered. The case studies and example in this book are quite useful and cover several industries. Most of the examples relate to product companies, but the concepts can be applied to services companies as well.
This book is a interesting and useful read for business consider how to interact with partners, competitors, suppliers and customers in the digital age. I would recommend reading the Appendix Value Net Self-Diagnostic first because is a great intro to the book. If this book resonates well with you might also like How Digital Is Your Business and The Profit Zone (also from Mercer Consulting).
Gives A Framework of Digital Supply Chain.......2001-03-31
This book will be more readable if contents are cut by half. Many contents are repetitive. "The Profit Zone" is full of new ideas, "Value Nets" is filled with consultants' empty statements. Some cases only talk about what happened, but not why it happened and how.
I gave "The Profit Zone" five stars, "Value Nets" deserves only three.
Give This One A Pass.......2001-02-13
read only if you have much time..........2001-01-18
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Net Profit: How to Invest and Compete in the Real World of Internet Business
Peter S. Cohan Manufacturer: Jossey-Bass ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: 0787956872 |
Amazon.com
With all the uncertainty and hoopla around the Internet, how can investors and business managers hit the right financial buttons? In Net Profit, Peter S. Cohan, a premier Internet consultant and stock picker, analyzes the trade's top companies--including Yahoo!, Amazon.com, America Online, and Cisco Systems--and offers some compelling insights for investors and businesses on the Web or those considering it. "This book is about the companies that are working to make economic sense of the Web," Cohan writes. "And it is about a search for the business strategies that distinguish the market leaders from their peers."Cohan identifies nine segments of the industry--infrastructure, consulting, venture capital, security, portals, e-commerce, Web content, Internet service providers, and commerce tools. He judges each of the leading companies in the nine fields on its management, breadth of customer service, and most critical, ability to deliver a product that is so scarce and important that it carries a high price. Most Internet companies fail to meet all of Cohan's strict standards. Portal leader Yahoo!, for example, lacks economic clout over advertisers because of tough rivals in the traditional media. Cohan gives high grades to technology consultants like Gartner Group, venture capital firms, and network builder Cisco. He loves Cisco because it controls 80 percent of the router market, keeps customers by providing other network components, and shows a knack for acquiring smaller companies. Easy to understand, Net Profit features some key strategies for competing on the Internet. Cohan also helps companies evaluate whether it makes sense even to offer services on the Web. --Dan Ring
Book Description
The recent Internet stock crash has caused investors and managers to throw the baby out with the bath water. The gloom surrounding many publicly traded Internet companies makes objective evaluation of their performance difficult. In Net Profit, author Peter Cohan breaks down the complexity of the Internet market by answering two basic questions: Who makes money on Internet-related business? And how do they do it? His incisive analyses of leading Internet companies, their competitors, and their chances for continued growth pinpoint the factors that investors and managers in Internet business must examine to ensure future success.Customer Reviews:
Highly Recommended!.......2001-08-14
You must read it........2000-07-08
Entry level.......2000-05-28
The framework is nothing new but more or less a simplified business plan.
In Chapter 13, Advice for Internet Management and Investors sounds like a common sense and existing strategy using by most of the dotcom. Common Sense: Strategy 1 of those advices is moving the company into a more profitability region in short. (It dividies the market into 3 levels of profitability. so called Lossware, Brandware and Powerware. Well, no matter if it is New or Old economy, there is always different degrees of profitability.)
Existing strategies: Selling out of a porfolio builder, deep pockets and restructuring. We are seeing consolidation in the market a long long time ago and a lot of big or small players already know it is the way.
This book is more like a news reporting and a lot of newly invented words cannot make this book a standard of new economy rules but disappoint me only.
