Like many of you, I am a wearer of many hats – mother to 4 little ones, wife and cattle rancher, alongside my hubby, and an ever learning entrepreneur. In the summer of 2020, I opened my Farm Store to sell our homegrown meat and eggs. I also retail products from dozens of women-owned businesses near us, such as bread, preserves, veggies, honey, home décor, and much more.

To kick start my business, I attended farmer’s markets for 2.5 years which got our product moving. This taught me lots about my products, but also allowed me to interact with a lot of different people. I quickly learned that there was a huge disconnect from how our food is raised, and how it ends up on one’s plate. In this time, I learned how to raise our pastured animals, developed relationships with butchers, gained infrastructure, and grew my brand. I found that after the third year, I didn’t want to continue leaving home to attend farmers’ markets, so I began preparing another way.  

When families began driving 1.5 hours from the city out to our farm on a regular basis to buy meat, it strengthened my resolve to do and offer more. This is where my passion for connecting families to their food evolved and our farm store took root.  I picked a spot on our property for my future Farm Store and mowed the pasture over and over, boy, it was rough at first!

The greatest benefit to running a farm store is that I am at home with my family. I’m able to work with my children at my side while customers come to me. 

Here are some answers to a few general questions that may help you decide if opening your own farm store is the right fit for you!

How do you know if it’s a good idea to open your own farm store?

Firstly, make sure your business is profitable. Spend the time and crunch the numbers honestly and thoroughly. I work through my numbers at the beginning of every year which allows me to project my profits and expenses, giving me a rough idea of what I can do to grow my company.

Secondly, location is important. I am 20 mins from two small towns, and 1.5 hours from Edmonton, AB. Every weekend I get traffic from the city, but the majority of my business is now from locals.

What kind of time commitment is involved?

I believe that you get what you put in, but to a point. Balancing motherhood and business can be tricky and exhausting. I personally do as much as possible, but I do hire some jobs out. i.e. house cleaner once a month, and I hired someone to help feed my animals this past summer because I was pregnant with our fourth… you can do anything, but you can’t do everything.

For my farm store, my hours are set to what I can commit to every week, Sundays 1 pm – 4 pm, and during the week by appointment. There is a lot of behind-the-scenes work that goes on, so I average 3 hours everyday.

What kind of space do you need to set up a farm store? (convert a shed/garage?)

The building I have is an old farm cabin. I do think it’s important to have a professional look and feel about your business so having a building dedicated to this is nice, but I’m also a firm believer in Nike’s slogan, so use what you have and “Just Do It!”

What do you need to do to make it look, feel, smell clean and welcoming – and IG worthy?

It doesn’t have to be fancy, but especially being in the food industry, it does have to be clean. Adding décor to make it cute goes a long way with first time customers. It’s up to you to make the customers feel welcomed and help them navigate the shop. Learning how to read people and interact with them takes time, so listen to your customers wants and needs.

How do you decide what to sell? What things do you need a license for? Fridge/freezers?

It takes time and experience to learn what sells well for your business. I’ve tried offering everything, but it just doesn’t work for my little business because I end up holding onto inventory for far too long, so some things are special order only.

When it comes to licensing, begin talking with your health inspector and county. All foods that are value added need to be processed in an inspected kitchen. For example, you can sell whole apples with no permits, but as soon as you cut that apple, it needs to be cut in an “inspected facility”. This can be a restaurant kitchen, or what I use is our community hall kitchen.

These are the following permits I am required to have. You may need different ones, depending on your farm store.

• Food handling permit – Alberta Health Services
• Development permit – County
• Electrical permit
• Building permit 

What kinds of shelves and display units do you need? Built-in or purchased?

Use what you have! I had a bunch of barn boards from our old corrals, so I made some shelves out of them. Also those $10 wood crates from Home Depot work great!

What kind of signage do you need? And how to name your business?

Signage is important and saves you time for directing traffic. I have basic yard signs from Vista Print mounted on plywood, a hand painted sign, and also some blue highway signs. I also just invested in a billboard this summer.

Our business name developed as our cattle company grew. We rent pasture around Blue Ridge and wanted to honor those family farms. My hubby Brett came up with Blue Ridge Farms, and it stuck! Our logo shows what we offer so customers instantly know we are a farm with these meat options.

What products can you source from locals – handmade, produce, baked goods, canned and preserved… what else? What arrangements work for selling products from others?

All the products in my farm store are sourced from local women owned businesses within a couple hours’ radius. For most vendors, I purchase products upfront at a wholesale price. Other vendors’ products sell on commission. You just have to figure out what works best for you and your vendors. Keep in mind their products should be made in inspected kitchens.

Will you provide extras like recipes or educational materials?

On my website I have a recipes section and it’s great for referencing customers for certain cuts of meat. I also get recipe cards and info booklets sent to me from the Alberta Beef Producers Association.

How do you collect contact info – name, email, phone #

I used to have a sign up sheet at the farmers markets, though now I just have a link on my website and Facebook page. This keeps my list growing with customers that actually want to follow what I’m offering.

What are the best ways to promote your farm store?

Word of mouth is huge! But using social media is my main go to, and having a website that is informative is key. I love being able to send customers a link which answers most of their questions.

How long will it take to be ready?

It took me 4.5 years to open my little store – I had the building and the permits for a year until I had finished off the inside and stocked the shelves. And during that year I had so many doubts that what I was doing was a bad idea, costing us money, and I wondered if people would actually come out to our ranch and shop.

There are so many unknowns when you’re a young entrepreneur, and especially when you’re a rancher, not a business person or marketing guru.

That nagging feeling wouldn’t leave me so I kept on learning and building. Heck, we get one life, so I believe you should chase that gut deep intuition of an idea. If you can’t get it out of your head, make it happen – JUST DO IT!

Photography by Samantha Callioux of SJ Originals

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