I had a follow up post in the other discussion thread, Bruce. Incidentally, I am off work today, thus why I am able to participate to the degree I am. It is a whole lot easier to make a fortune, when you started out with a fortune from the prior generations' efforts. As I have gotten to middle age, I would like to think I have gained some wisdom and experience. Without that "seed money" from a prior generation's efforts, it is possible to be successful. As I have watched various family members and friends over the years, there are certain things I have taken note of.
1. A strong work ethic is essential in any endeavor.
2. Living BELOW one's means is also important. This is something I have seen too many people NOT take note of and follow. I have a brother in law, along with his wife, who live way beyond their means. They do some part time work along side their regular full time jobs, but they have a history of relying upon others to "subsidize" their lifestyle. I was appalled to find out once their "first well" ran dry, they tried to "tap a new well" with my father-in-law.
3. Success and wealth accumulation doesn't come from a 40 hour a week job. I have a good paying job, and I put in time well beyond 40 hours a week during much of the year. I also am invested in my community and various efforts. My parents taught me to give back to the community in which you live and collect a paycheck. I have done that for 23 years. Those community commitments are beyond my regular job. Being a face in the community in which you live does have its rewards, too.
4. Have a side-line entrepreneurial activity for some added income. My wife does this, and my "weekend farming" is mine. While I have taken some out of the farm and used some of that income, most of what I have made has been invested back into the farm itself to make the jobs easier, and to make it more productive. With that, I do not spend every dime I can get my hands on, which ties in with "living below one's means."
5. Do not procrastinate on making major decisions or in making investments into one's self or the business, as long as what you want to do is affordable, and will have a positive return in the end. I worked on an advanced degree in graduate school and it cost some money. I have a bit of money I borrowed for this, but my employer saw value in that investment into myself, and I think I ended up being a better manager as a result of this experience. I felt this also put me in a better position for future advancement, or a career change, if I felt it was necessary.
6. My next couple thoughts are a bit more personal and reflective. I wanted to farm in the worst way going back to when I was a small kid. I learned to drive a 3010 John Deere tractor at the age of 5, and had moved on up to the larger equipment by the age of 10, and running the combine by the age of 13. I loved being on the farm and wanted to raise my kids on the family farm. This was not meant to be, in the form I had originally wanted or envisioned. I was pushed away from the farm by various "forces." Graduating from high school during the 1980's and its farm crisis, promoted the greatest "outmigration" of rural kids in what I have seen in my lifetime. My off farm experiences have not all been great, or rewarding, but I learned a lot. Some from being "kicked around," some from professional growth, and some from some personal growth. I am "not living the dream" I had envisioned as a youth, but I am running our family farming operation, as a weekend/part-time farmer. It is my "therapy." I have my decent paying job to provide an income to my family. I have done much of what I have accomplished on my own initiative with nothing "given" to me. I feel pretty confident in who I am and what I have accomplished. I don't hold my head in shame when I am around those who "were given the keys to their daddy's farming empire." I am not so incredibly vulnerable to the ups and downs of farming. I think I hold my own fairly well. I don't have to be in a race to get the next piece of farmland up for grabs. I certainly am not going to venture into something unless I can see a long term profitability stream from it. I also don't have the overinflated ego of many of my peers to uphold. That ego seems to get a lot of people into trouble, along with trying to keep up appearances. I don't get into that and I don't need it. My lineup of equipment is paid for and I don't own my soul to the town banker, or JD or Case IH Credit!
7. My parents, perhaps without them really being able to put their finger on it, pushed me to push myself harder and farther, than being the next generation on the farm. I had to accomplish and achieve something before I would or could consider coming back to the farm. I felt for a number of years I was doing this for them, and didn't seem to buy into it all myself. Once I found my niche, and gained a lot of needed confidence, as well as some strength, I finally felt I was doing all this for myself. My dad didn't want me to come back to the farm "with my tail between my legs," like I had tried to do more than once. Before my last career move, my father asked me if I wanted to take over the farm, something I had wanted to for the 13 years I had been working. Something I had wanted to do during the prior 4 years while in college, and something I had envisioned and wanted to do when I was a kid growing up on that farm. I think I kind of surprised him when I told him I needed to try this latest career move, and have a career/job where I felt empowered and felt I was and had achieved something, which tended to be lacking in the prior 13 years I had been working after graduating from college. I have regretted a lot of the waste I feel I encountered and endured over those 13 years, but I also know I would not be who or what I am today had I not gone through those 13 years either.
8. One generation makes the fortune. The second generation can manage to maintain/keep the fortune. The third generation can squander that fortune.
So why are some farms more successful? I think you can pick out a fair amount of what I posted above, which is what I experienced and felt, but by no means is a complete list. I had to recognize what I had available to me, was not going to viable for me to provide for my young family from, and I wasn't going to be getting into it from a position of personal or financial strength. I had to do something to fill in that significant weakness/gap, before I could venture into the farm itself.
One last very simple thought. Work hard, but also work smart. Those two go hand in hand, and I learned that from one of my uncles, but didn't really recognize it until he had died. This was something I shared at his funeral as I shared with the attendees some of my personal thoughts and reflections about my uncle.
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