Branding on the Homestead

(Not that kind of branding.)

Trying to break into the farming industry is weird. It is easy to feel intimidated by generational farmers with big quotas, automation, and tractors that require ladders. Heck, I’m even a bit jealous of farmers that have power running to their barns. It also takes a long time to have something to sell- you either have to grow it or raise it first. I’ll add- you have to grow it or raise it well (ethically, efficiently, economically). Many agricultural sectors are also seasonal in Canada- so you have to be able to do what you do so well it can get you through winter. And this is all while also tackling packaging, branding, marketing, ordering, bookkeeping, differentiating from the farm next door, etc. The learning curve is steep my friends, along with the start up costs.

When we started getting serious about the business last year we had the fortune of linking up with the Acadia Entrepreneurship Centre here in Nova Scotia. Basically they do what their name suggests- they help entrepreneurs. You may have heard that Nova Scotia is a “poor” province with high taxes, few jobs, and low wages. You may have also heard that land is (comparatively) cheap and it’s a great place to retire. In rural Nova Scotia all of those things are true- sort of. The government, along with agencies such as the AEC, are working to adjust the working class gap by supporting people interested in opening their own businesses. Those new businesses may inturn create jobs for others. Although the program is not tailored to the agriculture industry, our business advisor has helped us develop a robust business plan and provided training in key areas that were in neither Will or my wheelhouse. In fact, our business plan peaked the interest of the Department of Agriculture who came by last week 🙀 to see first hand what we are doing and how they might be able to support us too. (There was equal parts excitement and terror on my part- and I invited them. 😅 Spoiler alert- it went really well!)

My apron is super adjustable and comes in one size.

One of the lessons we struggled with while creating our business plan was advertising. There is an expectation that businesses spend a certain amount of money and time on branding and advertising. (Duh, right?) I had it in my mind that in the age of social media I would be able to use my already established platforms (you’re on it!) to do my bidding. That makes me sound cheap (I prefer thrifty) but it stemmed from something deeper. Have you ever been to a professional conference? I’ve been to quite a few, particularly when I was teaching. There would be all these vendors pushing their bags and pens and buttons into your hands in hopes that you would remember them by the end of the day. It felt super cheesy to me, not to mention wasteful. And honestly, it didn’t even feel effective.

As our lesson in advertising continued, it became clear that if we ever wanted a business loan the bank would expect us to have a marketing plan and a marketing budget. Sometimes you have to play the game, but we had to find a way to do it that also encompassed our values. In an “ah-ha! moment” I decided that I would create reusable grocery bags for all our customers and screen our logo onto them. I even went and bought some cool looking material from Value Village and hopped on Youtube to learn how to thread my sewing machine. Well, by hour 8 I had a finished product that could securely carry one head of lettuce. Let me tell you- ain’t nobody got time for that. I mean sure, I could have continued to get faster with practice. But, believe it or not, I’m a bit busy trying to start a farm.

Will’s shirt is a size medium and the material is very soft and comfy.

That’s when we found Printful. It is an on-demand printing and shipping company. That means we create the designs but we don’t have to keep stock here on the farm, ultimately reducing waste because we only buy what we need. Printful is also committed to ethical labor and environmental practices which was the clincher in us wanting to partner with them. I can also directly link them through Etsy to offer our Honeywwoofer gear to our Honeywwoofer supporters. We won’t be pushing branded paper weights into your hand, but if you are in the market for a sweet trucker’s hat- that doesn’t come at the cost of the environment or exploitive labor practices- we can now hook you up. Any profit will be invested back into the Homestead, keeping the farm a farm.

Now Will and I can feel comfortable ordering some branded gear that really does help customers easily identify us, without feeling like we are contributing to the environmental disaster of fast fashion. It also gives you, our supporters, the opportunity to invest in our vision (pre-veggie-sales).

Ready? 😆

***SHOP NOW CLOSED AS WE REFOCUS OUR PRIORITIES*** Here is the link: https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/Honeywwoofer

The link can also be found through the blog menu at the top of your screen (it may be hidden in three little dashes in the top right corner if you are on your phone). You can also just type “Honeywwoofer” into the Etsy search function and find our store.

Poke around and let us know what you think! We are always open to feedback. And as a side note, if you haven’t tried to use the mail system since COVID- well, I’m here to tell you it’s a bit slow. Anything worth having is worth waiting for though right? 😉 Our samples arrived in 14 days.

Pro-tip: Etsy has 1% cashback on Rakuten (formerly Ebates). I’ve been a member since 2013 and have received $469.73 in cash back by routing my online purchases through them. If you are interested in keeping more money in your pocket, here is another link to get you started: https://www.rakuten.ca/referrer?referrerid=iqTy6wAp60c%3D&src=Link

Finally, we just want to say thank you to all of you. Your likes, shares, and comments have helped the Honeywwoofer project gain organic social media traction. Without your engagement and support we would just be shouting into the void so to speak. So thank you. Thank you for caring about us and our goals. ❤️

Don’t forget to keep calm- nobody is good at everything!

(Want to create your own swag with Printful? Check them out here and we get a small kickback: https://www.printful.com/a/3486917:5ab23a1711a65ece856fdcad67b26476