What every Entrepreneur could learn from a Farmer

A few weeks ago, I was in the upper peninsula of Michigan with my father, stepmom, and her family. The UP is absolutely beautiful, extremely rural (usually one or two restaurants at most per small town), and all the open road you can imagine. We usually head up there late September for a bear hunting trip, and a lovely get away with the fall colors changing.

My step grandpa, Tom, is a true farmer. He used to milk 150 head of cattle during the hay day of his business. Due to some health issues he had to sell the farm, but still holds a lot of the land. After spending time with him, and talking to my dad, I realized truly how much knowledge a guy like him holds onto. It got me thinking how much I could learn from him, not just as a young man, but also as an entrepreneur.

It’s incredible the skills that a farmer has to possess to keep his or her farm surviving and thriving…similar to a start-up founder.

Tom is a botanist. He had incredible knowledge of plants and soils. From the crops he was planting, to the soil he was using and tilling, to the vegetables he had to grow in his garden.

Tom is a mechanic. While not only milking heads of cattle, he also farmed massive hay, soybeans, and other crops during the peak season. When I say massive, I mean at least hundreds of acres of farmable fields that he would use these crops to sell. With all that acreage, he would need tractors, attachments, trucks, combines, and more running all the time to keep the farm growing. When a tractor breaks down in the field, he either would have to call a mechanic and pay an arm & a leg or fix it himself. Not only did that include basic knowledge, it included extremely long nights to make sure his equipment was running for the next day.

Tom is a veterinarian. He had to take care of all his livestock. He did an amazing job at allowing cattle to roam his fields, but that also meant keeping them healthy, safe from wolves, and just dealing with the quirky personalities of livestock. He had to know the type of food they ate, the medicine they needed, the nonstop demand of feeding, milking, and caring for. The job never ended.

Tom is a business owner. He had to keep the finances of the farm in check, the crops to be sold, the milk to be distributed, the land taxes to be paid, the gas to fill up the trucks. There was no such thing as a day off for a farmer.

The list goes on. Tom was a generalist for sure, he didn’t necessarily specialize in any given field of expertise, and he occasionally enjoyed a homemade beer or cocktail from fresh ingredients — in his words “a bump.”

As an entrepreneur I often find myself juggling with the same level of skills. There are no two days in a row as an entrepreneur. And rarely, do you wear the same hat two hours in a row. In no way shape or form can I compare my hard working day of sending emails, meeting for happy hours, and raising capital on the golf course to the work load of a UP farmer, but I firmly believe there is a lot of overlap between the constant juggling of all the hats you have to wear. The funny thing is, when you spend time with Tom, he doesn’t talk about it. He just goes to work and does the job needed. I hope to have that attitude every day of my life too.

From the skills needed of business planning, having a vision, being an accountant, manager, product advocate, salesman, again, the list goes on, farmers and entrepreneurs are not all that different. Not only do I find a little time in the dirt to be healthy, a breath of fresh air, and a fantastic get away from the constant fast pace…I think every entrepreneur can learn from a farmer.