November 2023 - 60
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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November 2023
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November 2023
Editor's Letter
Farm Bill wish list
IPM Investigations
Great Lakes EXPO
Keeping soil healthy
Drone assignment
2023 Seed Showcase
Organic Grower
Strawberry options
Farm Market & Agritourism
Ag Labor Review
Classifieds
Advertiser Index
November 2023 - 1
November 2023 - 2
November 2023 - 3
November 2023 - Editor's Letter
November 2023 - 5
November 2023 - Farm Bill wish list
November 2023 - 7
November 2023 - IPM Investigations
November 2023 - 9
November 2023 - Great Lakes EXPO
November 2023 - 11
November 2023 - 12
November 2023 - 13
November 2023 - Keeping soil healthy
November 2023 - 15
November 2023 - 16
November 2023 - 17
November 2023 - Drone assignment
November 2023 - 19
November 2023 - 2023 Seed Showcase
November 2023 - 21
November 2023 - 22
November 2023 - 23
November 2023 - 24
November 2023 - 25
November 2023 - 26
November 2023 - 27
November 2023 - 28
November 2023 - 29
November 2023 - 30
November 2023 - 31
November 2023 - 32
November 2023 - 33
November 2023 - 34
November 2023 - 35
November 2023 - 36
November 2023 - 37
November 2023 - 38
November 2023 - 39
November 2023 - 40
November 2023 - 41
November 2023 - 42
November 2023 - Organic Grower
November 2023 - 44
November 2023 - 45
November 2023 - 46
November 2023 - 47
November 2023 - 48
November 2023 - 49
November 2023 - 50
November 2023 - 51
November 2023 - 52
November 2023 - 53
November 2023 - 54
November 2023 - 55
November 2023 - 56
November 2023 - 57
November 2023 - Strawberry options
November 2023 - 59
November 2023 - Farm Market & Agritourism
November 2023 - 61
November 2023 - Ag Labor Review
November 2023 - 63
November 2023 - Classifieds
November 2023 - 65
November 2023 - Advertiser Index
November 2023 - 67
November 2023 - 68
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https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/may-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/march-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/february-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/seedguide-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/buyersguide-2022
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https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/august-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/july-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/june-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/may-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/april-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/march-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/february-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/seedguide-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/buyersguide-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/january-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/december-2020
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https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/may-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/april-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/march-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/february-2020
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https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/january-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/december-2019
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https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/october-2019
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https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/march-2019
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