Failure happens to all of us.
That’s part of life. Failure happens if farming. You might think that’s just part of farming, but the great news is you can avoid many of the common causes of failure. You shouldn’t farm if you plan on failing. But most agents don’t plan at all!
You’ve probably heard the saying “Success leaves clues”? Well the same is true for failure. Failure leaves clues and that is good news for you.
I’ve heard all the reasons for failing and I’ve seen so many agents experience debilitating failure in their farms that prevents them from sticking with it. I don’t want that to be you!
The great thing is that there are a few common mistakes and mindsets that I see come up very often with the agents that don’t succeed at farming and I’m going to help you avoid these before you even start!
I’m going to share my top 5 reasons you shouldn’t farm so you can avoid the failures when launching your own farm. I’m going to be brutally honest here, so if your feelings get hurt, you’ve been warned.
You shouldn’t farm if you don’t have a budget.
If you are serious about farming, you should be prepared to spend. I’ve covered this at great lengths in many of my other posts and my courses. You should always start with a budget when you are looking to farm. But not just a financial budget. You need to be prepared to budget time, money and energy.
If you haven’t committed to this up front, you are destined to fail. You can try and hack your way through farming, but without the right budget to keep you accountable, you drastically increase your chances of failing big time!
The right budget will keep you accountable, give you something to measure against, keep you motivated and ensure that you are following a plan. Having no budget is just “hoping” you succeed. When things get tough and you don’t see the results you were hoping for, you may just pull back, or worse, pull out of your farm entirely. Your budget will help keep you committed and focused.
If you aren’t planning to budget your money, time and energy, just quit while you’re ahead.
You shouldn’t farm if you are just going to “try it”.
Nothing causes failure in farming more than agents who “dabble” in farming. If you aren’t committed to the long haul, then just stop.
Save your money.
Save your time.
Save your energy.
I’ve seen more agents fail because they thought they would just “try” farming and then they failed miserably and couldn’t figure out why. If you aren’t willing to plan out what you are going to do, backed by a strong budget, you massively increase the chances of you failing miserably.
I’ve talked to so many agents who told me they “tried farming” before. Then I usually dig a little deeper and find out that they sent out a post card or two and then quit.
That’s not farming!
That’s just failed marketing.
If you aren’t willing to stick with your farm and actually have a plan, you might as well just give me the cash you were about to waste on your farm and I can just tell you it won’t work. You’ll be in the same position as you would have if you just tried but hopefully you’ll get there quicker.
You shouldn’t farm if you don’t want to work.
Farming isn’t easy!
Let me say that again… FARMING ISN’T EASY!
I don’t care what skill level you have, or what you think farming is, but farming isn’t a get rich quick scheme. I’ve talked to many agents who move from strategy to strategy, spending a bunch of money and time looking for a silver bullet only to be disappointed that they will actually have to put some effort into it and not just throw money at it.
If this is you, and if you’ve been thinking you can just start a farm, put no time or energy into and not spend much money, then you are going to fail. BIG TIME!
Like anything good in this business, to become great at it, it takes practice, risk, energy, time, money and right strategies. If you aren’t committed to working your farm and put in the resources mentioned above, I’ll make you the same offer as I did earlier.
Feel free to send me your money now, and just stop! It’ll be cheaper for you in the long run!
If you want to be successful at farming, it’s going to take work! The great news is you can speed up the process and effectiveness by working smarter, but it will still take work none the less.
You shouldn’t farm if you aren’t willing to try new things.
If you are planning on farming and not trying anything new, again, just stop!
If you are planning on trying to farm based on things you heard worked 15 or 20 years ago, just stop! Don’t waste your time farming if you aren’t willing to get out of your comfort zone and try new strategies.
Markets change, technology changes, strategies change. These changes force you to stay on your toes and adapt. If you aren’t willing to stay ahead of the curve, then don’t even bother starting. It’s like investing in a Blockbuster in 2007.
Sure, you may have some success using out of date practices, but I can assure you that the agents who are willing to try new things and are willing to adapt will blow you out of the water, steal your market share and make it that much more difficult for you to succeed in your farm.
I’m sure you’d rather be the one who succeeds, and not the other agents, so keep an open mind and be willing to try new things. If you don’t, someone else will!
You shouldn’t farm if you are going to start “too big”.
Lastly, if you plan on trying to cast as wide a net as possible when starting your farm, you are going to waste a ton of money and time. One of the most common reasons I see agents fail is they try and farm an area that’s too big. I get it, it seems very tempting to try and go big so you can get more business but this is a big mistake! Especially if you’ve never farmed before.
I talked about this in a past blog where I share how your fear of missing out on business can actually cause you to miss out on MORE business. When you start small and stay focused, you are able to scale up and test what you are working on. You are also able to be more intentional with the relationships you build and how you connect with people.
So many agents fail in farming because they start too big and burn out. As I always say, it’s better to scale up than to scale back!
Please, don’t make this mistake, you’ll thank me later!
Conclusion
So, if you are thinking about farming and you have had some of these ideas pop into your head before, just stop! Don’t make these common mistakes that so many others who have come before you have made.
You have an opportunity to start right and increase your chances of success, and ultimately, that’s what I’d love to see from you. Don’t be like the thousands and thousands of agents who failed because they didn’t know any better, or thought they did.
You have an opportunity to do it right the first time!
If you’d like more help getting started with your farm, then our 30 Day Launch Program might just be the perfect fit for you. It will give you the key building blocks to getting started and help you avoid some of the major pitfalls when launching your farm. You can register at any time at www.TheFarmLaunch.com
Happy Farming!
Ryan Smith – Founder/Creator
Launch Your Farm
Be sure to check back on our blog and show to get awesome information about geographic farming!
Blog – http://www.LaunchYourFarm.com/Blog
Show – http://launchyourfarm.com/category/interviews
Recent Comments