October 2023 - 30
FARM MARKET & AGRITOURISM
Know your customers
I
was talking with a new owner of a farm market
store. He had purchased the business from an
organic farmer who owned the business for five
years. Along with selling their produce, the organic
farmer focused on health and organic products.
Over time, the market had regular customers
purchasing these products, which was the core of
their business.
The new owner is also an organic farmer but decided
to focus more on food and not on health products.
Fast forward 1.5 years. The market owner tells me
that all of the customers who purchased under the
previous owner were no longer shopping at the market.
All of his customers are new. The market is doing
well, but as the current owner tells me, " I would have
been better off starting from nothing. When you buy a
business, you are purchasing a customer base that we
were not able to hang on to. "
In both cases, the new and previous owners built
a market based on their value system and what they
thought was good for the community. That's fine -
except no one asked the community what they wanted,
particularly the new owner. He purchased a business
with a customer base that he needed to become
more familiar with, and in the end couldn't hang on to
those customers. Perhaps he could have kept those
customers if he engaged with them.
According to Small Business Trends (www.
smallbusinesstrends.com) and LinkedIn, 68% of
customers who leave your business leave because of
" perceived indifference. " These former customers don't
know if you care if they shop at your market or not.
The first thing the new owner should have done
was to get to know the existing customers and why
they shop at the market. Do a simple survey with
multiple-choice questions: How often do you shop
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October 2023
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of October 2023
Editor's Letter
Feature: Answering the Call
Cover Story: Deterring Wildlife
Business: Effective succession planning
Great Lakes EXPO News: Advancing crop management
AgTech: Drone prep
Plant & Soil Health: Biotic vs. abiotic
Farm Market & Agritourism: Know your customers
Ag Labor Review: California court gets it right
Classifieds
Advertiser Index
October 2023 - 1
October 2023 - 2
October 2023 - 3
October 2023 - Editor's Letter
October 2023 - 5
October 2023 - Feature: Answering the Call
October 2023 - 7
October 2023 - 8
October 2023 - 9
October 2023 - Cover Story: Deterring Wildlife
October 2023 - 11
October 2023 - 12
October 2023 - 13
October 2023 - 14
October 2023 - 15
October 2023 - Business: Effective succession planning
October 2023 - 17
October 2023 - 18
October 2023 - 19
October 2023 - Great Lakes EXPO News: Advancing crop management
October 2023 - 21
October 2023 - AgTech: Drone prep
October 2023 - 23
October 2023 - 24
October 2023 - 25
October 2023 - Plant & Soil Health: Biotic vs. abiotic
October 2023 - 27
October 2023 - 28
October 2023 - 29
October 2023 - Farm Market & Agritourism: Know your customers
October 2023 - 31
October 2023 - Ag Labor Review: California court gets it right
October 2023 - 33
October 2023 - Classifieds
October 2023 - Advertiser Index
October 2023 - 36
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https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/buyers-guide
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https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/september-2022
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https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/july-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/june-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/may-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/april-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/march-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/february-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/buyersguide-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/january-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/december-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/november-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/october-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/september-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/august-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/july-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/june-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/may-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/april-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/march-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/february-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/buyersguide-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/january-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/december-2020
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https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/october-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/september-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/august-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/july-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/june-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/may-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/april-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/march-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/february-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/buyersguide-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/january-2020
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https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/april-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/march-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/february-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/january-2019
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