Net Profit.......1999-12-14
Bringing Order to Chaos.......1999-11-30
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Net Loss: Internet Prophets, Private Profits, and the Costs to Community
Nathan Newman Manufacturer: Pennsylvania State University Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: 0271022051 |
Book Description
"Nathan Newman has written a fascinating history of the Silicon Valley that chronicles the federal government's leading role in creating, and then privatizing, the Internet. Net Loss not only dispels the myth that the Internet emerged full-blown as a result of entrepreneurial risk in a competitive marketplace, but also explains in depth how forces of globalization have undermined regional economies in California while reshaping social and political life in local communities. This groundbreaking book is a must read for anyone concerned with the power of global corporations and the future of democratic governance."Scott Bowman, California State University, Los Angeles"Net Loss is the perfect antidote for the confusion generated by the years of hype and the recent disillusionment surrounding the Internet economy. Nathan Newman offers a cogent and original analysis of what the Internet has really meant to the regional economy of the Silicon Valley as well as to other regions. Anyone in search of fresh ideas carefully grounded in a rich base of research will find this book just what they have been looking for."Peter Evans, University of California, Berkeley
How has the Internet been changing our lives, and how did these changes come about? Nathan Newman seeks the answers to these questions by studying the emergence of the Internet economy in Silicon Valley and the transformation of power relations it has brought about in our new information age. Net Loss is his effort to understand why technological innovation and growth have been accompanied by increasing economic inequality and a sense of political powerlessness among large sectors of the population.
Newman first tells the story of the federal government's crucial role in the early development of the Internet, with the promotion of open computer standards and collaborative business practices that became the driving force of the Silicon Valley model. He then examines the complex dynamic of the process whereby regional economies have been changing as business alliances built around industries like the Internet replace the broader public investments that fueled regional growth in the past. A radical restructuring of once regionally focused industries like banking, electric utilities, and telephone companies is under way, with changes in federal regulation helping to undermine regional planning and the power of local community actors. The rise of global Internet commerce itself contributes to weakening the tax base of local governments, even as these governments increasingly use networked technology to market themselves and their citizens to global business, usually at the expense of all but their most elite residents. More optimistically, Newman sees an emerging countertrend of global use of the Internet by grassroots organizations, such as those in the antiglobalization movements, that may help to transcend this local powerlessness.
Customer Reviews:
Startling cogent analysis.......2003-09-04
Challenges conventional wisdom.......2003-08-30
Highly recommended.
It's good for you and it tastes good too!.......2003-08-24
Myth about a 'myth'.......2003-04-21
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10 college sports programs report profit: UCA records highest net income; UA barely tops Henderson State. : An article from: Arkansas Business
Mark Friedman Manufacturer: Thomson Gale ProductGroup: Book Binding: Digital ASIN: B000EHT9CY Release Date: 2006-02-09 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Arkansas Business, published by Thomson Gale on January 23, 2006. The length of the article is 1081 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
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ACE net income up 25%. (Bermuda Briefs).: An article from: National Underwriter Property & Casualty-Risk & Benefits Management
Lisa S. Howard Manufacturer: The National Underwriter Company ProductGroup: Book Binding: Digital ASIN: B0008DH7DM Release Date: 2005-07-31 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from National Underwriter Property & Casualty-Risk & Benefits Management, published by The National Underwriter Company on May 12, 2003. The length of the article is 461 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
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ACE Net Operating Earnings Up 29 Percent.(ACE Ltd. reports profits)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included): An article from: National Underwriter Property & Casualty-Risk & Benefits Management
Caroline Mcdonald Manufacturer: The National Underwriter Company ProductGroup: Book Binding: Digital ASIN: B0008HXP8Y Release Date: 2005-07-28 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from National Underwriter Property & Casualty-Risk & Benefits Management, published by The National Underwriter Company on May 21, 2001. The length of the article is 743 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
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ADV. MED OPTICS REPORTS NET INCOME OF $8.8 MILLION FOR 4TH QTR.(Advanced Medical Optics, Inc. ): An article from: Biotech Financial Reports
Manufacturer: Worldwide Videotex ProductGroup: Book Binding: Digital ASIN: B0008DB8KA Release Date: 2005-07-31 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Biotech Financial Reports, published by Worldwide Videotex on April 1, 2003. The length of the article is 1229 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.Books:
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