Lockdown: time to reset your business?

Farmers, and businesses generally, have all lived through disruptions, but never before have we experienced anything like this. Here are some ideas on how to get through this trying period.

Preparing a constitution for the family business

A distressing number of family businesses collapse amid heartache and recriminations. Yet failure is not inevitable! With careful preparation, family members can lay a solid foundation for success.

Beware of the black swan

Any manager worth his or her salt takes the necessary action to mitigate damage from normal business risks. But how well will your farming operation cope with a wholly unexpected...

Succession planning: delay it at your peril

It’s tempting to put off the difficult job of succession planning. But if you wait too long, you could end up destroying a profitable business and harming family relationships.

The farmer’s role in the quest for sustainability

The concept of sustainable development is straightforward: the future should be a better, healthier place than the present. Farmers have a major part to play in forging this future.

Take care when mixing family and business

The values driving success in families and those in business are diametrically opposed. Keeping them in harmony is the great challenge of the family business.

How to make the most of your family business

Your children’s energy and fresh ideas may be exactly what your family business needs. Harness this enthusiasm, or you may lose it and cause resentment in the process.

Does a meatless, milkless future loom?

Anti-meat and anti-milk activists have focused steadfastly on the negatives of the livestock industry. Yet livestock and dairy farmers have done precious little to defend animal farming from these attacks.

Make the leap from good to great

No one is born a skilled manager, but there’s a wealth of knowledge available to help you grow into one. In short, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel!

Do you want to be a leader, or just a boss?

Captain Queeg of the USS Caine displayed the worst possible characteristics of leadership. If you look in the mirror, do you see any signs of some of his worst excesses...

Co-operation: the key to farming success

We forget that co-ops laid the foundation for many of South Africa’s present-day commercial farmers. Small-scale farmers stand little chance of surviving without them.

Go low-tech: get an evaporation pan!

Irrigation water in South Africa is at a premium. Instead of investing in hugely expensive digital technology or relying on inaccurate intuition, use this old-fashioned, yet accurate, method to schedule...

Give yourself a dose of optimism in Limpopo

It’s been a rough period for optimists, so take a trip to Hoedspruit.It’s an instant cure for pessimism about South Africa.

Porter’s five fundamental forces that affect a business

If hard times are forcing you to think of switching to a different crop, Porter’s Five Forces can help show you the way forward.

Know your leadership style

What’s your leadership style? Is it right for your organisation? There’s no need to be rigid; learn to adapt your style to the circumstances and task at hand.

Taking the lead in developing managers

RecruitAgri is a unique and rigorous training model designed to produce top-quality managers for agricultural enterprises. Farmers in all sectors would benefit by emulating it.

Take action today, help build up the image of farmers

Farmers are often unfairly targeted for societal and environmental ills. It’s time to fight back.

Integrity: your most precious possession

Integrity seems to mean different things to different people. But one cannot afford to compromise on it; if people are not held to account for wrongdoing, society and business can...

How to say goodbye to your employees

Your send-off of departing staff conveys a clear and lasting message about the company to those who remain, and ripples well beyond the boundaries of the organisation.

Hans Rosling’s gift to the world

In today’s world, surrounded by ‘fake news’ and hampered by our own brains, we need to know how to separate the facts from the lies.

- ADVERTISEMENT -

Managing for Profit