One Cannot Survive on Online Sales Alone

Rolling into our 5th season of business... 5 wow. It's really hard to believe that I've been at this for that long. Some of our customers have been with us since the beginning (thank you for always being in our corner!) and some of our customers are brand new week to week. We appreciate all of you more than you know!

I've been fairly quiet on the blog and haven't had much inspiration to write. Busy being a mom, farmer, and its also meeting season for all the agricultural groups I am a member of. Social media and website updates, aside from inventory, are put on the back burner. Here's some quick highlights of the last couple months. Meetings, kiddos, lambs, goats, and just putting my head down to push through some of the obstacles we've encountered.

So let's just get to it!

As always, it's hard to plan the for season ahead. Predicting the online, in person, and farmers market sales all while also providing whole/half/quarter bulk beef, pork and lamb purchases is a tricky task. One thing I have learned, this business can't survive on the online and in person sales alone, especially during the cold weather months. We have learned to scale back inventory during winter and early spring. We only offer certain cuts during summer months. We try and utilize the different parts of the animal to try and diversify our product line so that we don't end up with a large stockpile of cuts that are season specific.

So we come to the busy season... farmers markets. Are they my favorite? No. Are they a necessity? Yes. They are, however, a great way to spread a message and educate the public. I answer countless questions about meat, livestock, cooking, and the agricultural industry as a whole. How can we better serve people at a farmers market? I'd love to hear your suggestions. Because we have a frozen product, it makes it increasingly tough to market things. 99% of people only do a quick glance and if I don't have something eye catching out for people to see, they won't ever stop.

At this time, I am planning on attending 2 markets again this year: Kentwood and Hudsonville. Hudsonville was my first market ever and this will be my 5th season there this summer. I have loads of wonderful customers that have made coming to the market every Wednesday extra enjoyable. Kentwood has been a wonderful addition to our market weeks! An evening market with a great selection of vendors and people. This will be my 3rd season.

One of my biggest challenges is converting market customers to year round customers. Even with offering delivery and order pick up service, it's been difficult to get a customer base that is year round. Also, don't forget about our rewards program! Help us, help you, help us :)

So in short, at this point in our business to survive in this general area, we need to have all aspects of the business to survive: online, in person shopping the freezers, and the farmers markets. Its not an easy task nor am I complaining. Its just the reality of it.

How can we adapt to better serve you? Leave us a comment or shoot us a message!

Want to get on our bulk beef list for a whole/half/quarter? Message us!

~Until Next Time