Do you want to start a hydroponics farm from scratch? Or you need a sample hydroponics farm business plan template? If YES, then i advice you read on. The sophistication and easy ways of maximizing resources to produce farm produce is what led scientists to discover hydroponics way of farming. You might want to ask, what ‘Hydroponics Farm’ is; simply put, hydroponics farming is a means of growing terrestrial plants using nutrients solutions, in water without any soil composition.
The truth is that the hydroponics revolution has been instrumental for the increase of the cultivation of farm produce in areas where the soil composition is considered not to be fertile for cultivating crops. The good things about Hydroponics farm is that beside the fact that it is a very neat way of farming, it enables any farmer to produce any terrestrial crop of his or her choice irrespective of the area they live in and whether the soil composition in the area supports the kind of crop they want to cultivate.
All they need to do is to ensure that they get the right nutrients solution that supports the growth of the crop of their choice. Basically if you are into the cultivation of pepper, tomatoes, onions, vegetables, cucumber, lettuce et al, it will pay you to go into hydroponics farming.
So, if you are in the agriculture industry, and you are looking towards investing in a corporate and efficient commercial food production, then you should consider starting your own hydroponics farm. The following are measures that you should take to start your own hydroponics farm within a record time.
Starting a Hydroponics Farm – Sample Business Plan Template
1. Carry out Your Feasibility Studies
Starting a hydroponics farm is not the kind of business you would want to invest in without first carrying out a comprehensive feasibility studies.
The truth is that many investors and entrepreneurs back out from starting some businesses just after they would have done their due diligence (feasibility studies) only to realize that they are not cut out for such business or they that don’t have the required capital to start such a business. It is always advisable to get first hand information from the field before investing your money in hydroponics farm.
2. Read up all you can About Hydroponics Farming
You just have to be well informed about the business you are about starting. It will pay you a great deal to read up all you can about Hydroponics farm. You can visit your local library, visit the World Wide Web, and if visible, visit one or two hydroponics farms so that you will know all that is required of you to start and run this type of farm.
3.Talk with your Local Authority to Know if You Require a Permit
Of course, you know it wouldn’t be lawful for you to just create a place in your balcony, basement or even rooftop (decking) to start your hydroponics farm in commercial production level. It is important for you to talk to your local authority to know if you will require a special permit to operate a hydroponics farm in your area, and all the requirements if a permit is needed.
In some countries of the world, you might not require a special permit to start your own hydroponics farm, but it won’t be out of place to go all the way to make enquiries so that you won’t be caught on the wrong side of the law.
4. Choose a Good Location
The location you chose to start your hydroponics farm is vital to the success of your enterprise especially if you intend to go into commercial farming. Just ensure that you choose a place that is spacious enough for you, and a place that is close to your target market. It could be in an urban area or even in a rural area – the choice is yours as long as it suits your business model.
5. Consult Experts
If you are just an investor in this line of business, it pays you a great deal to consult an expert before taking any major step in establishing your own hydroponics farm. The truth is that you would need hydro culturist (scientist) to help you install all the equipments you would need and most importantly, the nutrient solution needed for the cultivation of the crops of your choice. So when you are drawing up your budget ensure that you include the consultancy fee for expert in it.
6. Choose the Crops to Cultivate
There are varieties of terrestrial crops you can cultivate in your hydroponics farm. You can cultivate crops like pepper, tomatoes, onions, vegetables, cucumber, lettuce, flower crops and loads of other terrestrial crops. So you can make your choice on the type of crop to cultivate depending on the result you get from your market survey and the kind of crop that is in high demand.
The good thing about hydroponics farming is that you can afford to farm varieties of crops at the same time as long as you have enough space and the right nutrient solution that will support the growth of such crop.
7. Create Your Market
One of the most important factors that will determine how successful you are as an entrepreneur is your market. The truth is that if you don’t have enough people buying the crops you produce; it would be quite challenging to maintain your hydroponics farm. You would need money to maintain this kind of business, and you can only get the money from the sale of your produce.
So, it is important to develop a good marketing strategy that will enable you penetrate the market as fast as you can. Good enough if your crops look rich and affordable; you won’t have challenges getting people to buy from you. You can also approach hotels and canteens to market your crops. No doubt these crops; pepper, tomatoes, onions, vegetables, cucumber, and lettuce are always in high demand in canteens and hotels.
There you have it, the seven measures to put in place that can help you easily start your own hydroponics farm within record time.