This course will give you the tools to launch a new cottage food or value-added farm enterprise! From developing your product to selling it, we’ll walk you through the steps it takes to launch your new enterprise into the market. By the end of this course you will have a complete enterprise plan to guide your new venture.
1: Planning Your Local Food Business
Module 1: In this module we will first assess why you are choosing to start a new enterprise on your farm. This includes a discussion of why this is important to you and also what benefits you hope to gain from starting the enterprise. Then we will assess how you will begin the process. This module establishes a baseline for the rest of the course by helping you answer these questions, and you will refer back to and refine these answers throughout the rest of the course.
Lessons
1) Planning Your Local Food Business (Video and PowerPoint Slides) 2) Questions to Consider 3) Introduction to Cottage Food & Value Added Goods (Video) 4) What is Local? (Video) 5) Post Class Work: Business Plan Template & Questions2: Your Product and it's Market
Module 2: In this module we will begin to look more closely at the value-added product(s) you are hoping to add to your farm. This will include an analysis of the resources needed to create it and also of the available market for it. At the end, participants will have a clearer idea of the feasibility of the product and/or any adjustments they need to make to be successful.
Lessons
1) Your Product and its Market (Video and PowerPoint Slides) 2) Product Development (Worksheet) 3) Case Study (Video) 4) Post Class Work: Follow-up Survey3: Operation and Risk Management
Module 3: In this module, participants will learn how to assess the risks of their value-added enterprise(s). They will be empowered to ask the right questions, become compliant with rules and regulations at multiple levels, avoid common missteps, and do their own research in relation to the products they wish to produce.
Lessons
1) Operations and Risk Management (Video and PowerPoint Slides) 2) Managing Risk (Video) 3) Cottage Food Resources 4) Illinois Cottage Food Law 5) Food Safety Issues (Podcast) 6) Add Value Not Liability (Video) 7) Add Value Not Liability (Quiz) 8) Post Class Assessment4: Developing a Marketing Strategy
Module 4: In this module students will learn how to develop a direct to consumer marketing strategy for their cottage food / value-added food business. Participants will dive into developing their personal and/or value-added product brand, audit their digital presence and learn how to create a more effective marketing strategy to increase sales. Students will also discover tools for interpreting and managing marketing analytics.
Lessons
1) Managing Your Finances (Video & PowerPoint Slides) 2) Crafting a Marketing Strategy (Video) 3) Branding Self Audit (Questionnaire) 4) Brand Your Business (Video) 5) Brand Audit Checklist (pdf) 6) Create Content that Attracts your Target Customer (Video) 7) Social Media Content Checklist (pdf) 8) What Social Media Platform Should I Be On? (Video) 9) Digital Existence Checklist (pdf)5: Developing a Direct-to-Consumer Plan
Module 5: In this interactive module students will learn from successful Cottage Food Entrepreneurs, review potential methods of sale, understand the various methods of payment available to small businesses, and discover opportunities for packaging and distribution of their products.
