Farm Business & Finance 101 Curriculum
Whether you are a pre-launch supply chain or a small farm just getting your business off the ground, every business is different—which is why cookie-cutter trainings don’t work when it comes to leadership and financial management.
As you grow your business, new needs and problems arise daily. You and your team need training that gives you the resources and knowledge to tackle the specific challenges within your organization.
Kitchen Table Consultants’ (KTC) Farm Business & Finance 101 program is perfect for new and beginner farmers. We provide a classroom setting for groups of 8 to 24 farmers and/or growers. Through a custom-designed curriculum, you and your team will learn how to successfully manage your people and finances. Our lesson plans and style of delivery can be adjusted based on the emerging and anticipated needs of your business.
This 16-week series combines group training with one-on-one mentoring to reinforce each lesson, creating lasting and impactful change for your farm business. After a value-packed four months, you and your staff will walk away with:
- A working knowledge of business finance.
- Increased leadership skills.
- Creation of standard operating procedures for trouble areas.
- Increased team cohesiveness.
Our program uses bottom-up management to create buy-in with your team and construct a work environment that is fulfilling, efficient, and innovative.
Please Note: This program is now available in Spanish! If you and your team require Spanish-speaking support, you will be paired with our fluent and knowledgeable team members.
What It Looks Like: Sample Course Curriculum
Below is an example of what a business management and finance curriculum might look like when you work with KTC.
Week 1 | Financial Literacy 101: Profit & Loss
In this module, you will learn to:
- Understand and explain what’s going on financially with your business and understand the relationship between activities and profits.
- Confidently manage tough situations when they arise, which always come down to managing time (i.e., people) and money (i.e., sales and costs).
We will talk about:
- What we can take away from reading financial statements and key metrics and using percentages
- The 7 parts of a profit & loss sheet
- What profitability means for our future and why it is important
Week 2 | 1:1 Mentoring
Week 3 | Financial Literacy 101: Balance Sheet
This module will give you an understanding of what the balance sheet means, especially related to the long-term financial health of the company and how to find cash in crevices.
We will focus on balance sheets as the expression of the formula: Assets = Liabilities + Equity
Week 4 | 1:1 Mentoring
Week 5 | Being a New Manager
The goal of this session is to define what a successful manager is. We will:
- Use what we have learned from past managers that we don’t want to be like.
- Learn to collaborate and develop successful strategies as a result.
- Communicate together!
Our focus will be on:
- Developing a disciplinary structure to enforce management practices.
- Creating the tools for your direct reports to be consistent.
- Understanding how to manage attitudes.
- Learning how to have an intensive conversation about the work or the action (not the personality).
Week 6 | 1:1 Mentoring
Week 7 | Introduction to Challenges in Management
Managing any number of people comes with its challenges! In this module, we’ll address:
- How to manage structured communications with your direct reports.
- How to assess your own time management.
- The content of effective meetings with your direct reports.
- Overview of The 5 E’s and cultural change.
Week 8 | 1:1 Mentoring
Week 9 | Managing Attitudes & Financial Literacy 101: Budget vs. Actual
This module will touch on elements of both managing people and finances. We’ll start by covering:
- Ways to take charge by learning.
- Personality types and how to manage them.
- What kind of manager you want to be and how you will get there.
We will also take a closer look at Budgeting vs. Accrual spreadsheets.
Week 10 | 1:1 Mentoring
Week 11 | Financial Literacy 101: Managing Cash Flow
This week, we’ll answer key questions, including:
- What is the gap between your profitability and cash flow?
- How is cash flow different from profits?
- How does profitability impact cash flow?
- Why can’t you chase profits and cash for a big change at the same time?
- What things can happen to crash cash flow?
We will also learn how to use the cash flow statement to make decisions together.
Week 12 | 1:1 Mentoring
Week 13 | One-Minute Management How-To: Goals, Praisings & Redirects
Top-down management is a thing of the past. One-minute management minimizes drama, is direct, and leaves little room for mistakes. The one-minute management technique includes:
- Planning goals together
- Learning to effectively praise outside the context of negativity
- One-minute redirects
Week 14 | 1:1 Mentoring
Week 15 | Teaching Self-Management & Managing Performance | Wrap-up Review
In our last module, we will cover the four fundamentals of self-management:
- Time management
- Interpersonal skills
- Organizational skills
- Basic problem-solving skills
We will also help you conduct a self-evaluation of your interpersonal communication skills. We will end with a review of your strategic plan, balance sheet, and profit & loss sheet.
Week 16 | 1:1 Mentoring
Additional Details
Each virtual training session will be approximately one (1) hour long. Trainees can expect to spend approximately one hour per week on homework assignments to prepare for training. Additionally, each trainee will be provided with one-on-one mentoring every other week for approximately 15 minutes to reinforce lessons learned and troubleshoot emerging issues.
How It Works
Here are the steps we will take to help you excel as a business owner and manager:
Step 1: Complimentary Consultation
Let’s schedule an initial consultation to get to know each other! We will use this discovery call to learn which areas of leadership, business, and finance you need to focus on.
Step 2: Pre-workshop Survey
Once you have decided to invest in your team and business by partnering with KTC, we will start by distributing a pre-workshop survey to your team to gather info on the experience, scale, and goals.
Step 3: Curriculum Development
Next, we will develop a curriculum and schedule based on the needs and feedback we receive. This will include one-on-one coaching to help reinforce management skills and complete your farm budget.
Step 4: Class is in Session!
We will kick off the first week and biweekly “class”! While everyone will have some take-home assignments each week, remember to lean on each other for accountability. It will all help you reach your goals and ultimately grow closer as a team.
Course content will be conveniently hosted in a member portal on KTC’s website and will include recordings of each session as well as course materials. And of course, you will be able to share any specific questions or concerns during our biweekly one-on-one mentoring.
Are you ready to take your farm business to the next level? KTC’s Business & Finance 101 program will give you everything you need to confidently move forward and develop your team and your company. Contact us today to get started!
